Gambari

Gambari, Kolade And Okonjo-Iweala Are Birds Of The Same Feather In My Book

Dr. Wumi Akintide

There is something common to these three distinguished Nigerians and public servants. They all serve in high visibility jobs in the Foreign Service of Nigeria. Agboola Gambari and Okonjo-Iweala as one time Foreign Affairs Ministers and Christopher Kolade, the former MD of Cadbury Nigeria PLC, as the Nigerian High Commissioner to the UK. I call them birds of the same feather because they have all raised higher the bar of public probity and accountability in Nigeria by exercising the courage and the judgment to say “No, thanks” to some gratuitous appointments they have been offered on a platter of gold by the Nigerian Head of State in what some have always seen as national assignments that cannot be turned down, even if they go against the individuals sense of honor and integrity. You have to wond er, as I do, why our leaders are ever so notorious for putting the cart before the horse in their decision-making process, more often than not.

I can tell you that President “Go Slow” like his dictatorial and self-centered predecessor, President Obasanjo did not, at all, do his home work or give some thoughts to what might be public reactions and resentment, especially in the Delta area, to his nomination of Ambassador Agboola Gambari as Chairman of the Delta Summit. I could care less about Yar Adua’s attempt at damage control by getting his naive Vice President to publicly admit that he got the President into the mess and quagmire by suggesting the name of Agboola Gambari to receiving the Presiden's approval to go ahead and have the foreign minister seek for the release of the Agboola Gambari from the UN without adequate consultation with his constituents in the Delta area.

If the President, the VP and the Foreign minister have exercised judgment they would have realized that some of the statements credited to Agboola Gambari on the late Saro Wiwa, was bound to come back to haunt the ambassador. I do not blame Agboola Gambari who already had more than enough on his plate, at the UN to covet the thankless job from our own neck of the woods in the Delta area of Nigeria. Gambari doing that could be likened to the proverbial hunter that arried an elephant on his head, but was still interested in digging a hole for a cricket with his feet because he was just too greedy. If you know Agboola Gambari as much as I know him, you will appreciate he is not that kind of person.

Was Agboola Gambari eminently qualified to do the job and do it well? You have got to give a resounding ‘yes” to that question if you know Agboola’s profiles and track record as much as I do. But is he the only Nigerian erudite or juggernautthat could be tapped for that job with the reality on the ground. The clear answer to that has to be a “no” all things considered. I don’t care about what critics may be saying today about Agboola Gambari. The truth is that he did not seek or canvass for the job but the Northern power brokers who canvassed and supported the appointment with their collaborators the VP and few of his cohorts from the Delta area, may have had their own agenda for going for Agboola Gambari. As far as I am concerned and based on what I know, Agboola Gambari was as much a victim and a pawn in their chess game because they thought they could use him again as agent provocateur to do their dirty work.

But in doing so the power brokers forgot that Agboola Gambari has got his own name and reputation to protect as a world- acclaimed diplomat. Born with the silver spoon in his mouth as a Fulani prince of the Ilorin Emirate which is ranked number 4 in order of importance in the Uthman Dan Fodio Caliphate, Agboola has a lot of clout, leverage and reservoir of goodwill not only in the North, but the whole of Nigeria. He was born to a Yoruba mother and a Fulani father who was the Emir of Ilorin. Agboola is married married to a Yoruba woman. He is therefore tempramentally acceptable to both the North and the South and he speaks fluent Yoruba and Hausa in addition to one or two foreign languages. Agboola Suleiman Gambari, as a Fulani by birth, has a lot going for him as a Nigerian. He is a hardworking, intelligent and educated northerner who is far more qualified and exeperienced and probably better connected and far more influential that President “Go Slow” himself, if the truth must be told. If Agboola lives long enough, he could one day aspire to the presidency without any question. He has had an amazing career and profiles which will be difficult to match or surpass by any of his fellow northerners.

He is a product of King’s College, Lagos, the London School of Economic and Columbia University. He is by far the longest serving Nigerian ambassador in the UN and he is currently an Under-Secretary and one of the top advisers to Bank Ki Moon, the current Secretary-general. He has had extensive experience in international conflict resolution in Apartheid South Africa, Zimbabwe, Darfur and recently in Myanmar where he has earned his reputation as the "Henry Kissinger" of the African continent in the UN. The prince-charming has written so many books and has delivered so many papers and lectures around the world and he has received so many awards and recognition for his service to Nigeria and to the global community.

Among his latest, is his upcoming recognition as the special guest of honor at the formal Launching of “The Lion King and the Cubs”, a biography of His Royal Highness, Deji of Akure, Oba Afunbiowo Adesida I as the pioneering Architect of the Golden Century of Akure History, 1897 to 1997 which is being co-sponsored by the Akure Progressive Association of New York, New Jersey and Connecticut and the Sergeant Akintide Foundation of Nigeria at the Medgar Evers College or Queens College auditorium, New York at a date=2 0to be announced.. He was picked for recognition by unanimity as a Nigerian who has made his mark in the diplomatic arena lasting more than 30 years

Agboola Gambari is by no means perfect, and nobody is perfect, but God. Yes. The man did make a few mistakes as the permanent representative of Nigeria to the UN under President Sani Abacha. The most egregious was his walking out of a public forum where the Nigerian Nobel Peace laureate, Wole Soyinka was delivering a speech which was very critical of the Nigerian Government led by Abacha during the NADECO civil rights struggles against the Military. In a moment of passion and too much loyalty to the government in power, the ambassador once described Saro Wiwa, the arrow head of the MOSSOP and Ogoni Militants, as an inconsequential thug or rabble rouser. Those are terrible mistakes, I will admit, but they do not rise to the level of rubbishing all his other accomplishments as an a distinguished Nigerian, as an intellectual power house, and as a world class diplomat.

I have interacted at public and private levels with many individuals posted as ambassadors of Nigeria to the United Nations. I cannot think of any one more deserving&n bsp;or more friendly, more humble and more professional and humane than Agboola Gambari. I did serve, for a few years, as a local staff, at the Permanent Mission of Nigeria to the UN and for many years as a top civil servant in the Federal Public Service. I therefore know what I am talking about. Agboola Gambari through his works and activities in the UN has become the gold standard for measuring the performance of African diplomats across the board at the UN. Writing off Agboola Gambari as irrelevant and mischievous will amount to throwing out the baby with the bath water. He is arguably one of the best, if not the best, I would argue. The critics watching him from a distance are not going to change that for those of us who know him very well and what he is all about..

I think he did the right thing by having the courage to withdraw his nomination in a carefully crafted letter to President Yar Adua. I see some similarities between what he did and what Ambassador Christopher Kolade did when President Obasanjo sought to offer him, the President and CEO of TRANS CORP, a multi national company Obasanjo has floated to use as a conduit pipe to siphon the limitless wealth of Nigeria once he leaves office. Christopher Kolade who is as clean as a whistle, and a man of integrity very politely declined the offer by saying "No, tha nks” Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala did pretty much the same thing when she chose to opt out of the Obasanjo cabinet at a time of her own choosing. We need Nigerians of that caliber to help our county grow and develop.

Nigeria is not going any where but down unless and until we are able to find many more Nigerians who are able to stand their ground and have the courage to withdraw from such thankless offers without anybody pointing a gun to their head. Agboola Gambari has nothing to lose by stepping aside from his Summit appointment nomination. It is the right thing to do and I personally commend him for taking that step, and so should many of us. The Delta militants have a right to challenge the nomination. and i am glad they have done it without resorting to violence or endangering the life of Agboola Gambari.

I must confess that I personally understand the ambassador's slight delay in offering to step down. What is important to me is the fact that he finally did it. There are some of us, myself included, who have found ourselves in the shoes of the ambassador. I recall my political appointment in 1986 as the pioneer Director of DIFFRI (Directorate of Foods, Roads and Rural=2 0Infrastructures) in Ondo State of Nigeria. I was initially appointed by Governor Okhai Mike Akhigbe under whom I served for less than a year before Akhigbe was posted to Lagos. Then came a new Pharaoh in Governor Ekundayo Opaleye who would have been happier to handpick his own confidant to be the Director because he was misled by the Ondo State Establishment to believe that he would have been better served to appoint a Director that would make sure he got some dividends and benefits out of the only Federal Government-funded outfit in the State with enough cash to offer a kickback to the Governor’s office. They suspect I wasn't going to play ball or be pushed around, and they were exactly right on that.

The Governor who did not know me from Adam was relying on information fed to him by those who had their eyes fixed on the same office and wanted me out by all means. I clearly saw the handwriting on the wall and should have tendered my resignation immediately, but I was constrained from doing so for two important reasons. I did not want to lose a position where I thought I could easily make a difference for my State. I also did not want to lose the perquisites of office like chauffer-driven government car, government quarters and other bread and butter intangibles. There was also the pressures from friends and relations who want me to hang on to the office for their own benefits and comfort and not mine. There were people telling me Akure would lose her own slot in the Opaleye Administration if I call the governor's bluff and let go. All public men in our country daily face all those kinds of pressures and Agboola Gambari is no exception. That is the plain truth. Many might have believed that Gambari was going to the Summit to wield a lot of influence and make a lot of money from the Security Vote from which such summits are usually funded. A lot of people criticizing Gambari, today, are doing so, out of jealousy and nothing more. They would be just as quick to replace him, now that he has thrown in the towel, if you know what I mean and like I told the ambassador in a private conversation prior to his stepping down.

I think the ambassador did the right thing by stepping down and urging the President to look for a less controversial alternative in the interest of our country and the parties to the conflict. How I wish there are many more Nigerians like the ambassador! I throw my salute, and I rest my case.