Juliana Taiwo-Obalonye, Abuja
The Savannah Centre for Diplomacy, Democracy and Development (SCDDD) has said that the barrage of unsubstantiated claims bandied against Prof. Ibrahim Gambari, the newly appointed Chief of Staff to President Muhammadu Buhari, would not distract him from doing the mandated bestowed on him by the president.
The centre wondered why people exhumed past events out of context all in a bid to vilify Gambari and impugn his character.
A statement by Executive Director SCDDD, Ambassador Abdullahi Omaki noted that whatever action Prof. Gambari took in any official capacity he occupied in the past was in line with the position of the government of the day and not on the basis of ethnic or religious considerations.
The group stressed that Nigeria was faced with serious issues that called for nationwide efforts to evolve common grounds of understanding amongst the Nigerian people to facilitate addressing the Nigerian project.
It also added that for Nigeria and Africa to be relevant in any conversations for a new global order, especially, post COVID-19, these concerns needed to be addressed, and the ongoing demonization of Gambari will not be the answer.
“Prof. Gambari’s friends and associates come from across the length and breadth of Nigeria and beyond. This underscores the fact that he does not have any biases against any section of the country, neither on the basis of religion, ethnicity or any other considerations. Prof. Gambari is a man of integrity who has served the country and the international community meritoriously, in different capacities over several decades. That, in part, would explain why Mr. President considered him fit to serve as his Chief of Staff.
“Based on the foregoing, therefore, Savannah Centre is convinced that the focus of Prof. Gambari should now be on accomplishing the important task that Mr. President has given him and he will not therefore, be distracted by unsubstantiated insinuations in the media”, Omaki stated.