Topic: Ibrahim Gambari

Ibrahim Agboola Gambari, CFR (born on November 24, 1944 in Ilorin, Kwara State, Nigeria) is a Nigerian scholar and diplomat. He was Minister for External Affairs between 1984 and 1985. Gambari has been appointed by the Secretary-General of United Nations Ban Ki-moon and the Chairperson of the African Union Commission as Joint African Union-United Nations Special Representative for Darfur effective from 1 January 2010. He is currently the Special Adviser on the International Compact with Iraq and Other Issues for the Secretary-General of the United Nations. Previously, he served as the Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations (USG) for the Department of Political Affairs (DPA). He was appointed on June 10, 2005 and assumed the post on July 1 of that year.

Gambari attended King's College, Lagos.

Gambari began his teaching career in 1969 at City University of New York before working at University of Albany. Later, he taught at Ahmadu Bello University, in Zaria, Kaduna State, the second largest university in Nigeria. From 1986-1989, he was Visiting Professor at three universities in Washington, D.C.: Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, Georgetown University and Howard University. He has also been a Research Fellow at the Brookings Institution also in Washington D.C. and a Resident Scholar at the Bellagio Study and Conference Center, the Rockefeller Foundation-run center in Italy. He was accorded, honoris causa, the title of Doctor of Humane Letters (D.Hum.Litt.) from the University of Bridgeport. He is a member of the Johns Hopkins University's Society of Scholars. He was decorated with the title of Commander of the Federal Republic (CFR) by the Government of Nigeria.