By Abiola Olawale
Eminent Scholar-Diplomat, former Nigerian Foreign Affairs Minister and erstwhile United Nations Under Secretary-General, Professor Ibrahim Agboola Gambari, has been conferred with a Distinguished Fellow of the Institute of Security Studies, Nigeria.
The New Diplomat reports that the honour recognizes his profound and enduring contributions to national security, diplomacy, and nation-building throughout his illustrious career.
Gambari, who also served as Chief of Staff to the late former President Muhammadu Buhari, received the award during a ceremony that was held on Saturday at the Faculty of Social Sciences Auditorium, University of Lagos (UNILAG).
Also during the ceremony, Sokoto State Governor, Ahmed Aliu Sokoto; the Olowu of Owu Kingdom, Oba (Prof.) Saka Adelola Matemilola, the Vice Chancellor of Maranatha University, Prof. Rufus Taiwo Akinyele, and Lt. Gen. L. Adeosun (rtrd), received the Distinguished Fellowship Award of the Institute of Security, Nigeria.
With the theme: “Expanding Frontiers of Innovations in Security Enhancement and Nation Building in Nigeria,” former Chief of Army Staff, Lt General Tukur Yusuf Buratai, who was a keynote speaker focused on overcoming the challenges, with a focus on the current security architecture, pathway – a paradigm shift, innovation, and reform as well as collaborative and stakeholders’ approach.
President of the institute, Prof James Olowokudejo in his welcome address, noted that “the need for the conference had never been more pressing, stating that Nigeria is facing numerous security challenges that threaten the stability and progress of our nation.”
Also, delivering his goodwill message, Gambari who was at various times Nigeria’s Ambassador/ Permanent Representative to the United Nations, New York, Joint Special Representative of the United Nations and the African Union/Chief Mediator in Darfur, and President of the United Nations Security Council, expressed his gratitude over the Lifetime Achievement Award and Distinguished Fellowship conferred on him by the institute.
On the security challenges, Gambari noted that “The recurrent threats of terrorism, banditry, kidnapping and cultism have linkages with the issues of climate change, inequality and multidimensional poverty,” while stressing that “addressing the security challenges Nigeria is facing requires an all-out government and all-society approaches.”
