Chairman, Editorial Board of the The Guardian Newspapers, Dr. Reuben Abati, may have been appointed Special Adviser, Media and Publicity to the President.
The appointment, would be made public when President Goodluck Jonathan returns to the country from Malabo, Equitorial Guinea, where he is attending the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM) meeting of the African Union (AU).
If announced, Abati will succeed Mr. Ima Niboro, whose tenure as presidential spokesman elapsed on May 29.
When he takes office, Abati will be the sixth presidential aide on media in the last 12 years. Those before him were Dr. Doyin Okupe, late Mr. Tunji Oseni, Mrs. Remi Oyo, Mr. Olusegun Adeniyi and Niboro.
Abati is a first class graduate of Theatre Arts from the University of Calabar. He later obtained a master’s degree and a doctorate degree from the University of Ibadan, at the youthful age of 24. He then went into lectureship at the Olabisi Onabanjo University for a short while before joining the Editorial Board of the The Guardian, after a stint at Hints (a soft sell) magazine.
Abati, a celebrated columnist, about five years ago, rose to become chairman of the newspaper’s Editorial Board.
As a writer, he had used his Friday column in the newspaper to advance the course of democracy with his sizzling and fearless commentaries on national issues.
Erudite and articulate, Abati almost led a sub-career in book review, as he was almost always the choice of authors, planning to launch their books.
He was a regular face and voice at public fora, including TV talk shows and at elite gatherings.
At 46, Abati's fame has preceded him, and thus comes to public office with a huge resume of a credibility built on intellectual power over the years.
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