Indications emerged yesterday that President Goodluck Jonathan may have concluded plans to appoint Dr. Reuben Abati as his special assistant on media and publicity.
If his appointment is confirmed, Abati, a seasoned journalist and chairman of the editorial board of The Guardian, would replace Mr. Ima Niboro, who before the dissolution of the presidential cabinet had been working in that capacity as the president’s spokesman.
According to an unconfirmed report, Abati’s position as special assistant on media and publicity is expected to be announced early next week when President Jonathan returns from Malabo, Equatorial Guinea, where he is attending a meeting of the African Union.
Abati, a newspaper columnist, was born on November 7, 1965 in Abeokuta, Ogun State, Nigeria. He was a first class honours graduate of Theatre Arts from the University of Calabar, where he won the Vice-Chancellor’s Prize for the best overall graduating student. He is currently the chairman of the editorial board of the The Guardian. His column also appears regularly on popular Nigerian website, Nigerian Village Square (NVS).
He has won a number of awards including The Cecil King Memorial Prize for Print Journalist of the Year in 1998, The Diamond Award for Media Excellence for Informed Commentary in 1998, Fletcher Challenge Commonwealth Prize for Opinion Writing in 2000, and the Diamond Award for Media Excellence for Informed Commentary, 2000.
He is married to Iyabo Abati who is a banker and has four children -? James Abati, Elizabeth Abati, Daniel Abati and Samuel Abati.