I am Ambassador Ibrahima Gambari, the former Ambassador Parliamentary Representative of Nigeria in the United Nations, and subsequently to the United Nations and Undersecretary General. I’m delighted to send this message of goodwill for the public presentation of the book on Maria Abrantes, popularly known as Milucha.
I first met Milucha in 1998, and as somebody who brings good luck to people, soon after that, I became the United Nations’ Undersecretary General, a special advisor on Africa, starting with Angola. Milucha was extremely helpful in helping me to navigate the social, cultural, and political complexities of Angola, and gave me very valuable advice, and immensely useful contacts, all of which really helped me in making the United Nations’ presence in Angola a success.
Milucha is a very kind, and compassionate human being.
She is fiercely loyal to her friends, and she’ll go to any length, and spare no expense in order to make her friends comfortable, and to assist them with whatever it is that they are doing.
It is very important to note in this context, that when I was assigned the responsibility of peace-making and peace-keeping in Angola, on behalf of the United Nations, the United Nations was hugely unpopular in Angola, and not much progress was being made. But, thanks to the support of President dos Santos, the Ministers, and several of their non-governmental organizations, and political parties in Angola, with the backing of the United Nations headquarters, the UN peacekeeping mission in Angola ended up a success, and I was privileged to be the Chairman of the Joint Commission that formally brought the war in Angola to a close.
Not a single shot has been fired since then, in violation of the cease-fire.
A lot of credit belongs to the government and the people of Angola, and without her support, it would have been more difficult.