NIGERIA'S request for the release of Professor Ibrahim A. Gambari to chair the Steering Committee on the Niger Delta crisis has been approved by the United Nations (UN), which would oversee the much-expected summit.

President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua is said to be keen on keeping the Niger Delta problem a domestic concern. There is also a wide consensus on the international dimension to the crisis, which partly explains the Federal Government's decision to use a well-known international civil servant and diplomat to lead the Summit.

The UN Secretariat said in a statement issued by the Deputy Spokesperson for the UN Secretary-General Marie Okabe that Ban Ki-Moon has agreed to the request of the Government of Nigeria, to release Prof. Gambari for the position of Chairman of the Steering Committee on the Niger Delta Stakeholders Summit in Nigeria for the period of the Summit."

The statement released earlier this week by the Office of the Spokesperson of the UN's Secretary-General ended concerns that the world body was holding down plans by Nigeria to organize the confab. The Yar'Adua administration had pledged last year that the summit was imperative and was one of the priorities of the government. Delays from the government to move ahead with the plan shifted to the UN Secretariat a few months ago when Nigeria asked for Gambari's release.

Gambari, former Nigeria's External Affairs Minister and one-time Ambassador/Permanent Representative to the UN will not conduct the assignment in his official UN capacity but as a Nigerian, yet he would still be keeping his status as the body's senior diplomat.

The statement said Gambari, who is the current UN Under Secretary-General and Special Adviser "will take up this position in his personal capacity" and will be on leave from his UN assignment for the duration of the summit.

The Nigerian diplomat confirmed the UN statement in New York earlier in the week when he said: "I have been informed by the Secretary-General that he has responded positively to the Nigerian government request."

The request came from the office of Vice President Jonathan Goodluck in March, this year to the office of the UN Secretary-General. Sources said the UN management team had to consider the request within the rules of the world body before Ban could take a decision.

Gambari, who is rated something of an elder statesman in international diplomacy is now overseeing two critical UN assignments on behalf of its scribe.

He is the immediate past head of the UN's Political Affairs Department as Under Secretary-General and now he is the Special Envoy to Myanmar in the rank of an Under secretary which is the most senior UN Secretariat rank just below the Secretary-General and the deputy.

Commenting on his new assignment to oversee the Niger Delta, Gambari said: "This is a double honor for me: for the confidence the Nigerian government has in me and the fact that the UN is releasing me for the assignment."