It is quite
appreciating to know that despite all they thought Nigerians are for the wrong
reasons, we still have outstanding individuals making the country proud and
flying the Nigeria flag very high.
Nigerians are committed
and very intelligent when it comes to dealing with international presences or
issues that will portray the integrity of the country.
There are good
number of Nigerians excelling and holding key positions in various
international organizations. Some started out serving Nigeria at various state
and national level before they got to the international stages.
Let’s take a
look at some these notable Nigerians.
Dr. Okonjo-Iweala, DG WTO
Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala – Director-General,
World Trade Organisation
On Monday,
February 15, 2021, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala was appointed the Director-General of
the World Trade Organisation (WTO), the first woman, first Nigerian and first
African to ever hold the position. Her tenure started on March 1, 2021, and
will end on August 31, 2025.
She also
serves on the board of Twitter Inc., Standard Chartered Bank UK, Global
Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization (GAVI), African Risk Capacity (ARC), and
at Lazard where she is a Senior Adviser.
Before these
positions, she had built a 25-year career at the World Bank as a development
economist, rising through the ranks to attain many top positions including that
of the Managing Director, Operations which she held for 4 years.
She was the
first woman to become Finance Minister in Nigeria, and she served twice in this
capacity under President Olusegun Obasanjo (2003–2006) and President Goodluck
Jonathan (2011–2015) respectively. In 2005, Euromoney named her Global Finance
Minister of the Year.
Bukar Tijani – Assistant
Director-General, Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)
In November
2018, Bukar Tijjani resumed office as FAO Assistant Director-General of the
Agriculture and Consumer Protection Department. Before this, he served as FAO
Assistant Director-General and Regional Representative for Africa from December
2013 to October 2018.
Before that,
he had served as Nigeria’s Minister of State for Agriculture and Rural
Development from July 2011 to September 2013.
He had also
held senior positions in several state and national institutions, including the
Fertilizer Blending Company where he was General Manager, the North-East Arid
Zone Development Programme (NEAZDP) an EC-assisted Programme where he served as
Director, as well as the National Programme Coordinator for IFAD-assisted
Community-Based Agriculture and Rural Development Programme (IFAD-CBARDP), and
National Project Coordinator for the Third Fadama Development Project assisted
by the World Bank in Nigeria.
Akinwumi Adesina – President,
African Development Bank
Akinwumi
Adesina was appointed in May 2015 as the eighth President of the African
Development Bank Group and re-elected into the position in August 2020 for his
second five-year tenure.
Before this
appointment, he had served Nigeria as Minister of Agriculture and Rural
Development for about five years. He was the representative of the Rockefeller
Foundation for the Southern African area from 1999 to 2003, when he became an
Associate Director for food security till 2008. He was Vice President of Policy
and Partnerships for the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa up till 2010
when he was appointed Nigeria’s Minister for Agriculture.
Adesina served
as Assistant Principal Economist of the International Crops Research Institute
for the Semi-Arid Tropics from 1988-1990; as the Principal Economist for the
West Africa Rice Development Association in Bouaké, Ivory Coast from 1990-1995;
and as Senior Economist and Social Science Coordinator for the International
Institute for Tropical Agriculture 1995-1998.
In 2010,
Adesina was appointed by UN Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon, as one of 17 global
leaders to spearhead the Millennium Development Goals. In September 2016, again
Ki-moon appointed Adesina to serve as a member of the Lead Group of the Scaling
Up Nutrition Movement.
Adesina got
his Bachelor’s degree in Agricultural Economics from the University of Ife (now
Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife), and his Masters and PhD in Agricultural
Economics from Purdue University, Indiana.
Kingsley Moghalu, Special Envoy on
Post-Covid Development Finance for Africa
Kingsley
Moghalu was recently appointed into the United Nations Development Program
(UNDP) Special Envoy on Post-Covid Development Finance for Africa.
In the past,
he served as Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, under the
Yar’Adua/Jonathan administration (2009 – 2014), as the Chairman of the Boards
of Directors of the Nigerian Export-Import Bank (NEXIM) and the Financial
Institutions Training Centre, and as a member of the boards of the Asset
Management Corporation of Nigeria, Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC),
among others. He has also lectured at Tufts University as Professor of Practice
in International Business and Public Policy at the Fletcher School of Law and
Diplomacy from 2015 to 2017.
He founded
Sogato Strategies LLC, a global investment advisory firm, and is also the
President of a public policy think tank, the Institute for Governance and
Economic Transformation (IGET). He was a Joan Gillespie Fellow and a research
assistant in the International Political Economy program.
Moghalu has a
very extensive international career across several countries and international
bodies. He joined the United Nations in 1992, and served as a UN human rights
and elections officer with the United Nations Transitional Authority in
Cambodia. He also served as political advisor to the special representative of
the UN Secretary-General in Croatia; as legal adviser to the United Nations
International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (UNICTR) in Arusha, Tanzania and
later the international tribunal’s spokesman.
He has also
occupied different positions at the World Health Organization including Head of
Global Partnerships and Resource Mobilization at the Global Fund to Fight AIDS,
Tuberculosis and Malaria (GFATM), and a member of the risk management
committee.
Moghalu got
his first degree in law from the University of Nigeria, a Master of Arts degree
from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University, and later
obtained his Doctor of Philosophy degree in international relations at the
London School of Economics and Political Science at the University of London.
He also earned
the International Certificate in Risk Management from the Institute of Risk Management
in London. He received advanced executive education in macroeconomics and
financial sector management, corporate governance, and global strategic
leadership at the International Monetary Fund Institute, Harvard University’s
Kennedy School of Government, Harvard Business School, and the Wharton School
at the University of Pennsylvania.
Amina J. Mohammed – Deputy
Secretary-General, United Nations
Amina J.
Mohammed was appointed the 5th Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations
in January 2017. She is also the Chair of the United Nations Sustainable
Development Group.
Before this
appointment, she served as Nigeria’s Minister of Environment (2015-2016). She
had also served with the United Nations earlier in 2012 as Special Adviser to
former Secretary-General (Ban Ki-moon) on Post-2015 Development Planning4 and
led the process that resulted in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development
and the creation of the Sustainable Development Goals.
She has also
served as Adviser to four successive Presidents on poverty, public sector
reform, and sustainable development. Prior to that, her early career focused on
working on the design of schools and clinics in Nigeria and increasing access
to education and other social services.
Ms. Mohammed
serves on numerous international advisory panels and boards, including the
Global Development Program of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the
Secretary General’s Global Sustainability Panel, the Hewlett Foundation on
Education, African Women’s Millennium Initiative, and the ActionAid
International “Right to Education Project,” among others.
She is an Adjunct
Professor of the Master’s Programme for Development Practice at Columbia
University, New York; and also the former CEO/Founder of the Center for
Development Policy Solutions. She is a Governor of the International
Development Research Centre in Canada, and currently chairs the Advisory Board
of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization
(UNESCO) Global Monitoring Report on Education.
Mohammed is a
recipient of various global awards and has also been conferred several honorary
doctorates. She received the National Honours Award of the Order of the Federal
Republic in 2006 and was inducted in the Nigerian Women’s Hall of Fame in 2007.
Mohammed Sanusi Barkindo –
Secretary General, OPEC
Mohammed
Barkindo started serving as the Secretary-General of the Organisation of
Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) in August 2016.
Before then,
he had represented Nigeria on OPEC’s Economic Commission Board (1993–2008),
served as Acting Secretary-General in 2006, and led the Nigerian National
Petroleum Corporation (2009-2010). He has also headed Nigeria’s technical
delegation to UN climate negotiations since 1991.
He is
currently the longest-serving delegate to OPEC. In between his years there, he
has also held other positions. He was Group Managing Director and CEO of the
Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) from 2009-2010, and also served
as Deputy Managing Director of Nigerian Liquefied Natural Gas before then.
Mr Barkindo
has also been a leader of Nigeria’s technical delegation to the UN climate
change negotiations since 1991. He served as Chair of the Group of 77 and China
at the UNFCCC and was elected to serve three terms as Vice President of the
Conference of the Parties – COP13 (Bali, Indonesia), COP14 (Poznan, Poland),
and COP15 (Copenhagen, Denmark), where he chaired the opening session.
Barkindo has a
first degree in political science from Ahmadu Bello University Zaria, a
postgraduate diploma in Petroleum Economics from Oxford University; and a
Master of Business Administration degree from Washington University. He was
awarded an honorary doctorate from the Federal University of Technology, Yola.
Bola Adesola – Co-Vice Chair,
United Nations Global Compact
In April 2018,
the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Antonio Guterres, confirmed the
appointment of a Nigerian, Bola Adesola, as Co-Vice Chair to the world’s
largest corporate sustainability initiative, United Nations Global Compact
(UNGC).
Before this,
Adesola had over 25 years of banking experience across First Bank of Nigeria,
Citibank and Kakawa Discount House, culminating in her appointment as Chief
Executive Officer and Managing Director of Standard Chartered Bank Nigeria
Limited.
Adesola holds
a Law degree from the University of Buckingham and is also an alumnus of the
Harvard Business School and Lagos Business School.
Samaila Zubairu, President/CEO of
African Finance Corporation
Samaila Zubairu
is AFC’s 3rd President and Chief Executive Officer. Prior to his appointment,
he was the CEO of Afri-Capital Management Limited. He has also served as Chief
Financial Officer for Dangote Cement Plc, as well as the Treasurer for the
Dangote Group during its transformation from a trading company to an industrial
conglomerate. He managed the unbundling of Dangote Industries Limited to listed
subsidiaries on the Nigerian Stock Exchange.
Zubairu holds
a BSc in Accounting from Ahmadu Bello University, Nigeria and is a Fellow of
the Institute of Chartered Accountants, Nigeria (FCA). He is an Eisenhower
Fellow and was the first African appointed to the Board of Trustees of the
international leadership exchange programme.
Mr. Zubairu
holds Non-Executive positions on several boards.
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