Gamaliel Onosode

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Gamaliel Offoritsenere Onosode (born May 22, 1933) is a Nigerian technocrat, administrator and a former presidential candidate of the All Nigeria People's Party of Nigeria.[1] Educated at the government college, Ughelli and the University of Ibadan, he emerged in the 1970's, as one of Nigeria's leading educated chief executives, when he was at the helm of NAL merchant bank of Nigeria. Over the years, he has risen to become a leading boardroom player in Nigeria's corporate environment. He was also a former presidential adviser to President Shagari and a former president of the Nigerian Institute of Management.[2]

[edit] Life and Career

An Urhobo man, born and raised in Sapele by a disciplined father, he sometimes credited the strict family background and practice as being a complimentary factor in his success as a disciplined civil servant and corporate administrator.[3]

Throughout his career, Dr. G. O. Onosode has chaired several private and public sector businesses and initiatives. He was the Chairman of Dunlop Nigeria Plc (1984-2007), a former chairman of Cadbury Nigeria Plc (1977-93), the Presidential Commission on Parastatals (1981), Nigeria LNG Working Committee and Nigeria LNG Limited (1985-90) and the Niger Delta Environmental Survey (since 1995). He is also the Chairman of Celtel Nigeria, a GSM telecommunications company, the oldest GSM operator in Nigeria.

[edit] Public Service

Primarily a business personality, he has seen his career wade through different sectors of the Nigerian economic environment. Though, he was a part of a profligate democratic experiment which was the Nigerian Second Republic,[4] Gamaliel Onosode tried to bring a disciplined approach to public finance. Towards the end of 1983, when public confidence in the economic direction of the country was eroded and accountability was lacking in government subsidies to public enterprises, he was brought in to find solutions to the lackluster performance of public enterprises, as the head of a Nigerian Commission on public parastatals[5] and to bring in a disciplined approach to government subsidies. The offshoot of his honest and disciplined approach earned him respect from subsequent administrations. A report which was later tagged the Onosode report, an outgrowth of his role as the chairman of the commission to review Nigerian parastatals was the first in the nation to tackle comprehensively, the industrialization drive and capital spending which dominated the oil boom of the 1970's and the early 1980's. The report identified five major defects in planning which it believed had become evident by the end of 1983:

  • Public capital expenditure rose during the oil boom at a much faster rate than Nigeria's physical, technical or financial abilities.
  • Huge expenditure on particular industrial projects did not yield expected returns because of "inappropriate choices in their selection, size, design, location and management."
  • Government policies laid too much emphasis on industrialisation, without regard to Nigeria's resource base and comparative advantage.
  • Frequent changes in fiscal and monetary policies created planning problems for the private sector.
  • The exchange rate of the naira was not managed "to reflect the basic strength of the economy and the need to encourage domestic production.[6]


In 1995, he became the Chairman of the Niger Delta Environmental Survey, a non-governmental organization that conducted scientific studies on environmental and social impact assessment of oil exploration in the Niger delta. The survey was partly financed by Shell. The survey reports which apportioned responsibilities and blame for much of the environmental degradation in the region on oil operators, the federal government and communities has not been made public.

Deacon Onosode is an alumni of the University of Ibadan, and has contributed immense time to see through philanthropic and governing matters concerning the university. He is currently Pro-Chancellor of the University and Chairman of its Governing Council.[7]

He is also a devout christian and started Good News Baptist Church in his Sitting Room on 1st Feb.1984. Good News Baptist Church is now a large church of over 2000 people and has become a force to reckon with in the Nigerian Baptist Convention in terms of missions and evangelism. Mr. Gamaliel Onosode was the inaugural Chairman of the Global Missions Board of the Nigerian Baptist Convention. In addition, Onosode is Chairman of the Governing Council of the Nigerian Baptist Theological Seminary, Ogbomoso, Nigeria's oldest degree awarding theological institution, which would, in 2008 be marking 110 years of its existence while the University of Ibadan would be 60 years old.

[edit] References

  1. ^ Toyin Falola; The History of Nigeria, Greenwood Press, 1999. pp219
  2. ^ "NATIONAL CHAMPIONS, WORLD CLASS BRANDS." Thisday, (Nigeri)July 17, 2006.
  3. ^ "Self-Relections On A Challenging But Eventful And Rich Life, GAMALIEL O. ONOSODE AT 70." THE GUARDIAN (Nigeria) May 17, 2003
  4. ^ Tom Forrest; Politics and Economic Development in Nigeria, Westview Press, 1995 pp175-185
  5. ^ "Nigeria sets up task force to review capital projects." December 1, 1983, Thursday. Financial Times (London,England)
  6. ^ "ANDREW GOWERS, " Devastating chronicle of mismanagement." February 25, 1985,, Financial Times (London,England)
  7. ^ Tunde Sanni, "UI WORKERS SUSPEND STRIKE.", July 17, 2006 , This Day (Nigeria)