Obiageli Ezekwesili

Obiageli Ezekwesili

Federal Minister of Solid Minerals, Nigeria
In office June 2005 – June 2006
Preceded by	Odion Ugbesia
Federal Minister of Education, Nigeria
In office June 2006 – April 2007
Preceded by	Chinwe Obaji
Succeeded by	Abba Sayyadi Ruma
Personal details
Born	April 28, 1963
Profession	Chartered accountant, economic policy

Obiageli Ezekwesili is a Nigerian chartered accountant. She was a co-founder of Transparency International, serving as one of the pioneer directors of the global anti-corruption body based in Berlin, Germany. She served as Federal Minister of Solid Minerals and then as Federal Minister of Education during the second-term presidency of Olusegun Obasanjo. Since then, she served as the Vice-President of the World Bank's Africa division from May 2007 to May 2012, she was replaced by Makhtar Diop.^[1]

Education

Ezekwesili holds a Master's degree in International Law and Diplomacy from the University of Lagos, as well as a Master of Public Administration degree from the Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University. She trained with the firm of Deloitte and Touche and qualified as a chartered accountant.^[2]

Prior to working for the Government of Nigeria, Ezekwesiili was working with Professor Jeffrey Sachs at the Center for International Development at Harvard.

Obasanjo government

Ezekwesili started off in the Olusegun Obasanjo administration as the Pioneer head of the Budget Monitoring and Price Intelligence Unit (aka Due Process Unit). It was in this position that she earned the sobriquet of "Madam Due Process" for the outstanding work she led a team of professionals to do in sanitising public procurement or contracting at the Federal level in Nigeria. She was the architect of the Bureau for Public Procurement legislation, the NEITI legislation and the new Minerals and Mining legislation during her six and a half years stint in government.

She was appointed Minister of Solid Minerals (Mines and Steel) in June 2005 during which time she led a vibrant reform program that led to Nigeria's global recognition as a credible mining investment destination. She was also the Chairperson of the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) and led the first ever national implementation of the global standards and principles of transparency in the oil, gas and mining sector.

In June 2006, Ezekwesili was appointed the Federal Minister of Education, holding this post until she took up her World Bank appointment in May 2007.^[2]

Later career

In March 2007, World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz announced the appointment of Ezekwesili as Vice-President for the Africa Region starting on 1 May 2007.^[2] This year, she successfully completed her stint as the World Bank Vice-President Africa Division, a position to which she was appointed in 2007. As vice-president she was in charge of the bank's operations in 48 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa and supervised a lending portfolio of over $40 billion.

Since leaving the World bank she has established herself in the Nigerian and international speaking circuits.

She was a co-founder of Transparency International and served as one of its pioneer directors. As a senior economic advisor for Open Society, a group founded by billionaire George Soros, she advises nine reform-committed African heads of state including Paul Kagame of Rwanda and Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf of Liberia.

On 1 October 2012, one of the world's leading telecommunications firm, Bharti Airtel, with operations in 20 countries, named Ezekwesili as a director on its board. She is also on the boards of World Wildlife Fund (WWF), the School of Public Policy of Central European University, The Harold Hartog School of Government and Policy, New African magazine, The Center for Global Leadership @ Tufts University.

In May 2012, Ezekwesili was awarded an honorary Doctor of Science (DSC) degree by the University of Agriculture, Abeokuta in Nigeria.

Advocacy and #BringBackOurGirls campaign

In March 2014, she delivered a keynote speech at the national summit of the All Progressives Congress (APC), the leading opposition party in Nigeria. She criticised the many migrating governors and urged the party to " a conversation deeper than how you're going to chase (the ruling)PDP out of power".^[3]

In the aftermath of the nearly 300 mainly Christian girls were abducted from Chibok by the Islamist militant group Boko Haram.,^[4]^[5]^[6] Ezekwesili was instrumental to the start of the viral #BringBackOurGirls campaign on social media, which trended internationally. She had on 23 April, at the opening ceremony for a UNESCO event honouring the city of Port Harcourt as the 2014 World Book Capital city]], urged Nigerians to not just tweet but actively participate in efforts to "bring back our girls".^[7]^[8]

As she prepared to board a British Airways flight to London to appear on the BBC programme Hard Talk in July 2014, she was detained by Nigeria's secret service, the SSS, who also seized her passport.^[9]^[10] She was later released that morning, making it just in time to the plane.

Some of the personalities who have supported the clamouring for the release of the abducted schoolgirls and the #BringBackOurGirls campaign include: Michelle Obama, Chris Brown and others.

References

↑ http://www.africareview.com/News/Senegals-Makhtar-Diop-picked-as-new-World-Bank-Africa-chief/-/979180/1309076/-/15p1jddz/-/index.html
1 2 3 "Obiageli Ezekwesili Appointed As Vice President for the Africa Region". The World Bank. 23 March 2007. Retrieved 19 February 2010.
↑ Ayokunle Odekunle, "10 things you SHOULD know about Oby Ezekwesili’s speech at the APC National summit", Naija.com.
↑ David Smith, "Military operation launched to locate kidnapped Nigerian girls", The Guardian, 14 May 2014: "Although most of the abducted girls are Christian, all were wearing Muslim dress and two were singled out to say they had converted to Islam."
↑ "Nigeria abduction video: Schoolgirls 'recognised'", BBC, 13 May 2014: "The girls' families have said that most of those seized are Christians, although there are a number of Muslims among them."
↑ Oren Dorell (21 April 2014). "Terrorists kidnap more than 200 Nigerian girls". USA Today. Retrieved 23 April 2014.
↑ Nadia Nasanovsky, "A global effort to ‘Bring Back Our Girls’", Buenos Aires herald, 8 May 2014.
↑ Emma Howard, "Bring back our girls: global protests over abduction of Nigerian schoolgirls", The Guardian, 7 May 2014.
↑ "OUTRAGE: BBOG coordinator, Oby Ezekwesili arrested, released", Today, 14 July 2014.
↑ "#BringBackOurGirls: Oby Ezekwesili detained by SSS officials in Abuja", Pulse.ng, 21 July 2014.

External links

Interview with Obiageli Ezekwesili, Vice President for the World Bank Africa Region. The World Bank, November–December 2007

Cabinet of President Olusegun Obasanjo 2003–2007

Vice President	Atiku Abubakar (May 2003–May 2007)

Agriculture (and Water Resources from Jan 2007)	Adamu Bello (July 2003–May 2007)

Aviation	Isa Yuguda (July 2003–July 2005) Babalola Borishade (July 2005–Nov 2006) Femi Fani-Kayode (November 2006–May 2007)

Commerce and Industry (initially Commerce)	Idris Waziri (July 2003–June 2006) Aliyu Modibbo Umar (Commerce July 2006–January 2007, Commerce and Industry January 2007–May 2007)

Communications (later and Information)	Cornelius Adebayo (July 2003–Aug 2006) Obafemi Anibaba (Aug 2006–Jan 2007) Frank Nweke (Jan 2007–May 2007)

Defence	Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso (July 2003–2006) Thomas Aguiyi-Ironsi (2006–May 2007)

Education	Fabian Osuji (July 2003–Mar 2005) Chinwe Obaji (June 2005–June 2006) Obiageli Ezekwesili (June 2006–May 2007)

Energy	Edmund Daukoru (July 2003–May 2007)

Environment (and Housing from Jan 2007)	Bala Mande (–July 2005) Iyorchia Ayu (June 2005–Dec 2005) Helen Esuene (Jan 2006–May 2007)

FCT Administration	Nasir Ahmad el-Rufai (July 2003–May 2007)

Finance	Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala (July 2003–July 2006) Nnenadi Usman (July 2006–May 2007)

Foreign Affairs	Oluyemi Adeniji (July 2003–July 2006) Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala (July 2006–August 2006) Joy Ogwu (August 2006–May 2007)

Health	Eyitayo Lambo (July 2003–May 2007)

Housing (merged into Environment Jan 2007)	Rahman Mimiko (June 2005–January 2007)

Information and National Orientation	Chukwuemeka Chikelu (July 2003–June 2005) Frank Nweke (June 2005–May 2007)

Industry (merged to Commerce & Industry Jan 2007)	Magaji Muhammed (–June 2005) Fidelis Tapgun (June 2005–January 2007)

Internal Affairs (Interior from January 2007)	Iyorchia Ayu (–June 2005) Magaji Muhammed (June 2005–June 2006) Oluyemi Adeniji (June 2006–May 2007)

Justice (Attorney General)	Akin Olujimi (–June 2005) Bayo Ojo (June 2005–May 2007)

Labour	Hassan Muhammed Lawal (July 2003–May 2007)

National Planning Commission	Abdallah Wali (Jan 2007–May 2007)

Police Affairs (merged into Interior in Jan 2007)	Broderick Bozimo (July 2003–January 2007)

Power and Steel	Liyel Imoke (July 2003–January 2007)

Science and Technology	Isoun Turner (July 2003–May 2007)

Solid Minerals (later Mines & Steel)	Odion Ugbesia (–June 2005) Obiageli Ezekwesili (June 2005–) Lesley Obiorah (Jan 2007–May 2007)

Sports	Musa Mohammed (July 2003–July 2005) Saidu Samaila Sambawa (July 2005–) Bala Bawa Ka'oje (–May 2007)

Tourism, Culture and National Orientation	Femi Fani-Kayode (2006) Babalola Borishade (2006–May 2007)

Transport	Precious Sekibo (July 2003–January 2007) Cornelius Adebayo (Jan 2007–May 2007)

Water Resources (merged with Agriculture Jan 2007)	Muktar Shagari (July 2003–January 2007)

Women Affairs	Rita Akpan (July 2003–June 2005) Maryam Ciroma (June 2005–May 2007)

Works and Housing	Adeseye Ogunlewe (July 2003–March 2006) Obafemi Anibaba (March 2006–Sep 2006) Cornelius Adebayo (Sep 2006–Jan 2007)

Youth Development	Frank Nweke (April 2004–June 2005) Musa Mohammed (July 2005–June 2006) S. A. Jankanda (January 2007–May 2007)

See also Cabinet of President Umaru Yar'Adua

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