Geoffrey Onyeama | |
|---|---|
 Geoffrey K. J. Onyeama | |
| Minister for Foreign Affairs | |
| In office 11 November 2015 –29 May 2023 | |
Geoffrey Jideofor Kwusike Onyeama // (born 2 February 1956 [1] ) is a Nigerian diplomat and politician who served as the minister for foreign affairs of Nigeria from November 2015 to May 2023. [2] [3] [4] He was appointed minister by President Muhammadu Buhari. [5]
Onyeama was born to the family of Nigerian jurist Charles Onyeama. [6] His family has links to the Nigerian chieftaincy system; his grandfather, Onyeama of Eke, was a paramount chief in Colonial Igboland. [7]
Onyeama holds a Bachelor of Arts (B.A) degree in political science from Columbia University in 1977 and a Bachelor of Arts (B.A) degree in law from St John's College, Cambridge, in 1980. He holds a Master of Law (LL.M) from the London School of Economics and Political Science in 1982 and a Master of Arts (M.A) in Law from St John's College, Cambridge in 1984. [8] Onyeama was admitted as a Barrister-at-Law of the Supreme Court of Nigeria in 1983 and was also called to the English Bar at Gray's Inn in 1981. [8]
Onyeama began his career as a research officer in the Nigerian Law Reform Commission Lagos from 1983 to 1984. He then worked as a lawyer with Mogboh and Associates in Enugu, Nigeria from 1984 to 1985. In 1985, he joined the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) as an assistant programme officer for development cooperation and external relations, Bureau for Africa and Western Asia. He rose through the ranks at the WIPO to become deputy director general for the development sector in 2009. In November 2015 he was appointed Nigeria's minister of foreign affairs by President Muhammadu Buhari. [9]
Onyeama is married and has three children. His current wife is Sulola, with whom Onyeama has two children. Previously, Onyeama was married to Christian Onoh's daughter, Nuzo Onoh, who is a renowned international author and the first African recipient of the Bram Stoker Lifetime Achievement Award, and they have a daughter together, Candice Onyeama, a screenwriter and filmmaker. [10] [11]
On 19 July 2020, Onyeama went into medical isolation, after announcing that he had tested positive for COVID-19. [12] In late August 2020, Onyeama recovered from COVID-19 coronavirus disease; and went back to his leadership service as HMFA: Honourable Minister for Foreign Affairs at Nigeria's Ministry of Foreign Affairs. [13] [14] [15]
Author Dillibe Onyeama (1951–2022) was his brother. [16]
The president of Nigeria, officially the president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria is the head of state and head of government of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. The president directs the Executive Branch of the Federal Government and is the commander-in-chief of the Nigerian Armed Forces.
Muhammadu Buhari is a Nigerian statesman who served as the president of Nigeria from 2015 to 2023. A retired Nigerian Army major general, he served as the country's military head of state from 31 December 1983 to 27 August 1985, after taking power from the Shehu Shagari civilian government in a military coup d'état. The term Buharism is used to describe the authoritarian policies of his military regime.
Enugu State is a state in the South-East geopolitical zone of Nigeria, bordered to the north by the states of Benue and Kogi, Ebonyi State to the east and southeast, Abia State to the south, and Anambra State to the west. The state takes its name from its capital and largest city, Enugu. The city acquired township status in 1917 and was called Enugwu-Ngwo. Due to the rapid expansion towards areas owned by other indigenous communities, it was renamed Enugu in 1928.
Ibrahim Agboola Gambari, CFR ; born November 24, 1944), is a Nigerian academic and diplomat who served as Chief of Staff to the President of Nigeria from 2020 to 2023.
George Akume ; born 27 December 1953) is a Nigerian politician who is the 21st and current Secretary to the Government of the Federation. He served as Minister of Special Duties and Inter-Governmental Affairs from 2019 to 2023, during the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari. He was the Senator representing Benue North-West Senatorial District between 2007 and 2019. He was also the Minority Leader of the Senate from June 2011 to June 2015. He served as the Governor of Benue State from May 1999 to May 2007.
Babagana Kingibe OV GCON is a Nigerian diplomat, politician and civil servant who has held several high ranking government offices, culminating in his appointment as the Secretary to the Government of the Federation from 2007 to 2008. He spent over a decade in the Foreign Service cadre and has been in politics since the 1970s, serving six heads of state; most recently as a member of the inner circle of President Muhammadu Buhari.
James Ifeanyichukwu Nwobodo is a Nigerian businessman and politician who was governor of Anambra State (1979–1983) during the Nigerian Second Republic and was Senator for Enugu East Senatorial District in Enugu State (1999–2003). In 2003, he ran unsuccessfully in the Nigerian Presidential elections.
Christian Chukuwuma Onoh, popularly known as CC Onoh, was a Nigerian businessman and lawyer who became governor of Anambra State in 1983 at the end of the Nigerian Second Republic. He was also the father-in-law of Emeka Ojukwu.
Layiwola "Lai" Mohammed is a Nigerian lawyer and politician who served as the minister of Information and Culture of Nigeria from November 2015 to May 2023. He is also the former National publicity secretary of the All Progressives Congress.
Sadiya Umar Farouq is a Nigerian politician who served as the Pioneer Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development.
Abba Kyari was a Nigerian lawyer who served as Chief of Staff to the President of Nigeria from August 2015 to April 2020.
Charles Dadi Umeha Onyeama was a Justice of the Supreme Court of Nigeria, the first Nigerian judge at the International Court of Justice, and father of Nigerian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama, and writer Dillibe Onyeama. He was also grandfather to Scottish professional rugby player, Andrew Onyeama Christie.
Nuzo Onoh is a Nigerian-British writer. She grew up the third of eight children of the late Chief Mrs Caroline Onoh, a former headteacher. Her father was Chief Dr. C.C Onoh, the wealthy landowner, lawyer, politician, and former governor of Anambra State. She experienced the Biafran war with Nigeria (1967–70) as a child refugee within numerous Biafran villages and towns and at the age of 13, she was the victim of an attempted "exorcism" by a local pastor. Due to this experience, she advocates for greater awareness of ritual child abuse in African communities. On 17 June 2023, Nuzo Onoh became a recipient of the 2022 Bram Stoker Lifetime Achievement Award. The award is conferred on "an individual whose work has substantially influenced the horror genre", and "is an acknowledgment of superior achievement in an entire career." Nuzo is the first African and Black-British to win this award.
Boss Mustapha is a Nigerian lawyer and politician who served as Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) of Nigeria from 2017 to 2023, and Chairman of the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19.
Mohammed Hassan Abdullahi is a Nigerian lawyer and politician. He was appointed Nigeria's Minister of Environment by President Muhammadu Buhari in April 2022, having been redeployed from the Ministry of Science and Technology where he was Minister of State. He served in his new position until May 2023. He was Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice for Nasarawa State and the Secretary to the State Government (SSG). He is a solicitor and advocate of the Supreme Court of Nigeria.
Charles Dillibe Ejiofor Onyeama was a Nigerian author and publisher. In 1969, he became the first black person to finish his studies at Eton College in England. He wrote a book about his experiences of racism at Eton, Nigger at Eton, which resulted in his being banned from visiting the school by then-headmaster Michael McCrum.
Imaan Sulaiman-Ibrahim, is a Nigerian politician and businesswoman. She was the director-general of National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons, NAPTIP from 1 December 2020 till 27 May 2021, when the Nigerian President, Muhammadu Buhari announced a swap and she was redeployed as the Honourable Federal Commissioner of the National Commission for Refugees, Migrants, and Internally Displaced Persons.
The 2023 Enugu State gubernatorial election took place on 18th March 2023, to elect the Governor of Enugu State, with Peter Mbah declared winner alongside his running mate Barrister Ifeanyi Ossai of the Peoples Democratic Party (Nigeria), after they got the plurality of votes and won over 25% of the votes in two-third of the state. Mr Mbah polled 160,895 votes to defeat his closest challenger, the Labour Party (Nigeria) candidate, Chijioke Edeoga, who scored 157,552 votes. The candidate of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), Frank Nweke Jr, garnered 17,983 votes to come a distant third, while the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Uche Nnaji, placed fourth, with 14,575 votes. The election was contested in the Tribunal by Chijoike Edeoga but the tribunal eventually upheld the victory of Peter Mbah.
The First Cabinet of President Muhammadu Buhari consists of the ministers appointed in the Buhari Administration to take responsibility for each of the government ministries of Nigeria following the 2015 elections. Most ministers were sworn in on 11 November 2015 and the cabinet was dissolved on 28 May 2019, the day before Buhari's second inauguration.
Nura Abba Rimi is a Nigerian diplomat who currently serves as the Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment. He was Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Nigeria to the Arab Republic of Egypt, with concurrent accreditation to the State of Palestine and the State of Eritrea.