Oby Ezekwesili

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Obiageli Ezekwesili (28 April 1963), also known as Oby Ezekwesili, is a Nigerian chartered accountant from Anambra state.

She is married to Redeemed Christian Church of God's Pastor Nedu Ezekwesili. (RCCG).

She was one of the pioneers of Transparency International, based in Berlin, Germany, and was one of the original founders of the global anti-corruption body.

During Olusegun Obasanjo's second term as Federal Minister of Solid Minerals and then as Federal Minister of Education.

Since then, she has been Vice President of the World Bank's Africa division from May 2007 to May 2012, and Makhtar Diop has been the Vice President of the African division.

Ezekwesili was a finalist for the Nobel Peace Prize in 2018 for her work in secrecy in the extractive sector.

Early life

Ezekwesili was born in Lagos state to Benjamin Ujubuonu, who died in 1988, and Cecilia Nwayibuonu.

Education

Ezekwesili obtained a bachelor's degree from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, a master's degree in International Law and Diplomacy from the University of Lagos, and a Master of Public Administration degree from Harvard University. She worked with Deloitte and Touche and became a chartered accountant.

Ezekwesiili worked at the Center for International Development at Harvard before being a consultant on the Harvard-Nigeria Economic Strategy Project.

Personal life

She is married to Pastor Chinedu Ezekwesili of the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG) and she has three children: Chinemelum, Chinweuba, and Chidera.

Ezekwesili submitted a petition against Japhet Omojuwa in April 2021, alleging that the Inspector General of Police had fraudulently used her name as a director in his company, Alpha Reach Company Limited.

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Career

Ezekwesili served as Federal Minister of Solid Minerals and then as the Federal Minister of Education. She served as the vice president of the World Bank's Africa region from May 2007 to May 2012, and Makhachtra Diop followed her.

She is a senior fellow at the YALE Jackson School of Global Affairs.

She was a co-founder of Transparency International, and she was one of the first leaders of the international anti-corruption body headquartered in Berlin, Germany.

Ezekwesili joined the Olusegun Obasanjo administration as the first head of the Budget Monitoring and Price Intelligence Unit (aka Due Process Unit). It was in this capacity that she received the nickname "Madam Due Process" for her role in assisting a team of researchers to sanitize the public procurement and contracting processes at the federal level in Nigeria. During her six and a half years in government, she was the architect of the Bureau for Public Procurement, the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) Act, and the new Minerals and Mining regulations.

Ezekwesili was appointed Minister of Solid Minerals (Mines and Steel), where she oversaw a reform initiative that culminated in Nigeria's global recognition as a reputable mining destination. She was also the Chairperson of the NEITI and was in charge of the first national implementation of the global guidelines and principles of transparency in the oil, gas, and mining industries.

Ezekwesili was named Federal Minister of Education in June 2006, a position she held until she took up a World Bank appointment in May 2007.

Ezekwesili led the reform and refocusing of the Education Ministry for the achievement of Education for All (EfA) targets and Millennium Development Goals while serving in government. She also developed public-private partnerships for education service delivery, redesigned the Federal Inspectorate Service as an enhanced quality assurance service, and established transparency and accountability tools for improved budget control.

Ezekwesili was named vice president for Africa's Africa region in March 2007, which began on May 1st 2007.

She successfully ended her stint as vice president of the World Bank's Africa region in 2012. She was in charge of the bank's operations in 48 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa and oversaw a $30 billion lending portfolio.

Later career

As a senior economic advisor for Open Society, a group founded by George Soros, Ezekwesili, recommends nine reform-committed African heads of state, including Paul Kagame of Rwanda and Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf of Liberia.

Ezekwesili, one of the world's top telecommunications companies with presence in 20 countries, appointed Ezekwesili as a director on its board on October 1st. She is also on the boards of World Wildlife Fund, the School of Public Policy of Central European University, the Harold Hartog School of Government and Policy, New African newspaper, Women Political Leaders, Fundacao Dom Cabral, and the Center for Global Leadership Tufts University. She was elected to the board of trustees of the International Bureau of Fiscal Documentation (IBof Fiscal Documentation), where she assists in managing growth in developing economies in April 2020. She is also the co-chair of the World Economic Forum Africa Regional Stewardship Board.

In January 2019, Ezekwesili was elected onto the Nexford University's advisory board and launched a scholarship program devoted to women in Nigeria. Nexford University announced her as a member of the board of directors in December 2021.

She is also the Senior Economic Advisor to the Africa Economic Policy Initiative and a member of the Institute for State Effectiveness's advisory board.

Ezekwesili made a address at the national summit of the All Progressive Congress (APC), Nigeria's top opposition party, in March 2014. She chastised the numerous cross-carrier governors and advised the party to have "deeper discussions than just how you're going to chase (the ruling) PDP out of office."

After nearly 300 mostly Christian girls were kidnapped from Chibok by the Islamist militant group Boko Haram, Ezekwesili's Bring Back Our Girls (BBOG) advocacy group brought worldwide notice to the plight of all persons kidnapped by terrorists from Nigeria's war ravaged northeast region. She was instrumental in the launch of the viral #Advocacy and #BringBackOurGirls campaign on social media, which became a hit globally. On April 23, she encouraged Nigerians not to tweet but actively participate in attempts to "bring back our girls" during the opening ceremony for a UNESCO event honoring the city of Port Harcourt as the 2014 World Book Capital city.

She was arrested by Nigeria's undercover service, SSS, as she attempted to board a British Airways flight to London to appear on the BBC show Hard Talk in July 2014, which also confiscated her passport. She was released later that morning in the same morning.

She is the founder and convener of the #RedCardMoment campaign.

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Awards and recognition

• In 2006, Ezekwesili was given the national award of Commander of the Order of the Federal Republic (CFR).
• In May 2012, Ezekwesili was awarded an honorary Doctor of Science (DSC) degree by the University of Agriculture, Abeokuta in Nigeria. She was selected as one of the BBC's 100 Women in 2013 and 2014.
• In December 2012, Ezekwesili was named by the New African magazine as one of the 100 Most influential Africans.
• In December 2014, Ezekwesili was named again among the 2014 most influential Africans - Civil Society and Activism by the New African magazine.
• In March 2016, Ezekwesili won the 2016 New Africa women award.
• In July 2016, Ezekwesili was awarded an honorary graduate degree by the University of Essex, United Kingdom, where she presented an inspiring and impassioned speech to the graduating students.
• In March 2019, Ezekwesili won the Forbes Woman Africa Social Influencer Award for her efforts on the #BringBackOurGirls campaign on social media.
• In 2019, she was awarded a Richard Von Weizsäcker Fellowship at the Robert Bosch Academy in Berlin.
• She was selected as a 2020 Global Leadership Awards honoree. Also named as one of 100 visionaries featured in the 3D book "Genius:100 Visionary Thinkers launched in Montreal, Canada in 2017 by Albert Einstein's Foundations.
• In 2020, she was invested as a global leader by the Vital Voices Global leadership awards.
• She was recognized by Time magazine as one of its 100 Most Influential People and by the New York Times as one of the 25 Women of Impact for 2015.
• She holds the Robert F. Kennedy Award for Excellence in Public Service of the Harvard Kennedy School of Government, and the Tuft University EPIIC Jean Meyer Award. She is a Democracy Ambassador -International IDEA, and a 2018 Nobel Peace Prize nominee.
• She is one of the 100 Genius Visionaries inducted by the Genius 100 Foundation.
• In August 2021, Ezekwesili joined Yale University's Jackson School of Global Affairs as a senior fellow.
• On May 20, 2022, Dr Oby received the most impactful woman of the year Award. It was hosted by The Women of inestimable values foundation impact makers award to celebrate impact makers across the world.