Emeka Anyaoku
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Emeka Anyaoku, GCVO, CON (born January 18, 1933) was the third Commonwealth Secretary-General. He is a Nigerian of Igbo descent.
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[edit] Education
Born in Obosi, he attended the University College of Ibadan, then a college of the University of London, from which he obtained an honours degree in Classics.
[edit] Political career
In 1959, Emeka Anyaoku joined the Commonwealth Development Corporation. Following Nigeria's independence, he joined Nigeria's diplomatic service, and in 1963 was posted to its Permanent Mission to the United Nations in New York.
In 1966, he joined the Commonwealth Secretariat as Assistant Director of International Affairs. In 1968-69 there was a campaign by the Nigerian military government for the recall of Anyaoku; which said he was not a suitable Nigerian nominee, and they were anxious about his loyalty to the country of his birth. But Emeka had resigned from the Nigerian Foreign Service and Arnold had no difficulty in turning aside the demand.[1]
In 1977, the Commonwealth Heads of Government elected him as Deputy Secretary-General. In 1983, Nigeria's civilian government appointed Anyaoku to become Nigeria's Foreign Minister. After the overthrow of the government by the military later that year, he returned to his position as Deputy Secretary-General with the support of the new government in Nigeria and the endorsement of all Commonwealth governments.
At the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting at Kuala Lumpur in 1989, Anyaoku was elected the third Commonwealth Secretary-General. He was re-elected at the 1993 CHOGM in Limassol for a second five-year term, beginning on 1 April 1995.
[edit] Ichie Adazie of Obosi
Aside from his international career, Chief Anyaoku continues to fulfill the duties of his office as Ichie Adazie of Obosi, a traditional Ndichie chieftainship. In 1990, the heads of all 19 communities of the Idemili Clan in his home state of Anambra accorded Anyaoku a unique honour by investing him with the title of 'Ugwumba Idemili'. His wife, Bunmi, is also a chief - Ugoma Obosi and Idemili - in her own right, with a long involvement in welfare work in Nigeria and through Commonwealth organisations.
He is currently President of the World Wide Fund for Nature.
[edit] Personal life
Emeka Anyaoku has been married to Mrs. Bunmi Anyaoku for around 46 happy years; they were wed in 1962. Mrs. Anyaoku is part of the Royal Family from Abeokuta, Nigeria. Of their marriage, it was written in the Nigerian Sunday Times, then the widest circulating newspaper of the Country, that "it was a wedding of one of Nigeria's most eligible bachelors, and a beautiful young Princess educated in an English boarding school and Pitman College, London." They have four children, Adiba; a leading woman in her field of work, and three sons; Oluyemisi, Obiechina, and Emenike, all equally successful. Emeka has two grandchildren,born to Adiba and her husband; Irenne Ighodaro and Osita Ighodaro. Emeka Anyaoku is an Anglican, his father having converted to that faith. He writes that he is, "very comfortable being an Anglican, comfortable with the beliefs that Anglicanism represents." [2]
In October 2003 Anyaoku was awarded an honorary degree from the Open University in England as Doctor of the University.[citation needed]
[edit] References
- ^ Final Approaches: A Memoir by Gerald Hensley, page 129 (2006, Auckland University Press, New Zealand) ISBN 1 86940 378 9
- ^ Why I am Still an Anglican, Continuum 2006, page 46
| Preceded by Shridath Ramphal |
Secretary-General for the Commonwealth 1990–1999 |
Succeeded by Don McKinnon |
| Preceded by Ishaya Audu |
Foreign Minister of Nigeria 1983 – 1983 |
Succeeded by Ibrahim Gambari |
| Preceded by Sara Morrison |
President of the World Wide Fund for Nature 2001–present |
Succeeded by incumbent |
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