SECRETARY-GENERAL APPOINTS OLUYEMI ADENIJI AS SPECIAL REPRESENTATIVE FOR CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC
Press Release
SG/A/678
BIO/3151
SECRETARY-GENERAL APPOINTS OLUYEMI ADENIJI AS SPECIAL REPRESENTATIVE FOR CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC
19980406 Biographical Note Secretary-General Kofi Annan has appointed Oluyemi Adeniji as his Special Representative for the Central African Republic within the United Nations Mission in the Central African Republic (MINURCA).Mr. Adeniji joined the Nigerian Foreign Service in July 1960 and had a distinguished diplomatic career. In the early years, he served in the Nigerian embassies in Washington, D.C., Freetown and Accra, and in various capacities in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
From 1970 to 1973, he was Minister in the Nigerian Permanent Mission to the United Nations in New York. He was appointed Ambassador to Austria and Permanent Representative to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in 1976. From 1977 to 1981, he was Permanent Representative to the United Nations Office at Geneva and Ambassador to Switzerland. From 1987 to 1991, he was Ambassador to France. He was appointed the Director-General of the Nigerian Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1991, the post from which he retired in 1994.
Since his retirement, Mr. Adeniji has been very active in the multilateral field as member of the International Jury of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization's (UNESCO) Prize on Peace Education; member of the Core Group of the Programme for the Promotion of Nuclear Non-Proliferation; Chairman of the Group of Experts that drafted the African Nuclear-Weapon Free Zone Treaty; member of the Task Force of the International Peace Academy on the Organization of African Unity (OAU) Conflict Resolution Mechanism; and Consultant to the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) on the African Governance Forum. He is currently President and Chief Executive of the Lagos-based African Strategic and Peace Research Group, a research body which focuses on African issues relating to peace and security.
Mr. Adeniji is a well-recognized expert on disarmament and conflict resolution, and is author of several publications on both subjects.
Born on 22 July 1934 in Nigeria, Mr. Adeniji was educated at the Ijebu- Ode Grammar School, the Nigerian College of Arts, Science and Technology, and the University College, Ibadan. He holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree (Honours History) from London University. He speaks English and French, apart from his Yoruba mother tongue.
Mr. Adeniji is married and has three children.
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