NEW PERMANENT REPRESENTATIVE OF NIGERIA PRESENTS CREDENTIAL
Press Release
BIO/3257
NEW PERMANENT REPRESENTATIVE OF NIGERIA PRESENTS CREDENTIAL
19991021 Biographical Note(Based on information received from Protocol and Liaison Service.)
Arthur Christopher Izuegbunam Mbanefo, the new Permanent Representative of Nigeria to the United Nations, today presented his credentials to Secretary-General Kofi Annan.
Since July 1986, Mr. Mbanefo has run his own corporate and financial consulting organization, which provides services to the Government of Nigeria, the private sector, and several institutions and international organizations. Prior to his current appointment, Mr. Mbanefo served as Pro-Chancellor and Chairman of Council of Ahmadu Bello University (1990 to 1993), Obafemi Awolowo University (1986 to 1990), and the University of Lagos (1984 to 1986).
He is also a Fellow of the Nigerian Institute of Management and served on its Council from 1979 to 1987. From 1970 to 1971, he worked with Price Waterhouse and Company in London, and from 1968 to 1970, he was Minister for Commerce and Industries in what was then the Eastern Region of Nigeria (Republic of Biafra).
Over the years, Mr. Mbanefo has worked as a formal and informal adviser to some of the Governments of Nigeria, particularly the Federal Government, and has served on numerous national committees, commissions and investigative bodies both as a member and Chairman. In the region, he was instrumental in establishing the Association of Accountancy Bodies in West Africa in 1982 and served as its President in 1987. In the private sector, he serves on several corporate and international Boards and committees.
He is also the recipient of a number of national and international awards and medals, including from the Governments of Italy and Brazil, as well as the highest honorary Yourba Chieftaincy title in his country. In 1994, he was granted his deceased father's title of Odu of Onitsha. In 1981, the President of Nigeria decorated him with Membership of the distinguished Order of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, MFR.
Mr. Mbanefo is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales, and of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria.
Born in Onitsha on 11 June 1930, he is married and has a son.
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