Julie Okah-Donli (born 30 December 1966) is a Nigerian

lawyer A lawyer is a person who practices law. The role of a lawyer varies greatly across different legal jurisdictions. A lawyer can be classified as an advocate, attorney, barrister, canon lawyer, civil law notary, counsel, counselor, solic ...

, chartered secretary and administrator, who served as the Director General of the

National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons The National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) is a law enforcement agency of the Federal Government of Nigeria, founded on the 14th of July, 2003 by the Trafficking in Persons (Prohibition) Enforcement and Administr ...

(NAPTIP), an agency established by the Federal Government of Nigeria in 2003 to tackle

human trafficking Human trafficking is the trade of humans for the purpose of forced labour, sexual slavery, or commercial sexual exploitation for the trafficker or others. This may encompass providing a spouse in the context of forced marriage, or the extrac ...

and other related matters. She is the founder of the Julie Donli Kidney Foundation, an NGO that supports people with kidney disease and also mother of the musician,

Lady Donli Zainab Elizabeth Donli, known as Lady Donli, is a Nigerian musician. She is an alternative R&B, hip hop, alternative jazz and Afrobeat singer and songwriter. Biography Lady Donli was born in Cleveland, Ohio. She is the youngest of six childr ...

Early life and education

Julie Okah-Donli was born on 30 December 1966 to the family of Navy Commander. and Mrs. Okah; she comes from Bayelsa State, Nigeria. She is the author of Parenting in the 21st Century, Murky Waters and Ending Human Trafficking in Nigeria She obtained a Diploma in Law and a Degree in Law from the

Ahmadu Bello University Ahmadu Bello University Zaria is a federal government research university in Zaria, Kaduna State, Nigeria. ABU was founded on 4 October 1962, as the pioneer university in Northern Nigeria. It was founded and named after the Sardauna of Sokoto, Al ...

Zaria Zaria is a metropolitan city in Nigeria which at the present time lies within four (4) local government areas in Kaduna state; it happens to be the capital city to the Zazzau Emirate Council, and one of the original seven Hausa city-states ...

, and was

called to the bar The call to the bar is a legal term of art in most common law jurisdictions where persons must be qualified to be allowed to argue in court on behalf of another party and are then said to have been "called to the bar" or to have received "call to ...

in 1992. She won the Deans Award of Moot Court Competition.

Career

From 1996 to 2002, Okah-Donli worked at Anthony Igbene & Co. S. O Ajayi as an Associate. She worked as executive assistant to Chief Timipre Sylva, former governor of

Bayelsa State Bayelsa is one of the states in the South-South region of Nigeria, located in the core of the Niger Delta region. Bayelsa State was created in 1996 and was carved out from Rivers State, making it one of the newest states in the federation. Yenag ...

. She had also worked with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), and also a one-time head of UBA Trustees. Okah-Donli established a Legal Firm: Julie Okah & Co (Legal Practitioners) which she was the principal partner. She later founded the Julie Donli Kidney Foundation. On April 13, 2017, she was appointed by President

Muhammadu Buhari Muhammadu Buhari (born 17 December 1942) is a Nigerian politician and current president of Nigeria since 2015. Buhari is a retired Nigerian Army major general who served as the country's military head of state from 31 December 1983 to 27 Au ...

to become the Director-General of NAPTIP. She has been leading the federal agency to tackle human trafficking, including organ trafficking and ritual killing. Okah-Donli has advocated for more funding to tackle human trafficking and in inter-agency collaboration. Under her leadership as DG of NAPTIP, a Whistle Blowing Policy for Human Trafficking was formed.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Okah-Donli, Julie 1966 births Living people Ahmadu Bello University alumni Nigerian women lawyers Social entrepreneurs 20th-century Nigerian lawyers 21st-century Nigerian lawyers 20th-century women lawyers 21st-century women lawyers