Kemebradikumo Daniel Pondei is a Nigerian professor and the former acting managing director of

Niger Delta Development Commission The Niger Delta Development Commission is a federal government agency established by Nigerian president Olusegun Obasanjo in the year 2000 with the sole mandate of developing the oil-rich Niger Delta region of Nigeria. In September 2008, Presid ...

. He was appointed by the

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...

Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...

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 A ...

on 19 February 2020.

Early life and education

Pondei is from

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. Yena ...

, Nigeria. He attended Federal Government College, Port Harcourt for his secondary education. He studied medicine and surgery at

University of Lagos The University of Lagos, popularly known as UNILAG, is a public research university located in Lagos, Nigeria and was founded in 1962. UNILAG is one of the first generation universities in Nigeria and is ranked among the top universities in th ...

and preceded to

University of Nottingham , mottoeng = A city is built on wisdom , established = 1798 – teacher training college1881 – University College Nottingham1948 – university status , type = Public , chancellor ...

where he got his doctorate degree in

Microbiology Microbiology () is the scientific study of microorganisms, those being unicellular (single cell), multicellular (cell colony), or acellular (lacking cells). Microbiology encompasses numerous sub-disciplines including virology, bacteriology, ...

Career

Pondei started his career in 2001 as a

lecturer Lecturer is an academic rank within many universities, though the meaning of the term varies somewhat from country to country. It generally denotes an academic expert who is hired to teach on a full- or part-time basis. They may also conduct re ...

. He later served as the acting head of department of medical microbiology and parasitology and acting dean of faculty of

basic medical sciences Medicine is the science and practice of caring for a patient, managing the diagnosis, prognosis, prevention, treatment, palliation of their injury or disease, and promoting their health. Medicine encompasses a variety of health care pr ...

at College of Health Sciences, Niger Delta University. He served as the chairman of the

Nigerian Medical Association The Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) is the professional association and registered for Nigerian doctors and dentists. The NMA has more than 35,000 members from 36 state branches and the branch from the federal capital territory, including th ...

, Bayelsa State. Later in his career, he became a professor of medical microbiology and served as the provost of College of Health Sciences, Niger Delta University.

Acting managing director of NDDC

On 19 February 2020, the President of Nigeria,

appointed Pondei as the acting managing director of

to replace Joi Nunieh.

Corruption scandal

On 20 July 2020, Pondei slumped while being questioned by a probing panel in the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entitles. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often c ...

over an alleged abuse of ₦81.5bn between October 2019 to 31 May 2020.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pondei, Kemebradikumo Living people People from Bayelsa State University of Lagos alumni Nigerian microbiologists 21st-century Nigerian medical doctors Alumni of the University of Nottingham Year of birth missing (living people)