Prince Chinedu Munir Nwoko (born December 21, 1957) popularly known as Ned Nwoko is a Nigerian lawyer, politician and philanthropist. He was a member of 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 ...

between 1999 and 2003 representing Aniocha/ Oshimili Federal Constituency, Delta State. In January 2020, he undertook a symbolic expedition to

Antarctica Antarctica () is Earth's southernmost and least-populated continent. Situated almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle and surrounded by the Southern Ocean, it contains the geographic South Pole. Antarctica is the fifth-largest contine ...

to flag off a Malaria Eradication Project. That made him the first black African to visit the

South Pole The South Pole, also known as the Geographic South Pole, Terrestrial South Pole or 90th Parallel South, is one of the two points where Earth's axis of rotation intersects its surface. It is the southernmost point on Earth and lies antipod ...

Early life and education

Prince Chinedu (Ned) Munir Nwoko was born in December 21, 1957 into the Nwoko Royal Family, Idumuje Ugboko Kingdom in Aniocha North Local Government Area. He received primary and secondary education in Nigeria. He moved on to the United Kingdom, got his first degree in Law and History at the prestigious

University of Keele Keele University, officially known as the University of Keele, is a Public university#United Kingdom, public research university in Keele, approximately from Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffordshire, England. Founded in 1949 as the University Coll ...

, Staffordshire UK. He also attended

King's College London King's College London (informally King's or KCL) is a public research university located in London, England. King's was established by royal charter in 1829 under the patronage of King George IV and the Duke of Wellington. In 1836, King's ...

, where he obtained an LLM in maritime and commercial law. Ned Nwoko was subsequently called to the English bar, at

Lincoln's Inn The Honourable Society of Lincoln's Inn is one of the four Inns of Court in London to which barristers of England and Wales belong and where they are called to the Bar. (The other three are Middle Temple, Inner Temple and Gray's Inn.) Lincoln ...

. He was awarded Honourary Doctorate degree in Letters (D.Litt) by Commonwealth University College, Belize, North America.

Career

Nwoko began his legal career with a brief start at crown prosecution service and qualified as a solicitor of the supreme court of England and Wales. He worked at Kumars Solicitors and Pascaldiers & Co Solicitors before establishing Ned Nwoko & Co Solicitors in London. Nwoko was secretary general, Nigerian legal practitioners UK, Member of the Law Society , England and Wales and was visiting adviser, citizens' advice bureau, based in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

. At the peak of his legal sojourn in UK, he had the biggest black law firm in England and was recognized as the best black lawyer of African descent in England 1995.

Politics

Nwoko returned to Nigeria in December 1998 and made a remarkable entry into Nigeria's political scene when he was elected member of the House of Representatives between 1999 and 2003. He represented Aniocha / Oshimili federal constituency, making an impressive showing in the legislative house. Ned Nwoko was instrumental to the initiation of the London and Paris Club Loans refund into Nigeria. He authored the reports that led to Nigeria government's discontinuation of monthly deductions from states’ allocations and commencement of refunds to States. Through his Law firm, Ned Nwoko Solicitors and his Company Linas International he investigated the multinational creditors and discovered discrepancies in loan repayments, and this resulted in the refund of the first tranches of loan beginning from the Obasanjo administration. He also charged the Federal government to court on behalf of 774 Local governments for the refund of illegal deductions and obtained judgment of $3.2billion for the local governments. The Federal government of Nigeria has refunded all the monies in line with the court judgment of 2013.]. Nigeria under the Buhari Administration was able to overcome her economic recession culminating in the payment of backlog of salaries of public service workers and development of infrastructure. A total of $20 billion has been refunded to States and Local Government because of his work. Nwoko also served on the Vision 2010 Committee and is a member of the capital market. He served as Chairman of the External Committee of Vision 2010. Nwoko is also the Chairman of Project Tourism Africa.

Malaria eradication advocacy

Ned Nwoko is a strong advocate of Malaria eradication in Africa. He is the initiator of the Ned Nwoko Malaria Eradication Project. He flagged off the Ned Nwoko Malaria Eradication campaign via a symbolic expedition to the

in January 2020. The Foundation is supporting the existing efforts of vaccine development by funding a research for the anti-malaria vaccine through a partnership with leading universities in Africa and other research establishments.

Visit to South Pole

In January 2020, Prince Ned Nwoko flagged off the malaria eradication campaign via a symbolic expedition to Antarctica. Ned Nwoko made history as the first black African to ever visit the South Pole, Antarctica. Ned leveraged on the global attention this expedition attracted to create awareness on the scourge of Malaria and how to permanently eradicate it in Africa. Ned and other adventurers arrived the Geographical South Pole, one of the two points where the earth’s axis of rotation intersects its surface. There he made history for Nigeria and Africa by mounting the Nigerian Flag making Nigeria the 13th country to hoist a flag there, announcing to the world that Africa is ready to solve the African problem, malaria. However, the Nigerian Government must take the necessary steps to ratify the Antarctic Treaty for the flag to remain there.

Mount Delta

Nwoko is the founder of the tourism destination Mount Delta, one of 21 tourism sites approved by Delta state government. The tourist site consists of museum, farm, zoo, fishponds, poultry and a 9-hole golf course.

Sports University

Nwoko is the founder of Sports University, located at Idumuje ugboko, the first sports University in sub Saharan Africa. The university which was granted operational license in 2022 by the federal government of Nigeria, through the National Universities Commission NUC, is offering courses in sports and other disciplines and would resume full academic activities soon.

Philanthropy

Through his foundation, Prince Ned Nwoko Foundation, he has contributed to the empowerment and education of youths of his constituency, senatorial district and state. In 2019, he donated $273,000 (N100M) for the rehabilitation of failed portions of the road linking the South Eastern Nigeria to the nation's capital,

Abuja Abuja () is the capital and eighth most populous city of Nigeria. Situated at the centre of the country within the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), it is a planned city built mainly in the 1980s based on a master plan by International Plann ...

Personal life

Ned Nwoko has several wives and has children.

Awards and recognition

* 2022: SOCIAL IMPACT PERSON OF THE YEAR – Leadership Newspaper *AWARD FOR MEDIA EXCELLENCE AND INNOVATION – Delta State University *ICON OF PHILANThROPHY AWARD – University of Nigeria, Nsukka *OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT AWARD IN PHILANTHROPY - Champion newspaper * 2018: Africa Value Awards - Effective Leadership and Youth Empowerment * 2019: Peace Achievers Awards * 2019: Delta Role Model Awards - Humanitarian Services * 2019: Prime Excellence Recognition Awards - Man of the year * 2019: Abuja AR Reporters Awards- Man of the year 2019 * 2019: Suncity Champions of Democracy Awards - Humanitarian Services * 2019: 5 stars awards for Tourism Development in Africa * 2019:

University of Nigeria, Nsukka The University of Nigeria, commonly referred to as UNN, is a federal university located in Nsukka, Enugu State, Eastern part of Nigeria. Founded by Nnamdi Azikiwe in 1955 and formally opened on 7 October 1960, the University of Nigeria has thr ...

Nigeria Philanthropy Awards * 2019: Anti corruption crusader Awards * 2019:

All Africa Music Awards All Africa Music Awards (also referred to as AFRIMA) is an annual awards event. The awards event was established by the International Committee AFRIMA, in collaboration with the African Union (AU) to reward and celebrate musical works, talents ...

AFRIMMA - Africa Community Impact Awards

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nwoko, Ned Living people Alumni of Keele University Alumni of King's College London Members of the House of Representatives (Nigeria) 20th-century English lawyers 1960 births 21st-century Nigerian lawyers