Ambassador Oluyemi Adeniji (22 July 1934 – 27 November 2017 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 ...

) was a

Nigerian Nigerians or the Nigerian people are citizens of Nigeria or people with ancestry from Nigeria. The name Nigeria was taken from the Niger River running through the country. This name was allegedly coined in the late 19th century by British jour ...

career diplomat and politician who was the Special Representative of the General Secretary with the

United Nations Mission in Sierra Leone The United Nations Mission in Sierra Leone (UNAMSIL) was a United Nations peacekeeping operation in Sierra Leone from 1999 to 2006. It was created by the United Nations Security Council in October 1999 to help with the implementation of the Lom� ...

(UNAMSIL) from November 19, 1999 to July 16, 2003. Later he was

Foreign Minister of Nigeria The Nigerian foreign ministry is a statutory body created to re-inforce foreign decision making and implementation processes in Nigeria and handle the external promotion of Nigeria's domestic vision and ideals; it is headed by a federal executive c ...

from July 2003 to June 2006, then Internal Affairs Minister from 21 June 2006 to May 2007.

Diplomatic career

Adeniji had a degree in History. He joined the Nigerian Foreign Service in July 1960. He served in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Nigerian embassies in

Washington, D.C ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

Freetown Freetown is the capital and largest city of Sierra Leone. It is a major port city on the Atlantic Ocean and is located in the Western Area of the country. Freetown is Sierra Leone's major urban, economic, financial, cultural, educational and p ...

, Sierra Leone, and

Accra Accra (; tw, Nkran; dag, Ankara; gaa, Ga or ''Gaga'') is the capital and largest city of Ghana, located on the southern coast at the Gulf of Guinea, which is part of the Atlantic Ocean. As of 2021 census, the Accra Metropolitan District, , ...

, Ghana. He retired from service in 1991 after serving as the Director-General of the ministry of foreign affairs. For five years he was the Nigerian Ambassador to France. Adeniji was the United Nations Secretary-General's Special Representative for the United Nations Mission in the

Central African Republic The Central African Republic (CAR; ; , RCA; , or , ) is a landlocked country in Central Africa. It is bordered by Chad to the north, Sudan to the northeast, South Sudan to the southeast, the DR Congo to the south, the Republic of th ...

(MINURCA). The mission was responsible for providing security in

Bangui Bangui () (or Bangî in Sango, formerly written Bangi in English) is the capital and largest city of the Central African Republic. It was established as a French outpost in 1889 and named after its location on the northern bank of the Ubangi ...

and for coordinating the legislative and presidential elections held in 1998 and 1999. He was then appointed the United Nations Secretary General's Special Representative for Sierra Leone and Head of the United Nations Mission in Sierra Leone (UNAMSIL).

Later career

Adeniji was appointed Minister of Foreign Affairs in July 2003. Beginning in early March 2008, Adeniji headed negotiations in

Kenya ) , national_anthem = "Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi , ...

related to that country's

political crisis Politics (from , ) is the set of activities that are associated with making decisions in groups, or other forms of power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of resources or status. The branch of social science that studies ...

, following the departure of the previous head negotiator,

Kofi Annan Kofi Atta Annan (; 8 April 193818 August 2018) was a Ghanaian diplomat who served as the seventh secretary-general of the United Nations from 1997 to 2006. Annan and the UN were the co-recipients of the 2001 Nobel Peace Prize. He was the founder ...

. In addition, he served on the Commission of Eminent Persons on The Role of the

IAEA The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is an intergovernmental organization that seeks to promote the peaceful use of nuclear energy and to inhibit its use for any military purpose, including nuclear weapons. It was established in 1957 ...

to 2020 and Beyond, chaired by

Ernesto Zedillo Ernesto Zedillo Ponce de León (; born 27 December 1951) is a Mexican economist and politician. He was 61st president of Mexico from 1 December 1994 to 30 November 2000, as the last of the uninterrupted 71-year line of Mexican presidents from t ...

, whose report ''Reinforcing the Global Nuclear Order for Peace and Prosperity'' was launched in June 2008. Adeniji died on 27 November 2017 in London, aged 83.

References

* * * 1934 births 2017 deaths Foreign ministers of Nigeria Interior ministers of Nigeria People from Ijebu Ode Yoruba politicians Nigerian diplomats Ambassadors of Nigeria to France Nigerian expatriates in Sierra Leone Nigerian expatriates in the United States Nigerian expatriates in Ghana {{Nigeria-politician-stub