Geoffrey Jideofor Kwusike Onyeama (born 2 February 1956) is Nigeria's Minister for Foreign Affairs. Onyeama was appointed

Foreign Affairs ''Foreign Affairs'' is an American magazine of international relations and U.S. foreign policy published by the Council on Foreign Relations, a nonprofit, nonpartisan, membership organization and think tank specializing in U.S. foreign policy a ...

Minister of Nigeria in November 2015 by

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 ...

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 ...

Early life and education

Onyeama was born to the family of Nigerian jurist

Charles Onyeama Charles Dadi Umeha Onyeama (26 April 1916 – 5 September 1999) was a Justice of the Supreme Court of Nigeria, the first Nigerian Judge at the International Court of Justice, and father of Nigerian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama, a ...

. His family has links to the

Nigerian chieftaincy system The Nigerian Chieftaincy is the chieftaincy system that is native to Nigeria. Consisting of everything from the country's monarchs to its titled family elders, the chieftaincy as a whole is one of the oldest continuously existing institutions ...

; his grandfather, Onyeama of Eke, was a

paramount chief A paramount chief is the English-language designation for the highest-level political leader in a regional or local polity or country administered politically with a chief-based system. This term is used occasionally in anthropological and arc ...

in Colonial Igboland. Onyeama holds a Bachelor of Arts (B.A) degree in political science from

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

, in 1977 and a Bachelor of Arts (B.A) degree in law from

St John's College, Cambridge St John's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge founded by the Tudor matriarch Lady Margaret Beaufort. In constitutional terms, the college is a charitable corporation established by a charter dated 9 April 1511. The ...

, in 1980. He holds a Master of Law (LL.M) from the London School of Economics and Political Science in 1982 and a Master of Arts (M.A) in Law from

in 1984. Onyeama was admitted as a Barrister-at-Law of the Supreme Court of Nigeria in 1983 and was also called to the English Bar of the Grey's Inn in 1981.

Career

Onyeama began his career as a research officer in the Nigerian Law Reform Commission Lagos from 1983 to 1984. He then worked as a lawyer with Mogboh and Associates in

Enugu Enugu ( ; ) is the capital city of Enugu State in Nigeria. It is located in southeastern part of Nigeria. The city had a population of 820,000 according to the 2022 Nigerian census. The name ''Enugu'' is derived from the two Igbo words ''Én ...

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 ...

from 1984 to 1985. In 1985, he joined the

World Intellectual Property Organization The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO; french: link=no, Organisation mondiale de la propriété intellectuelle (OMPI)) is one of the 15 specialized agencies of the United Nations (UN). Pursuant to the 1967 Convention Establishi ...

(WIPO) as an assistant programme officer for development cooperation and external relations, Bureau for Africa and Western Asia. He rose through the ranks at the WIPO to become deputy director general for the development sector in 2009. In November 2015 he was appointed Nigeria's minister of foreign affairs by President Muhammadu Buhari.

Personal life

Onyeama is married; and has three children. His current wife is Sulola; with whom Onyeama has two children. Previously, Onyeama was married to

Christian Onoh Christian Chukuwuma Onoh, popularly known as CC Onoh, (27 April 1927 – 5 May 2009) was a Nigerian businessman and lawyer who became governor of Anambra State in 1983 at the end of the Nigerian Second Republic. He was also the father-in-law ...

's daughter: Nuzo Onoh and they had Onyeama's first child and daughter named Candice Onyeama; a screenwriter and filmmaker. On 19 July 2020, Onyeama went into medical isolation, after announcing that he had tested positive for

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quick ...

. In late August 2020, Onyeama recovered from COVID-19 coronavirus disease; and went back to his leadership service as HMFA: Honourable Minister for Foreign Affairs at Nigeria's Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Author Dillibe Onyeama (1951–2022) was his brother.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Onyeama, Geoffrey 1956 births Living people Alumni of St John's College, Cambridge Alumni of the London School of Economics Columbia College (New York) alumni Federal ministers of Nigeria Foreign ministers of Nigeria Nigerian officials of the United Nations People from Enugu World Intellectual Property Organization people

Early life and education

Career

Personal life

See also

References