Obadiah Mailafia

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Obadiah Mailafia
Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria
In office
5 May 2005 – 26 March 2007
Personal details
Born24 December 1956
Randa,
DPhil Oxon
Websitemailafia.com

Obadiah Mailafia born on (24 December 1956 – 19 September 2021) was a Nigerian development economist and the

African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States (ACP), the 79-nation multilateral development institution based in Brussels, Belgium.[5]

Early life and education

Mailafia was born on 24 December 1956 in the village of Randa in Sanga Local Government Area of Kaduna State. His father Baba Mailafia Gambo Galadima was an Evangelist with the Evangelical Reformed Church of Central Nigeria (ERCC).[6] Mailafia was raised as a missionary child in a multiracial environment. His parents later transferred to Murya, Lafia, in Nasarawa State, where he grew up.[7]

He started his elementary education at Musha Sudan United Mission School from 1964 to 1969 and proceeded to Mada Hills Secondary School, Akwanga from 1970 to 1974. He won the Commissioner of Education's Award and for his 'A' Levels, he attended the School of Basic Studies (SBS) at

M.Sc. from the same institution. He subsequently applied for a French Government Scholarship to France, where he earned a Certificate in French Language and Civilization from the University of Clermont-Ferrand in 1985. In 1986 he also earned the Diplôme (equivalent to an M.Phil.) in International economics from the Institut International d’Administration Public (IIAP), the international wing and sister institution of the prestigious École Nationale d'Administration
(ENA) of France.

Mailafia later went to the United Kingdom as a

DPhil from the University of Oxford in 1995.[8]

Career

Mailafia began his career teaching

Foreign Minister
and subsequently United Nations adviser for Political Affairs.

From 1982 to 1989, Mailafia was a Fellow and sometime Acting Research Director of the

.

From 1990 to 1995, Mailafia was resident tutor and lecturer in the economics and politics of developing areas at Plater College Oxford at the time an associate college of the

Regents Business School London
(1998–2000).

From 2001 to 2005, Mailafia served as a chief economist in the Strategic Planning and Budgeting Department of the

NEPAD
and its secretariat.

Mailafia was secretary to the senior management committee and special negotiating team for the Ninth Replenishment of the

IMF
).

From 2005 to 2007, Mailafia served as Deputy Governor of the

IMF and the World Bank
. He was a principal actor in the banking consolidation exercise of 2005–2006 that led to the reform of the Nigerian banking sector. He oversaw the reduction of the number of commercial banks, through mergers and acquisitions, from 89 to 25 consolidated banks; an exercise that was widely regarded as one of the most successful such efforts anywhere in the developing world in recent times.

From 2010 to 2015, Mailafia was the Chief of Staff (Chef de Cabinet) to the 79-member nation African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) Group of States based in

EU funding for ACP countries under the 10th European Development Fund (EDF) and €31.5 billion for the 11th European Development Fund covering the years 2015–2020.[17]

Mailafia was also in liaison with the European Investment Bank (EIB) on the management of €5 billion Intra-ACP Resources Fund being managed by the EIB, comprising the Africa Infrastructure Fund and the ACP-EIB Investment Facility. He was also the chair of the ACP Strategic Management Group and the draftsman for the Secretariat's Strategic Plan, Renewal and Transformation (2011–2014).

Political career

Mailafia ran for presidency of the

Federal Republic of Nigeria in the 2019 presidential elections under the platform of the African Democratic Congress (ADC).[18] He entered politics after the famous historic “handshake” by the coalition of the Middle Belt Forum (MBF) and the South Afenifere of Yoruba land, Ohanaeze Ndigbo and PANDEF of Niger Delta.[19]

Death

Mailafia died from COVID-19[20][21] 19 September 2021 at the National Hospital, Abuja, Nigeria.

Selected publications

  • Mailafia, O. Europe and Economic Reform in Africa: Structural Adjustment and Economic Diplomacy (400-page textbook), New York and London: Routledge, 1997;
  • Mailafia, O. ”The Social Character of Nigerian Diplomats,” in Sunny G. Tyoden (ed.), Essays on Nigerian Foreign Policy, National Institute Press, 2007.
  • Mailafia, O. (ed.) Challenges and Opportunities in the Nigerian Economy (edited), NIPSS Press, 1989.
  • Mailafia, O. “Human Rights and Global Distributive Justice”, Anikpo & G. Shepherd (ed.) Emerging Human Rights: African Political Economy Context, New York: Greenwood 1990.
  • Mailafia, O., Capital Markets Liberalization in Developing Economies: Theories and Evidence, Text of paper delivered at the CBN Senior Executive Seminar held in Calabar, February 2007.
  • Mailafia, O., “Economic Reform in Nigeria: Lessons from the Asia Pacific,” in Paul Collier and Charles Soludo (eds.), Economic Reform and Policy Choice in Nigeria, Oxford University Press (forthcoming).
  • Mailafia, O. “Industrial Policy in Nigeria: Report Submitted to the International Group on Industrial Policy in Middle and Low-Income Countries, Sponsored by the German Ministry for Development Cooperation, Bonn, Germany, German Institute for Development, December 2009.
  • Mailafia, O. “The Prospects for Democracy in Central and West Africa", “Paper Prepared for the Commonwealth Foundation", London, June 2010.
  • Mailafia, O., Europe Seen from Africa, book chapter contribution in Stefan Schepers & Andrew Kakabadze (eds.), Rethinking the Future of Europe: A Challenge of Governance, London: Palgrave Macmillan, 2014.
  • Mailafia, O., Fighting Corruption and Growing a Sustainable Nigerian Economy, Being Text of Federal Corporation of Nigeria (FRCN) Annual October Lecture, Abuja, Thursday 27 October 2016.

References

  1. ^ Akinkuotu, Eniola (8 October 2018). "Ex-CBN deputy gov emerges as ADC presidential candidate". Punchng.com. Retrieved 26 February 2019.
  2. ^ "Mailafia Emerges ADC Presidential Candidate". Thisdaylive.com. 9 October 2018. Retrieved 26 February 2019.
  3. ^ a b "Central Bank of Nigeria:: List of Retired Directors". Cbn.gov.ng. Retrieved 2 March 2019.
  4. ^ "badiah O. Mailafia: Know Your Presidential Candidate (2019 Elections)". Infomediang.com. 10 October 2018. Retrieved 26 February 2019.
  5. ^ "ACP Chef de Cabinet Dr Obadiah Mailafia and ACP Chief Legal Counsel Ms Katalaina Sapolu - ACP". Acp.int. Retrieved 2 March 2019.
  6. ^ "Kumm, (Hermann) Karl Wilhelm (1874-1930) and Lucy Evangeline [Guinness] (1865-1906) - History of Missiology". Bu.edu. Retrieved 2 March 2019.
  7. ^ "Soludo's Successor: Yar'adua, Consider Obadiah Mailafia". Nigeriavillagesquare.com. Archived from the original on 27 February 2019. Retrieved 26 February 2019.
  8. ^ "Obadiah Mailafia". Blerf.org. 13 March 2017. Retrieved 26 February 2019.
  9. ^ Ajaja, Tunde (20 May 2017). "As a corp member, my students thought I was Fulani dropout –Mailafia, former CBN deputy governor". Punchng.com. Retrieved 26 February 2019.
  10. ^ "Home - National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies - Kuru". Nipsskuru.gov.ng. Retrieved 2 March 2019.
  11. ^ "Richmond Business School – Richmond University". Archived from the original on 27 February 2019. Retrieved 26 February 2019.
  12. ^ "African Development Bank - Building today, a better Africa tomorrow". African Development Bank. Retrieved 2 March 2019.
  13. ^ "CODESRIA". Codesria.org. Retrieved 2 March 2019.
  14. ^ "Home". AERC - African Economic Research Consortium. Retrieved 2 March 2019.
  15. ^ "The African Capacity Building Foundation". Acbf-pact.org. Retrieved 2 March 2019.
  16. ^ "Homepage - European Investment Bank". Eib.org. Retrieved 2 March 2019.
  17. ^ "European Development Fund (EDF)". International Cooperation and Development. 18 July 2013. Retrieved 2 March 2019.
  18. ^ "African Democratic Congress (ADC) – Arise and Shine". Archived from the original on 26 September 2018. Retrieved 26 February 2019.
  19. ^ "Buhari has abandoned talks with Niger Delta leaders". Puchng.com. 13 September 2018. Retrieved 2 March 2019.
  20. ^ "Report: UniAbuja hospital says Mailafia died of COVID-19, denies claim of shabby treatment". 21 September 2021.
  21. ^ "Obadiah Mailafia, former CBN deputy governor, dies after brief illness". Okay.ng. 19 September 2021. Retrieved 19 September 2021.