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| Chief Emeka Anyaoku | |
|---|---|
| Name | Emeka Anyaoku |
| Honorific prefix | Chief |
| Birth date | 18 January 1933 |
| Birth place | Obosi, Anambra State, Nigeria |
| Nationality | Nigerian |
| Occupation | Diplomat, statesman |
| Known for | Third Secretary-General of the Commonwealth of Nations |
Chief Emeka Anyaoku (born 18 January 1933) is a Nigerian diplomat and statesman who served as the third Secretary-General of the Commonwealth of Nations from 1990 to 2000. A career diplomat in the Foreign Service of Nigeria and the Commonwealth Secretariat, he played roles in regional diplomacy involving Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, South Africa, Zimbabwe and Sierra Leone and engaged with global institutions including the United Nations, the African Union, and the Organisation of African Unity.
Anyaoku was born in Obosi, Anambra State, to an Igbo family with ties to Onitsha and Anambra. He attended local schools before entering King's College, Lagos and later studied at University College, Ibadan where he read History; subsequent postgraduate study included training in London at King's College London and attachments at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, the Royal Institute of International Affairs and the University of Oxford. Early influences included Nigerian leaders such as Nnamdi Azikiwe, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, Sir Ahmadu Bello and pan-African figures like Kwame Nkrumah, Julius Nyerere and Haile Selassie.
Joining the Foreign Service of Nigeria in the 1950s, Anyaoku served under Nigerian Heads of State and Prime Ministers including Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa, Yakubu Gowon, Shehu Shagari, Olusegun Obasanjo and Ibrahim Babangida. Early postings included assignments in missions associated with United Kingdom, United States, Ghana and Sierra Leone, and liaison work with the United Nations and the Commonwealth Secretariat. He worked on issues tied to decolonisation, regional cooperation with Economic Community of West African States, and mediation efforts touching Biafra and the Nigerian Civil War. Collaborations included counterparts from Ghana Foreign Ministry, Kenyan Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Zambia and Tanzania.
Appointed Secretary-General in 1990, he followed Sir Shridath Ramphal and preceded Don McKinnon. His tenure involved engagement with leaders such as Nelson Mandela, F. W. de Klerk, Robert Mugabe, John Major, Margaret Thatcher, Tony Blair, Bill Clinton, George H. W. Bush, Kofi Annan, Thabo Mbeki, Hosni Mubarak and Annan-era institutions. Key Commonwealth initiatives under his leadership included interventions in South Africa during the transition from apartheid, electoral observation missions in Zambia, Malawi, and Lesotho, and conflict mediation in Sierra Leone, Fiji and Nigeria. He navigated constitutional debates at Commonwealth Heads of Government Meetings and worked with bodies like the Commonwealth Foundation and the Commonwealth Secretariat to promote human rights, democratic standards and multilateral dialogue among members such as India, Pakistan, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Barbados, Trinidad and Tobago and Malaysia.
After leaving office in 2000, Anyaoku engaged with international organisations and foundations including the United Nations Development Programme, the Carter Center, the International Crisis Group, the Africa-America Institute and the Royal Commonwealth Society. He advised political processes in Nigeria during transitions involving Olusegun Obasanjo and Goodluck Jonathan, supported reconciliation initiatives in Sierra Leone and Liberia alongside figures like Kofi Annan and Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, and participated in election observation missions with groups from European Union, African Union and Economic Community of West African States. He has held roles in academic and philanthropic institutions such as University of Lagos, Obafemi Awolowo University, University of Nigeria, Chatham House, Brookings Institution, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and the Aspen Institute.
Anyaoku has received honours from multiple states and institutions including national awards from Nigeria such as the Order of the Federal Republic, foreign honours from United Kingdom, Canada, South Africa and Ghana, and honorary degrees from University of Oxford, Harvard University, University of London, University of Ibadan, University of Cape Town, University of Toronto and Yale University. He is a recipient of prizes and recognitions from organisations such as the Commonwealth Foundation, the Royal Society of Arts, the International Peace Institute, Amnesty International and the International Crisis Group for contributions to diplomacy, reconciliation and development.
Anyaoku is married and has family roots in Anambra State and connections to the Igbo cultural sphere including Onitsha and Nri. His legacy is reflected in the work of successor Commonwealth Secretaries-General like Don McKinnon and Paddy Ashdown, the strengthening of Commonwealth election observation practices, and ongoing reference by African and Caribbean governments to norms he helped develop. Institutions that preserve aspects of his work include the Commonwealth Secretariat, the Royal Commonwealth Society, and archives at bodies such as Chatham House and the University of Oxford. He remains cited in biographies and studies alongside African statesmen like Chinua Achebe, Wole Soyinka, Adekunle Fajuyi, Festus Okotie-Eboh, Nnamdi Azikiwe and scholars at SOAS University of London.
Category:Nigerian diplomats Category:Secretaries-General of the Commonwealth of Nations Category:1933 births Category:Living people