Bolaji Akinyemi
Encyclopedia
Nigeria
Nigeria , officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a federal constitutional republic comprising 36 states and its Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. The country is located in West Africa and shares land borders with the Republic of Benin in the west, Chad and Cameroon in the east, and Niger in...
n professor of political science who was his country's External Affairs Minister
Foreign Minister of Nigeria
The Nigerian foreign ministry is a statutory body created to handle the external push of Nigeria's domestic vision and ideals; it is headed by the Foreign Minister of Nigeria. As of late its mission has geared towards increasing awareness about Nigeria's economic potential...
from 1985 to late 1987. He is chairman of the National Think Tank.
Early life, academic career, and personal life
Akinyemi was born in IlesaIlesa
Ilesa is a city located in the south west of Nigeria; it is also the name of a historic state centered around that city. The state was ruled by a monarch bearing the title of Owa Obokun Adimula of Ijesaland...
, in what is now Osun State
Osun State
Ọṣun State is an inland state in south-western Nigeria. Its capital is Osogbo. It is bounded in the north by Kwara State, in the east partly by Ekiti State and partly by Ondo State, in the south by Ogun State and in the west by Oyo State. The state's current governor is Rauf Aregbesola, who was...
. He attended Igbobi College in Yaba from 1955 until 1959, Christ's School in Ado Ekiti from 1960 to 1961, Temple University
Temple University
Temple University is a comprehensive public research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Originally founded in 1884 by Dr. Russell Conwell, Temple University is among the nation's largest providers of professional education and prepares the largest body of professional...
, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
, United States, from 1962 to 1964, Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University
Tufts University
Tufts University is a private research university located in Medford/Somerville, near Boston, Massachusetts. It is organized into ten schools, including two undergraduate programs and eight graduate divisions, on four campuses in Massachusetts and on the eastern border of France...
, Medford
Medford, Massachusetts
Medford is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, in the United States, on the Mystic River, five miles northwest of downtown Boston. In the 2010 U.S. Census, Medford's population was 56,173...
, Massachusetts
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
, US, 1964 to 1966, and Trinity College
Trinity College, Oxford
The College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity in the University of Oxford, of the foundation of Sir Thomas Pope , or Trinity College for short, is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. It stands on Broad Street, next door to Balliol College and Blackwells bookshop,...
, Oxford University, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, from 1966 until 1969.
He was a visiting professor at the Graduate Institute of International Studies
Graduate Institute of International Studies
The Graduate Institute of International Studies, best known as HEI , was founded in 1927 as one of the first institutions in the world dedicated to the study of international relations...
in Geneva
Geneva
Geneva In the national languages of Switzerland the city is known as Genf , Ginevra and Genevra is the second-most-populous city in Switzerland and is the most populous city of Romandie, the French-speaking part of Switzerland...
and at the Diplomacy Training Programme, University of Nairobi
University of Nairobi
The University of Nairobi is the largest university in Kenya. Although its history as an educational institution goes back to 1956, it did not become an independent university until 1970 when the University of East Africa was split into three independent universities: Makerere University in...
, Kenya
Kenya
Kenya , officially known as the Republic of Kenya, is a country in East Africa that lies on the equator, with the Indian Ocean to its south-east...
, both in 1977. He was Regents Lecturer at the University of California, Los Angeles
University of California, Los Angeles
The University of California, Los Angeles is a public research university located in the Westwood neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, USA. It was founded in 1919 as the "Southern Branch" of the University of California and is the second oldest of the ten campuses...
, US in 1979, Professor of Political Science at the University of Lagos
University of Lagos
The University of Lagos - popularly known as Unilag - is a federal government university with a main campus located at Akoka, Yaba and a college of medicine located at Idi-Araba, all in Lagos, Lagos State, southern Nigeria...
, from 1983 until 1985, and Visiting Fellow, St. John's College
St John's College, Cambridge
St John's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college's alumni include nine Nobel Prize winners, six Prime Ministers, three archbishops, at least two princes, and three Saints....
, Cambridge
Cambridge
The city of Cambridge is a university town and the administrative centre of the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It lies in East Anglia about north of London. Cambridge is at the heart of the high-technology centre known as Silicon Fen – a play on Silicon Valley and the fens surrounding the...
, England in 1984.
Akinyemi was Director-General of the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs
Nigerian Institute of International Affairs
The Nigerian Institute of International Affairs was established in 1961, to provide a platform of ideas on what direction Nigeria should follow on international policies, having regards to relationship with the outside world. The institute is headed by a Director-General, as of date in person of...
(NIIA) from 1975 until 1983. The NIAA is an organization focusing on Nigerian foreign policy; while he was Director-General, it was involved in promoting Nigerian-Angola
Angola
Angola, officially the Republic of Angola , is a country in south-central Africa bordered by Namibia on the south, the Democratic Republic of the Congo on the north, and Zambia on the east; its west coast is on the Atlantic Ocean with Luanda as its capital city...
n relations, among other things.
He married Rowena Jane Viley in 1970. They have one son and three daughters.
Term as External Affairs Minister
Akinyemi was appointed Minister of External Affairs by military leader Ibrahim BabangidaIbrahim Babangida
General Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida CFR DSS mni , popularly known as IBB, was a Nigerian Army officer and military ruler of Nigeria...
in 1985. While in this position, he originated the Technical Aid Corps (TAC), a program which sent Nigerian professionals overseas to engage in volunteer work. It was designed to "promote the country's image and status as a major contributor to Third World and particularly African development". He also came up with the concept of the "Concert of Medium Powers".
In his position as Minister of External Affairs, Akinyemi headed numerous Nigerian delegations. Among the delegations he headed were his country's delegations to the United Nations
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
General Assembly
United Nations General Assembly
For two articles dealing with membership in the General Assembly, see:* General Assembly members* General Assembly observersThe United Nations General Assembly is one of the five principal organs of the United Nations and the only one in which all member nations have equal representation...
Session (1985), the Organisation of African Unity, Council of Ministers Session (1986), the Non–Aligned
Non-Aligned Movement
The Non-Aligned Movement is a group of states considering themselves not aligned formally with or against any major power bloc. As of 2011, the movement had 120 members and 17 observer countries...
Foreign Ministers Conference
Non-Aligned Foreign Ministers Conference
The Non-Aligned Foreign Ministers Conference was held in Georgetown, Guyana from 8 August to 11 August 1972.During the conference, a monument to the four founders of the Non-Aligned Movement - President Nasser of Egypt, President Kwame Nkrumah of Ghana, Jawaharlal Nehru of India and President Josip...
(1986), the United Nations General Assembly Annual Session (1986), the United Nations General Assembly Special Session on the Critical Economic Situation in Africa (1986), the Budget Session of the Council of Ministers of the Organisation of African Unity (1987), the Ordinary Session of the Council of Ministers of the Organisation of African Unity (1987), the United Nations General Assembly Session (1987), and to the Extra–Ordinary Session of the Council of Ministers of the Organisation of African Unity devoted to African debt (1987).
In 1987, Akinyemi stated his support for Nigeria developing nuclear weapon
Nuclear weapon
A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, either fission or a combination of fission and fusion. Both reactions release vast quantities of energy from relatively small amounts of matter. The first fission bomb test released the same amount...
s. He referred to the proposal as the "black bomb," and said that "Nigeria has a sacred responsibility to challenge the racial monopoly of nuclear weapons."
Later life
During the short-lived Third RepublicNigerian Third Republic
The Third Republic was the planned republican government of Nigeria in 1993 which was to be governed by the Third Republican constitution.- Founding :...
of 1993, he called on the military to overthrow Ernest Shonekan
Ernest Shonekan
Ernest Adegunle Oladeinde Shonekan is a British trained Nigerian lawyer, industrialist, politician and traditional chieftain. He was appointed as interim president of Nigeria by General Ibrahim Babangida on 26 August 1993. Babangida resigned under pressure to cede control to a democratic government...
's administration; Sani Abacha
Sani Abacha
General Sani Abacha was a Nigerian military leader and politician. A Kanuri from Borno by tribe, he was born and brought up in Kano, Nigeria. He was the de facto President of Nigeria from 1993 to 1998....
, Defense Minister at the time, later did so, and assumed the position of head of state. Akinyemi was later among those who opposed Abacha's regime.
In August 2007, President Umaru Yar'Adua appointed him to the newly-created Electoral Reform Panel.