Meet Niyi Ojuolape
EARLY LIFE AND EDUCATION
Niyi was born in Akure, Ondo State, Nigeria. His father, Justice Edward Ojuolape, is a retired High Court judge of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
Niyi started his educational journey and had his SSCE at Federal Government College Ido Ani, Ondo State in 1986. He obtained his Bachelor of Science Degree in Banking and Finance from the Ondo State University in 1990, as well as a Master’s degree in Finance from the University of Calabar, Cross River State. Niyi also holds a second Master’s of Science degree from Bocconi University Italy in the Management of International Organisations and was named the valedictorian of the 2019 class.
Niyi is an Alumnus of John Hopkins Center for Communication Programs on Leadership in Strategic Communication, Baltimore, Maryland USA. He is also a member of the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations (NIPR) and Society for AIDS in Africa (SAA).
EARLY CAREER
Niyi held the position of chief program officer of donor coordination for the National Agency for the Control of AIDS (NACA) in Nigeria, where he coordinated the communications, donor activities and the development of resource mobilization strategies that led to an increase of $150 million in funding for the Agency’s portfolio over a five-year period. He has also worked as the special assistant to the Minister of Health in Nigeria – Late Babatunde Osotimehin. He played an integral role in the success of the Ministry of Health’s supervision of approximately 4000 staff members and a budget of about $1.2 billion. He also worked on several World Bank-funded projects between 2002 and 2005.
UNITED NATIONS POPULATION FUND
Mr. Niyi Ojuolape is the UNFPA Representative for Somalia. He has previously served as UNFPA Representative for Ghana. Prior to this role, he served as UNFPA’s Chief of Staff a.i. at the Headquarters in New York and before that, as the Special Assistant to the Executive Director. In that position, Mr. Ojuolape doubled as the Head of Secretariat of the Executive Committee. In the course of his rich career in the international development sphere, he also worked in the Democratic Republic of Congo, as the Deputy Representative a.i. of the organization, liaising with political influencers within government, colleagues and Development Partners for the initiation of the landmark advocacy on Demographic Dividend.
Before joining UNFPA in 2011, Mr. Ojuolape served the Nigerian Government in different capacities, as Special Assistant to the Minister of Health and as the Chief Programme Officer for Donor Coordination in the Nigerian National Agency for the Control of AIDS (NACA). In that Agency, he worked between 2002 and 2009 on several bilateral and multilateral projects alike including those funded by DFID, the World Bank and the Global Fund.
Mr. Ojuolape holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Banking and Finance, a Masters in Finance as well as Masters from Bocconi University in the Management of International Organizations.
Niyi has outstanding skills in strategic planning, change management, stakeholder analysis and communications and advocacy. He is fluent in English and Yoruba languages. He also gets by with the french language.
Niyi is happily married and blessed with three lovely children.