Viola Onwuliri
| Viola Adaku Onwuliri | |
|---|---|
 Prof. Onwuliri | |
| Minister of Foreign Affairs | |
|
In office 2013–2014 | |
| Preceded by | Olugbenga Ashiru |
| Succeeded by | Aminu Bashir Wali |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
18 June 1956 Mbaise |
| Nationality | Nigeria |
| Spouse(s) | Celestine Onwuliri |
| Alma mater |
University of Nigeria, Nsukka University of Jos Howard University Harvard University |
Viola Adaku Onwuliri (born 18 June 1956) is a university professor of Biochemistry who served as Nigeria's Minister of Foreign Affairs and a Minister of State for Education.
Life
Onwuliri was born in Mbaise in Imo state in 1956. She attended Owerri Girls' Secondary School before the University of Nigeria in Nsukkawhere she achieved a 2:1 in Biochemistry. She also attended the University of Jos where she achieved a PGCE, an MSc and a PhD. She then went for certificate courses at Howard University and Harvard School of Public Health in the USA.[1]
Onwuliri returned to Nigeria where she took a job as a graduate assistant in 1981 and worked her way up to a professorship in Biochemistry in 2004 at the University of Jos. She has over 50 publications and she was at Jos until 2006,[1]
In 2011 she was a candidate to be a deputy governor of Imo state,[2] but she became a junior minister and she made the news when she called for Libya's ruler, Moammar Gadhafi, to resign as the Libyan rebel council best represented the Libyan people.[3] The same month, as the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, she visited the scene of the Abuja United Nations bombing which killed over 20 people. She was quoted saying: "This is not an attack on Nigeria but on the global community. An attack on the world."[4] Another disaster was the Dana Air Flight 992 plane crash in June 2012 that killed her husband Celestine Onwuliri and over 150 others. He had been the Vice-Chancellor of the Federal University of Technology.[5]
In 2013 she was one of the delegates chosen by the President to attend the Papal inauguration of Pope Francis together with David Mark, President of the Senate and Stella Oduah-Ogiemwonyi, Minister of Aviation.[6] Onwiliri is a Catholic and in 2014 she was presented with an award by the Diocesan President of the Catholic Women's Organisation in recognition of her role as a "pillar of the CWO".[7]
President Goodluck Jonathan moved her from the Foreign Office to be the Minister of State for Education in October 2014 when Ezenwo Nyesom Wike resigned.[8]
References
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Viola Onwuliri. |
- 1 2 Viola Onwuliri CV, Nigerian Embassy to Japan, Retrieved 10 February 2016
- ↑ Viola Adaku Onwuliri, Notable Nigerians, OnlineNigeria.com, Retrieved 10 February 2016
- ↑ Nigeria Recognizes Libya Rebels, 22 August 2011,Voice of America, Retrieved 10 February 2016
- ↑ BBC (26 August 2011). "Abuja attack: Car bomb hits Nigeria UN building". BBC News. Retrieved 10 February 2016.
- ↑ I Still Miss My Late Husband, Says Foreign Affairs Minister, Prof Viola Onwuliri, IMOTrumpet, Retrieved 10 February 2016
- ↑ "Pope Inauguration: David Mark To Lead FG Delegation To Vatican City | INFORMATION NIGERIA". Informationng.com. Retrieved 10 February 2016.
- ↑ The Sage Newspaper, Cover, Vol. 5, No 25 Nneoma Award as Celebration of Successful Motherhood …Prof. Viola Onwuliri and Mazi Clement Owunna Honored as Pillars of CWO….178 Mothers Decorated as Nneoma, 22 October 2014,The Age Newspaper, Retrieved 10 February 2016
- ↑ Cabinet reshuffle: Onwuliri now Minister of Education (State), 22 October 2014, Retrieved 28 February 2016