Obasanjo Secures United Nations Appointment

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has been appointed into the United Nations (UN) High-Level Advisory Board on Mediation along with 17 other current and former global leaders.

UN Secretary-General, Antonio Gutierrez in a statement announced the establishment of the board, which he explained would advise him on mediation initiatives and back specific mediation efforts around the world.

Gutierrez said the Board was established as part of the “surge in diplomacy for peace” which he has consistently advocated.

In the announcement of the appointments, UN described the former Nigerian President as one of the most distinguished elder statesmen of Africa.

The statement reads, “He served as President of the Republic of Nigeria from 1999 to 2007, and before that as the Head of the Federal Military Government of Nigeria and Commander-in-Chief of the Nigerian Armed Forces from 1976 to 1979. Over his long career, Mr. Obasanjo has been involved in numerous international mediation efforts, including in Angola, Burundi, Mozambique, Namibia and South Africa.

“In 2008 he was appointed the UN Secretary-General’s Special Envoy on the Great Lakes region.”

Also appointed into the board are President Michelle Bachelet (Chile) who is serving her second non-consecutive term as president; Radhika Coomaraswamy (Sri Lanka); a 2011 Nobel Peace Laureate, Leymah Gbowee (Liberia); Jean-Marie Guéhenno (France), former President of Finland, Tarja Halonen (Finland); David Harland (New Zealand), Noeleen Heyzer (Singapore), and Nasser Judeh (Jordan).

Others are Ramtane Lamamra (Algeria), Graça Machel (Mozambique), Asha-Rose Migiro (Tanzania), Raden Mohammad and Marty Muliana Natalegawa (Indonesia), Roza Otunbayeva (Kyrgyzstan), Michèle Pierre-Louis (Haiti), José Manuel Ramos-Horta (Timor-Leste), Gert Rosenthal (Guatemala) and Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby (United Kingdom).