Adebayo Adedeji (21 December 1930 – 25 April 2018) was a
Nigerian
Nigerians or the Nigerian people are citizens of Nigeria or people with ancestry from Nigeria. The name Nigeria was derived from the Niger River running through the country. This name was allegedly coined in the late 19th century by British jo ...
economist and academic. A full-fledged Professor at the age of 36 years, he was Nigeria's Federal Commissioner for Economic Development & Reconstruction from 1971 to 1975. He was responsible for the economic development and reconstruction of post-civil war Nigeria. In June 1975, he was appointed Executive Secretary of the
United Nations Economic Commission for Africa
The United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA or ECA; , CEA) was established in 1958 by the United Nations Economic and Social Council to encourage economic cooperation among its member states (the nations of the Africa, African contin ...
and remained in this position until July 1991. Adedeji wrote the
Lagos Plan of Action of 1980 that was adopted by the UN and OAU. On his return to Nigeria, he founded the
African Centre for Development and Strategic Studies (ACDESS), a non-governmental independent continental non-profit, think-tank dedicated to multi-disciplinary and strategic studies on and for Africa. He received the national honor of
Commander of the Federal Republicbr>
In December 2010, after turning 80, he retired from public life and spent the last years of his life quietly in his home town of Ijebu-Ode, Ogun State, Nigeria.
Adedeji was elected a Fellow of the
African Academy of Sciences in 1991.
Biography
Adebayo Adedeji was born on 21 December 1930 in
Ijebu Ode, Nigeria.
Adedeji died in the evening on 25 April 2018 in
Lagos
Lagos ( ; ), or Lagos City, is a large metropolitan city in southwestern Nigeria. With an upper population estimated above 21 million dwellers, it is the largest city in Nigeria, the most populous urban area on the African continent, and on ...
after suffering from a long illness.
[ UNECA held a memorial symposium in his honor on 7 July in Lagos.]
References
External links
United Nations Economic Commission for Africa - Remembering Professor Adebayo Adedeji
1930 births
2018 deaths
People from Ijebu Ode
Under-Secretaries-General of the United Nations
Nigerian diplomats
Harvard Kennedy School alumni
Nigerian expatriates in the United States
Academic staff of Obafemi Awolowo University
Alumni of the University of London
Nigerian officials of the United Nations
Classical liberal economists
People from Ogun State
Fellows of the African Academy of Sciences
20th-century Nigerian economists
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