Austin Adiele Opara , (born 29 August 1963) is a Nigerian politician of the People's Democratic Party. He was raised in

Diobu, Port Harcourt Diobu is a densely populated neighborhood of Port Harcourt, Rivers State Port Harcourt (Nigerian Pidgin, Pidgin: ''Po-ta-kot or Pi-ta-kwa)'' is the capital and largest city of Rivers State in Nigeria. It is the List of Nigerian cities by p ...

and is of the Ikwerre ethnic group.

Education

Opara has a

Higher National Diploma Higher National Diploma (HND), part of the Higher Nationals suite of qualifications, is an academic higher education qualification in the United Kingdom and various other countries. They were introduced in England and Wales in 1920 alongside th ...

and a

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, B.S., B.Sc., SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree that is awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Scienc ...

in Marketing option from the

Rivers State University of Science and Technology Rivers State University (RIVSU or RSU), formerly known as Rivers State University of Science and Technology (UST or RSUST), is a government-owned university located in Diobu (Mile III) area of Port Harcourt, Rivers State, Southern Nigeria. A ...

. He obtained his Master of Business Administration, from the same institution. In addition, he is certified in Public Financial Management and Mastering Negotiations from

John F. Kennedy School of Government The John F. Kennedy School of Government, commonly referred to as Harvard Kennedy School (HKS), is the school of public policy of Harvard University, a private university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Harvard Kennedy School offers master's de ...

in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. Austin Opara equally has a PhD degree in Political Marketing from Rivers State University, Rivers State, Nigeria.

Early career

Opara started as a lecturer with the Rivers State School of Basic Studies and later as Head of Purchasing Department at Horicon Dredging Nigeria Limited,

Port Harcourt Port Harcourt (Pidgin: ''Po-ta-kot or Pi-ta-kwa)'' is the capital and largest city of Rivers State in Nigeria. It is the fifth most populous city in Nigeria after Lagos, Kano, Ibadan and Benin. It lies along the Bonny River and is locate ...

Political career

In 1999, he was elected to the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entities. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often ...

, representing Port Harcourt II (federal constituency). He was reelected in 2003 and served as the deputy speaker until 2007. While at the Assembly, he served also as deputy chairman of National Assembly Joint Committee on the Review of the 1999 Constitution, sub-chairman of House Committee on the

Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation The Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited is a state-owned oil company in Nigeria. Still a fully-owned government company, it was transformed from a corporation into a limited liability company in July 2022. NNPC Limited is the on ...

, member of House Committee on Petroleum, deputy chairman of House Committee on the

Niger Delta Development Commission The Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) is a federal government agency established by former Nigerian president Olusegun Obasanjo in the year 2000, with the sole mandate of developing the oil-rich Niger Delta region of Nigeria. In Septemb ...

and member, House Committee on National Security and intelligence. In November 2015, Opara was appointed board chairman of the Rivers State Microfinance Agency.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Opara, Austin 1963 births Living people Rivers State Peoples Democratic Party politicians People from Port Harcourt Heads of Rivers State government agencies and parastatals Rivers State University alumni Harvard Kennedy School alumni Members of the House of Representatives (Nigeria) from Rivers State Ikwerre people Peoples Democratic Party members of the House of Representatives (Nigeria) Members of the 4th National Assembly (Nigeria) Members of the 5th National Assembly (Nigeria)

Education

Early career

Political career

See also

References