Mike Onolememen, Ph.D.

Dr. Michael Onolememen has devoted his adult life to public service. He served as Minister of Works of the Federal Republic of Nigeria responsible for the national road infrastructure. As Minister, he also served as the Chairman, Project Steering Committee of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Regional Highway project (Lagos-Abidjan-Dakar Corridor) constituted by the Presidents and Heads of Government of West African Countries.

In January 2007, Michael was appointed Minister of State for Defense, where he had responsibility for supervising the Nigerian Air Force, and all military training institutions in the country. He later became Chairman of the Defense Health Limited, and co-Chairman with the United States Ambassador to Nigeria on the Nigeria’s Ministry of Defense and the US Department of Defense military collaboration on HIV/AIDS. He is an alumnus of the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, Massachusetts, USA.

 A recipient of numerous awards including Nigeria’s highest National Award, Commander of the Order of the Niger (CON), the Georgia Black Congressional Caucus in Atlanta is also a Fellow of the Nigerian Institute of Architects (FNIA), a Fellow of the Nigerian Institute of Management (FNIM), and a knight of the Order of Saint Mulumba (KSM).

In 2018, Dr. Onolememen was a featured speaker at the CMPI Public Lecture Series in New York. He spoke on “The Role of the Media and Civil Society in expanding Democratic participation , Good Governance in Sub-Saharan Africa.“