Chief Emeka Anyaoku, Nigeria attended University College, Ibadan, as a college scholar and obtained an honours degree in classics from the University of London. His career as a public servant began when he joined the Commonwealth Development Corporation. Following Nigeria’s independence in 1960 he joined his country’s diplomatic service, and was posted in 1963 to Nigeria’s Permanent Mission to the United Nations in New York. In 1966, he was seconded by his Government to the newly established Commonwealth Secretariat. In 1975 he became Assistant Secretary-General, and two years later was elected Deputy Secretary-General by the Commonwealth governments. Nigeria’s civilian Government called on Chief Anyaoku to become Nigeria’s Foreign Minister in 1983. On the overthrow of that Government, he returned to his position as Deputy Secretary-General of the Commonwealth, with the support of the new Government in Nigeria and the endorsement of all other Commonwealth governments. In 1989, at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Kuala Lumpur, Chief Anyaoku was elected as the Secretary-General of the Commonwealth Secretariat. He was re-elected for a second five-year term beginning (1995-2000). In 1980, Chief Anyaoku was installed Ichie Adazie of Obosi, a traditional Ndichie chieftaincy role, performing the duties of this office since that time. Upon leaving his Commonwealth position in 2000, Chief Anyaoku has returned to Nigeria. He is currently the Chairman of the Presidential Advisory Council on International Relations. He is also a Distinguished Visiting Fellow at the London School of Economics, International President of the World Wildlife Fund for Nature (WWF), and the President of the Royal Commonwealth Society and Royal Africa Society. Chief Emeka Anyaoku’s career spans more than three decades of Commonwealth initiatives and negotiations in Africa, Asia, the Caribbean, Europe and the Pacific. Among the many issues in which he was directly involved in the negotiations were those leading to the independence of Zimbabwe and Namibia, and the end of apartheid in South Africa. Chief Anyaoku has spearheaded Commonwealth contributions to international cooperation on major global issues, and in this context has established close links of cooperation with the United Nations and other international organizations. He has participated in and addressed many of the major global and international conferences and summit meetings. Chief Anyaoku holds 28 honorary degrees from different universities, and many honours and honorary appointments. A biography of Chief Emeka Anyaoku, authored by Phyllis Johnson, with a foreword by Nelson Mandela, entitled Eye of Fire: A Biography of Chief Emeka Anyaoku The Man and his Work, was first published in 2000 by Africa World Press, Trenton, New Jersey, USA. The memoirs of Chief Emeka Anyaoku, with a foreword by Nelson Mandela, entitled The Inside Story of the Modern Commonwealth was published in 2004 by Evans Brothers Ltd of 2A Portman Mansions, Chiltern Street, London W1U 6NR, UK.

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