Michael Omolewa

Michael Abiola Omolewa is a Nigerian diplomat, scholar, education historian, and civil servant. From September 2003 to October 2005, he served as the 32nd president of the General Conference of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). While president, Omolewa led UNESCO to adopt the International Declaration on Human Genetic Data and the Convention for the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage. From January 2000 to August 2009, Omolewa served as permanent delegate and ambassador of Nigeria to UNESCO. At University of Lagos, on Wednesday 6 February 2019, Omolewa delivered the 5th Enoch Adeboye Annual Birthday Public Lecture; titled: Peace: The Global Quest.

At the age of ten, Omolewa's believing father: Daniel Omilusi, a Senior Chief of the Ipoti-Ekiti region of Nigeria, granted some missionaries; including David Babcock – first Adventist missionary to West Africa, permission to spiritually and educationally mentor young Michael, who was born as 11th child in Omilusi's large family; and was brought up with the prestige that Africa gives the son of a village chief or leader.

In September 2008, Omolewa was given the President's award for distinguished contribution to world peace and solidarity by Bulgaria's President Georgi Sedefchov Parvanov. Also during 2008, Omolewa was inducted into the University of Oklahoma's International Adult and Continuing Education Hall of Fame.

Under Omolewa's servant leadership plus efforts as Ambassador and Permanent Delegate to UNESCO, Nigeria was, in 2007, proposed for 6 additional World Heritage Sites – namely: Arochukwu Long Juju of Aro Confederacy: Igbo Land; Surame Cultural Landscape; Oke Idanre: Idanre Hill; Ogbunike Caves; Ancient Kano City Walls and Associated Sites, Kano and Alok Ikom Stone Monoliths.

Also, Omolewa facilitated the nomination and inscribing, in July 2005, of Osun Osogbo Sacred Grove as a UNESCO World Heritage Site; as well as UNESCO's establishment of a Category 2 Institute for African Culture and International Understanding in Abeokuta, Nigeria during April 2009.

On 29 September 2003, Omolewa, as Ambassador and Permanent Delegate of Nigeria to UNESCO became the first West African to be elected President of the General Conference (GC) of UNESCO for the following two years. The GC of UNESCO is the highest decision making and governing body of that United Nations specialised agency.

In January 2000, President Olusegun Obasanjo first appointed Omolewa to a 5-year term as Permanent Delegate and Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Nigeria to UNESCO in Paris. Consequently, before he left for France, Omolewa took leave of absence as a professor at University of Ibadan. For his services to Nigeria and humankind worldwide, President Obasanjo, in January 2005, reappointed Omolewa to a second 5-year term as Permanent Delegate and Ambassador of Nigeria – to enable him complete his tenure as President of UNESCO's General Conference – to which he had been earlier elected in September 2003.

He is a board member of ILI: International Literacy Institute – within Graduate School of Education, established by UNESCO and the University of Pennsylvania: United States of America in 1994; plus Member, Board of Governors: Christ the Redeemer’s College, Sagamu; as well as Deputy chairman of the board of Governors: Christ the Redeemer's College, United Kingdom; including being Board of Trustees Member at Babcock University. Omolewa is also on the Editorial Boards of New York-based International Journal of Higher Education and Washington D.C. based ASALH: Association for the Study of African American Life and History's Journal of African American History; including Journal of Research in International Education and International Journal of Lifelong Education.

In 1994, Professor Omolewa became a Member of the Nigerian National Commission for UNESCO, and subsequently, the Commission's chairman of the Education Sector. He was a Consultant on educational issues to the British Council, USAID, UNICEF, World Bank and UNESCO; including being among the team that prepared foundational, background document for the United Nations Literacy Decade.

Professor Omolewa served as Dean of the Faculty of Education at the University of Ibadan; Nigeria's oldest University, from 1985 to 1987. He was Chairman of the Committee of Deans of Education of Nigerian Universities from 1986 to 1987. Subsequently, from 1987 to 1990, he served as Head of Nigeria's oldest Department of Adult Education; and was reappointed to a second term from 1994 to 1997. During his tenure, the Adult Education Department was awarded the UNESCO International Reading Association Literacy Prize in 1989. He also led his Education Faculty's research team to become runner-up for the UNESCO Institute for Education (UIE) International Literacy Research Award in 1992. From April 1991 to April 1993 Omolewa was chairman, General Studies Programme University of Ibadan; and from 1979 to 1999, he was Member of Senate at the same University.

For a year, from September 1975 to September 1976, Omolewa was at Faculty of Education King's College London. Later on, from September 1983 to September 1984, he studied at Adult education department of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada based University of British Columbia – with an October 1983 to November 1983 attachment to Athabasca University. Also, for more studies, UNESCO Institute for Education, Hamburg: West Germany welcomed Omolewa from October to November 1988. From May to June 1991, he took an Advanced Christian Leadership course at Haggai Institute, Singapore.

The University of Ibadan was Omolewa's next point of call, from 1964 to 1973. While there, he:

This move to have him mentored by missionaries gave Omolewa the opportunity to see his future with God given purpose, hope, perseverance, vision and discipline. Born on Tuesday 1 April 1941 in Ipoti-Ekiti, Ekiti State: Nigeria, Omolewa attended Ibadan Grammar School, Ibadan from 1955 to 1958. Subsequently, he schooled at Ekiti Parapo College, Ido-Ekiti from 1959 to 1960; and later went to Christ's School Ado Ekiti from 1962 to 1963.