Victor Adekunle Adeleke, an Oyo-born career diplomat, has been appointed by Bola Tinubu, Nigeria’s new president, as State Chief of Protocol.
The newly appointed SCOP officially, began his assignment, today Monday, May 29, 2023.
An accomplished diplomat and lawyer, Ambassador Adeleke joined the Nigerian Foreign Service in 1993 and rose through the ranks, serving in various missions abroad and at the Headquarters, including the State House. His appointment is adjudged as well-deserved by his colleagues as he takes over from Ambassador Lawal Kazuare.
The new SCOP comes to the job with a huge pedigree as a career Foreign Service Officer and it’s expected that he will change the face of diplomatic protocol in the Villa.
His last appointed was as Nigeria’s Permanent Representative to the African Union (AU) and Ambassador to Ethiopia, where he served with distinction and represented the country creditably and honourably.
Born in 1967 in Ibadan, Oyo State, Ambassador Adeleke graduated from the prestigious Obafemi Awolowo University, lle-Ife with a Bachelor of Laws degree (with Honours) in June 1990. He then proceeded to the Nigerian Law School, Victoria Island, Lagos for his professional training to become a Barrister and Advocate of the Supreme Court of Nigeria in 1991, having satisfied all conditions prescribed by law. He was duly called to the Nigerian Bar by the Body of Benchers on December 10, 1991. He attended the prestigious Olivet Baptist High School, Oyo, for his secondary education.
He joined the Foreign Service in 1993.
After his diplomatic training at the Nigerian Foreign Service Academy, Lagos in 1994, he served in various capacities at home and abroad, including, Office of the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Office of the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Office of the Permanent Secretary (MFA), Administration Department, Legal & Treaties Division, Physical Planning Division, Global Institutions Division, Overseas Communications & ICT Division as well as in the Protocol Department, as Deputy Chief of Protocol/Acting Chief of Protocol.
He also served as an Assistant Director of Protocol to three of Nigeria’s former Presidents, viz: President Olusegun Obasanjo (2007), President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua (2007-2010), and President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan (2010) at the State House Protocol, Aso Rock Presidential Villa, Abuja. Also, while at Headquarters, he served as an active member of various Special Committees as well as Top Management and Policy-making Committees in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Before his appointment to the AU and Ethiopia, Ambassador Adeleke had served in many of Nigeria’s diplomatic missions notably Beijing, (China), Brasilia (Brazil), Warsaw (Poland), London (United Kingdom), and Dublin (Ireland), where he was Deputy Head of Mission. He was part of Nigeria’s delegation for the legal review of the Constitutive Act of the African Union in 2002 and to several Summits and International Conferences of ECOWAS, the African Union, the Commonwealth, the Community of Democracies, the Group of Seven (7) and the United Nations High-Level meetings (both in Geneva and New York) at different times in his career.
He has contributed significantly to the development and articulation of Nigeria’s Foreign Policy and diplomatic practices with an emphasis on institutional development, bringing to bear his legal background, in the areas of democracy, security, and peace-keeping, the transformation of the Organization of African Unity to the African Union as well as adherence to diplomatic protocols and communications, amongst others.
Ambassador Adeleke is a member of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) and the Association of Foreign Relations Professionals of Nigeria. He enjoys playing chess, lawn tennis, and golf. He is married to Mrs. Elizabeth Tolulope Adeleke and they are both blessed with three children and two grandchildren.
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