Omobola Olubusola Johnson (born 28 June 1963) is a Nigerian technocrat and the Honorary Chairperson of the global Alliance for Affordable Internet (A4AI).[1][2][3][4][5] She is also a former[2][6] and first Minister of Communication Technology in the cabinet of President Goodluck Jonathan.[7][3][8][9][10]

Dr. Omobola Johnson
Johnson in 2018
Minister of Information and Communication
In office
2011–2015
Personal details
Born (1963-06-28) 28 June 1963 (age 61)
Alma materUniversity of Manchester
King's College London
Cranfield University

Education

edit

She was educated at the International School Ibadan and the University of Manchester (BEng, Electrical and Electronic Engineering) and King's College London (MSc, Digital Electronics).[11] She has a Doctor of Business Administration (DBA) from Cranfield University.[12][13]

Career

edit

Prior to her Ministerial appointment she was country managing director for Accenture, Nigeria.[14] She had worked with Accenture since 1985 when it was Andersen Consulting. Johnson is the pioneer head of the country's communication technology ministry, which was created as part of the transformation agenda of the Nigerian government.[15]

Johnson co-founded a women's organization, WIMBIZ in 2001.[16] She has earned several public commendation since taking up her first government assignment as minister in 2011.[17] This is following the numerous achievements of her ministry notably among which is the launch of the NigComSat-IR Satellite.[18] This has helped to complement the country's efforts at fibre connectivity and the provision of greater bandwidth. The ministry under her watch has also deployed more than 700 personal computers to secondary schools in the first phase of School Access Programme (SAP) while about 193 tertiary institutions in the country now have internet access in the Tertiary Institution Access Programme ( TIAP) and 146 communities have access to Community Communication Centers deployed around the country.[19]

On 30 May 2013, Omobola presented the Nigerian National Broadband Plan for 2013 to 2018 to President Goodluck Jonathan.[20] Following a cabinet reshuffle by President Goodluck Jonathan in September 2013, she was given an extra task of supervising the operations of the Federal Ministry of Science and Technology.[21]

Omobola is currently a non-executive director of Guinness Nigeria PLC, MTN[22] and Chairperson of Custodian and Allied Insurance Limited.[23] She is also a senior partner with the Venture Capital Firm TLCOM.[24][25]

Personal life

edit

Omobola is married with children. Her father-in-law was Mobolaji Johnson, who was the military governor of Lagos.[26]

References

edit
  1. ^ "a4ai welcomes Dr. Omobola Johnson as new honorary chair". September 2015.
  2. ^ a b "Ex-minister, Mobola Johnson, seeks equal opportunities for career women". Punch Newspapers. 14 December 2017. Retrieved 23 May 2020.
  3. ^ a b "Vanguard newspaper – Page 213 – Channels Television". Retrieved 23 May 2020.
  4. ^ "Indigenous operators condemn government's low patronage". guardian.ng. 26 July 2016. Archived from the original on 12 October 2022. Retrieved 23 May 2020.
  5. ^ "Foreign debt: Nigeria, other debtor countries, at risk, IMF warns". The Sun Nigeria. 17 April 2018. Retrieved 23 May 2020.
  6. ^ "Ex-minister fumes over N29,000 'crazy bill' for power not used". Tribune Online. 22 May 2020. Retrieved 23 May 2020.
  7. ^ "Omobola Johnson". Omobola Johnson – World Economic Forum.
  8. ^ "Telecom operators seek executive order to stop multiple taxes". Punch Newspapers. 24 May 2019. Retrieved 23 May 2020.
  9. ^ "Buhari unfair to ministers - Omobola Johnson". Vanguard News. 17 September 2015. Retrieved 23 May 2020.
  10. ^ Johnson, Omobola (20 June 2019). "Ex-minister Harps on Gender Inclusion". THISDAYLIVE. Retrieved 23 May 2020.
  11. ^ "Omobola Johnson". World Bank Live. 29 March 2018. Retrieved 23 May 2020.
  12. ^ "Omobola Johnson". cranfield.ac.uk.
  13. ^ "Home Page of Nigeria Federal Ministry of Science and Technology". Archived from the original on 28 February 2014. Retrieved 23 February 2014.
  14. ^ "LLA 50 leading ladies in corporate Nigeria". guardian.ng. 25 May 2019. Archived from the original on 2 May 2022. Retrieved 23 May 2020.
  15. ^ "About the Ministry". commtech.gov.ng.
  16. ^ "Omobola Johnson commends Sterling Bank's high-level gender inclusion". The Guardian Nigeria News - Nigeria and World News. 20 June 2019. Archived from the original on 30 November 2020. Retrieved 23 May 2020.
  17. ^ "Digitization'll place Nigeria on global map — Johnson". Vanguard News. 3 March 2015. Retrieved 23 May 2020.
  18. ^ NIGCOMSAT LTD. "Nigeria Communications Satellite LTD". nigcomsat.com.
  19. ^ Boss Africa. "Boss Africa Magazine – Nigerian Women at the Top : Omobola Johnson Olubusola Honorable Minister of Communication Technology". bossafricamagazine.com. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 28 June 2014.
  20. ^ "FG TO PARTNER WITH IRELAND ON ICT INNOVATION". www.commtech.gov.ng. Retrieved 15 December 2018.
  21. ^ Wakili, Isiaka; Edet, Boco; Ibrahim, Yusha’u A.; Alabi, Christiana (12 September 2013). "Ministers fired in target of 'rebel' govs". Daily Trust.
  22. ^ "Johnson, Alli joins MTN in board shake-up". Punch Newspapers. 25 July 2019. Retrieved 23 May 2020.
  23. ^ "Omobola Olubusola Johnson, Tlcom Capital Partners Limited: Profile and Biography - Bloomberg Markets". Bloomberg.com. Retrieved 17 October 2020.
  24. ^ Mary Olushoga (13 April 2019). "Dr. Omobola Johnson, senior partner at TLCOM Capital speaks on what tech entrepreneurs in Africa". Guardian Woman. Retrieved 24 September 2021.
  25. ^ Henry O. Onukwuba (2018). Alumni Leadership and University Excellence in Africa: The Case of Lagos Business School. Springer. p. 46. ISBN 9783319782898. {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)
  26. ^ Tunji Olaopa (7 June 2015). "Rethinking The Capability Readiness Of The Public Service: Lessons From Minister Omobola Johnson". The Guardian. Retrieved 18 November 2020.
edit