Dr. Otive Igbuzor
Founding Executive Director of the African Centre for Leadership, Strategy & Development
Dr. Otive Igbuzor is the Chief of Staff to the Deputy President of the Senate and the Founding Executive Director of the African Centre for Leadership, Strategy & Development (Centre LSD). He was one-time International Head of campaigns of ActionAid International and Country Director of ActionAid Nigeria. ActionAid International is an international organization working with people, communities, associates and partners in over 50 countries in Africa, Asia, the Americas and Europe to eradicate poverty and injustice. He was also an honourable Commissioner in the Police Service Commission (PSC) from 2008-2013 representing civil society.
Prior to joining ActionAid, he was a Programme Co-ordinator of Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD), an independent research, information and training institution dedicated to policy-oriented scholarship on questions of democratic development and peace building in the West African sub-region. He also served as the Secretary of Citizens’ Forum for Constitutional Reform (CFCR), a coalition of over one hundred civil society organizations committed to a process led and participatory approach to constitutional reform in Nigeria.
Previously, he was a lecturer at the Delta State University, Lagos Centre and has published many scholarly articles on democracy, gender, politics and development. He is the author several books including Perspectives on Democracy and Development, Challenges of Development in Nigeria, Overcoming Challenges of Transformation in Nigeria, National Security and Policing in Nigeria, Alternative Development Strategy for Nigeria, Leadership, Development and Change, Triumphant Christian Living, Called to Serve God and Humanity and Reigning as Kings and Priests. He is the co-editor of two authoritative books on Constitution making and Constitutionalism in Nigeria: Contentious Issues in the Review of the 1999 Constitution and A Citizens’ Approach to Making a People’s Constitution in Nigeria, and two others, one on Poverty Eradication titled Poverty Eradication in Nigeria: Perspectives on a Participatory and Pro-Poor Approach and the other on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) titled Can Nigeria achieve the MDGs in 2015? In all, he has 49 academic publications including seven books and 15 articles in local and international journals.
He holds a bachelors’ degree in Pharmacy, two masters’ degrees in Public Administration and International Relations and a doctorate degree in Public Administration specializing in Policy Analysis. He was a founding and leading member of many human rights and mass democratic organizations in Nigeria in the 1980s and ’90s. He is a member of many professional associations including Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria (PSN), Nigerian Political Science Association (NPSA), Institute of Strategic Management Nigeria (ISMN) and Nigerian Institute of Management. He is a fellow of the Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria (PSN) and Institute of Strategic Management, Nigeria (ISMN).
He is a past President of Institute of Strategic Management, Nigeria (ISMN) (www.ismn.com) and President of The Ejiro & Otive Igbuzor Foundation. He sits on the board of several organisations including Oando Foundation, Police Health Maintenance Ltd (Police HMO), Mining Implementation Strategy Team (MIST), Nigerian Women Trust Fund and Partnership Opportunities for Women Empowerment Realisation (POWER).
In recognition of his leadership roles, he was appointed by the immediate past Secretary General of United Nations, Mr. Ban Ki Moon in October, 2012 into the Global Network of Men Leaders to end Violence Against Women (www.un.org).
