The Board Of Trustees
Professor Akpan H. Ekpo, FNES
Chairman
Professor Akpan H. Ekpo, FNES
Chairman
Professor. Akpan Hogan Ekpo obtained a BA (Cum Laude Hons) in Economics from Howard University, Washington, D. C. USA. He received the MA. (Econs) and Ph.D. (Econs) from the University of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA. His areas of specialization include Economic Theory (Microeconomics and Macroeconomics), Economic Development and Public Finance. He has attended refresher courses at the World Bank Development Institute, Northwestern University and Harvard University. He has lectured at Universities in the U.S.A., Zimbabwe, and Nigeria.
Professor Ekpo has published extensively in his areas of specialization in national and international journals and has consulted for several national and international organizations. He was the first occupier Chief Anthony Ani Chair, Professor of Public Finance. He has over 160 publications comprising refereed journal articles, books, chapters in books, conference proceedings and other research outlets; he has attended over 90 national and international conferences and has presented papers in most of them, 7.
Professor Ekpo has advised all levels of government (Municipal, State and Federal) in Nigeria. Between 1996 and 1999. he was Chairman. Ministerial Advisory Committee, Federal Ministry of Finance, Abuja. He was a Technical Adviser to the Vision 2010 Committee. He was Editor of the Prestigious Nigerian Journal of Economic and Social Studies from 1997 - 2003. He serves on various government boards and boards of companies.
Currently, he is a Professor of Economics and has been the vice-chancellor, of the University of Uyo, Uyo. Akwa com State - Nigeria.
He Holds membership in the following Organizations
American Economic Association, USA., 1978-present
Royal Economic Society, England, 1978 - present
National Economic Association, USA., 1980-present
Nigerian Economic Society, 1975 ( Life Member)
West African Economic Association, 1984-present
Nigerian Political Science Association, 1987-present
Nigerian Statistical Association, 1987-present
East and South African Economic Association, 1990- present
Nigerian Society for International Affairs, 1990- present
International Institute of Public Finance, Germany, 1997 – Present
African Finance and Economic Association, 2000 – present
Mrs Nne Clement Isong.
Vice Chairman
Mrs Nne Clement Isong.
Vice Chairman
Mrs Nne Clement Isong has always been interested in contributing to the development of women and children in Nigeria. She began her early career as a teacher at the Etinan Institute in the then-Eastern Region. Many of the students whom she taught have gone on to become medical doctors, scientists, politicians and high-ranking government officials.
Mrs. Isong got married in 1958 to Chief (Dr.) Clement Isong, the late former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria and erstwhile governor of the old Cross River State. She left her teaching career to pursue her higher education studies, obtaining bachelor's and master’s degrees in Nutritional Biochemistry. Nne was able to put this training to good use. As a research manager at the UAC of Nigeria from 1970-80, she contributed to the development of protein supplement foods for protein-deprived children in Nigeria. A member of the International Women’s Society, she volunteered at the Pacelli School for the Blind.
Mrs. Isong left the private sector to accompany her husband to Cross River State and return to her roots education. From 1980 to 1996, she worked as an educationist in the Cross River/Akwa Ibom State Ministry of Education, retiring as Director General (Permanent Secretary) in 1996. During this period, she contributed to the development of education in the two states. Initially, she headed the Universal Primary Education Board but she later managed that of Secondary Education. When the then Minister of Education, Professor Jubril Aminu visited Cross River State, he appreciated how Primary Education was managed centrally by the state government, a model that was headed by Mrs. Isong. Aminu had to introduce this concept at the Federal Government level.
Mrs. Isong was nominated as one of the five-member committee which developed the Primary School Management Board. She also served as a Council Member of the West African Examinations Council (WAEC), contributing to the smooth management of the council. Her performance was so exemplary that she was elected to and served on the International Governing Council of WAEC, serving on the council for 8 years.
Mr. Ubong Nna Isong
Secretary
Barr. Clement Isong Jr
Member
Barr. Clement Isong Jr
Member
Barr. Clement Isong(Jnr) was born to the family of Chief(Dr.) Clement Nyong Isong of Ikot Udo Esang and Mrs Nne Clementine Isong (nee Nne Benson Akpaete) of Itot Ese both of ONNA Local Government Area in Akwa Ibom State. He studied law (LLB Hons) at the University of Lagos from 1978 to 1981, attended the Nigerian Law School, Lagos from 1981 to 1982 and served his NYSC in the Ministry of Justice Aba, Imo State of Nigeria from 1982 to 1983. Having begun work in Ibadan with the firm of Akinjide and Co, due to family responsibilities, he returned to Calabar in 1984 and joined the Ministry of Justice, and with the creation of Akwa Ibom State in 1985, he moved to the Akwa Ibom State Ministry of Justice overseeing the Ikot Ekpene office.
His duties included the writing of legal opinions and litigation. The reasons for his having to return home having abated, he applied to and was recruited by Total Nigeria Plc in Lagos as the Company Lawyer from the 1st of January 1989 to set up the Company Legal department and was appointed Company Secretary/Legal Adviser in 1993. During a period of fast-paced corporate reform in Nigeria, he worked closely with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Nigerian Stock Exchange, the Central Bank, the Federal Ministry of Finance and other governmental bodies to bring into effect these reforms in the company. He oversaw the legal restructuring of Total’s subsidiaries in Nigeria including Total Industries Ltd, Nigerian Gas Cylinders Manufacturing Company Ltd, Total Agrik Ltd and Rhone Total Ltd.
Barr. Clement Isong also assumed the role of Company Secretary of Total Upstream Ltd. He was expatriated to France in early 1997 where he worked in Total’s French retail business in the Pricing, Management Controls and Systems Department. Exposed to the entirety of the Total Retail operations in France, he became one of the Total Group’s experts in station retail operations. He returned to Nigeria in late 1998 and was appointed the Regional Manager of Total’s Mid-Western Region which he ran, successfully testing the new concepts and models he had acquired during his stay in France. Following the Group merger between the Total and Fina Groups and then later the TotalFina and Elf Groups in the year 2001, the Africa Middle East Division in Total’s downstream business set up a team of experts in collaboration with the consultant firm McKinsey and Co. in a project named OM+ to identify the best practices from all three companies as well as build policies, strategies and tools for the optimization of its business in the Africa Middle East Region. Clement was chosen from Total Nigeria to participate in this project and worked in the Retail Business and New Business teams writing up the Retail policy, developing new income streams and drafting the model dealer license agreement. Returning to Nigeria later that year, he took the role of General Manager of Strategy where his role was to oversee the implementation of the policies and tools which had been defined by the Paris OM+ project team in all aspects of the downstream business such as supply, transport, logistics, purchasing, retail, general trade, and finance, articulate Total Nigeria’s strategy and benchmark its performance vis a vis its peers in the downstream industry.
Barr. Clement Isong was also the interface with PPPRA on margin and pricing issues as well as being in charge of building investment files for Total Nigeria’s investments. He was appointed General Manager Administration in 2003 where his primary mission was the restructuring of Total Nigeria to fully take the benefits of its merger with Elf Nigeria Limited as well as oversee the human resources and general administration of the company and prepare its future.
In 2006 he was posted to Total Malawi as Managing Director where he oversaw the acquisition of Mobil Malawi and its integration with Total Malawi to fully realize the benefits of the acquisition. While in this job, he was elected the Chairman of Petroleum Importers Limited, a role which saw him collaborating with the Government of Malawi to review and restructure the country's petroleum products import system for the country.
In 2009 he was promoted to the position of Head of Sustainable Development for the Africa Middle East Division based in Paris, a position which saw him overseeing the Total Group’s downstream sustainable development activities in 54 countries, constantly travelling, engaging with such international institutions as the World Bank and the World Health Organization as well as many Governments, Non-Governmental Organizations and Civil Society Organizations, to bring funding, expertise and collaboration to policies geared towards human development in Africa and the Middle East. Leading the Total Group efforts and contributions in Road Safety, Access to Energy for the underprivileged, and several health issues such as Malaria, HIV AIDS and non-transmissible diseases, while on this assignment, he also jointly oversaw the building of the Group’s well-renowned University partnerships program which has now extended to 80 university partnerships worldwide. Returning to the downstream core business in 2013 as Deputy Vice President for Southern Africa based in Johannesburg, his job today consists of bringing his expertise to bear on the business development of Total affiliates in the Southern Africa region and serving as the interface between the Head office in Paris and Total downstream affiliates in Southern Africa which include Total South Africa, Total Mozambique, Total Malawi, Total Zimbabwe, Total Zambia etc.
He is also overseeing efforts to establish an affiliate in Angola and he is in constant contact with the governments in these countries to help bring Total’s expertise in Oil and Gas to their benefit as well as develop local citizens in competencies and skills in the oil sector. He married Itoro Askia Usoro now Itoro Clement Isong in 1992 and they have been blessed with 3 children.
Sen. Victor Ndoma-Egba
Member
Sen. Victor Ndoma-Egba
Member
Senator Victoria Ndoma-Egba got his LL.B degree from the University of Lagos and an LLM degree from the University of Calabar. He was called to the Nigerian Bar in 1978 and was elevated to the rank of Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) in 2004. He has been Chairman of the Nigerian Bar Association, Calabar Branch, and President of the Calabar Chamber of Commerce. He has also been Director of the Cross River Basin and Rural Development Authority, and Honourable Commissioner for Works & Transport in Cross Rivers State.
Running as a People's Democratic Party (PDP) candidate, Ndoma-Egba was elected as senator in the 5th (2003 to 2007) National Assembly representing Cross River Central Senatorial District, and was reelected in 2007 for a further four-year term. Senator Ndoma-Egba is a member of senate committees on Upstream Petroleum Resources, Human Rights and Legal Matters, and Information and Media, and is deputy chairman of the Judiciary Committee of the Nigerian Senate.
In May 2008, Ndoma-Egba spoke in favour of reform of the Nigeria Police Act, which came into effect on April 1st, 1943 and has essentially been unchanged since that time. In May 2009, he accused the Action Congress Party of delays in listing the 37 Local Council Development Areas in Lagos State in the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Representative Bola Gbabijo refuted these charges.
In September 2009 Ndoma-Egba noted that several prominent people in Cross River had defected from the Action Congress and the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) to join the PDP, saying the event was a sign that opposition has crumbled in the state. In January 2013 Ndoma-Egba said that the solution to Cross River community clashes was the National Boundary Commission becoming involved in the demarcation of boundary lines.
Ndoma-Egba was reelected as Senator for Cross River Central on 26 April 2011 on the PDP platform, winning 143,537 votes, while the runner-up was Patric Iwara of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), who gained 47,656 votes.
Following disagreements in the PDP, he joined the All Peoples Congress (APC) in November 2015. He was Deputy Leader of the 6th Senate (2007-2011) and Leader of the Senate (2011-2015). He returned to his law practice as Senior Partner in the Law Firm of Ndoma-Egba, Ebri & Co. in Abuja. In July 2016, he was appointed Chairman of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) by President Muhammadu Buhari.
Prof. Osita Ogbu OON
Member
Prof. Osita Ogbu OON
Member
Prof. Osita Ogbu was a sales manager with the Lever Brothers (Nig.) Ltd from 198 to1983, managing, at different times, the Delta District and Industrial Sales in Lagos. He was a Consultant Research Economist in the Africa Region of the World Bank in Washington D.C between 1987 and 1991. He worked for the International Development Research Centre of Canada in Ottawa and at the regional office in Nairobi as a senior program specialist from 1991 to 2001.
Osita Ogbu set up the African Technology Policy Studies Network (ATPS) as an international organization in Nairobi and was the executive director/CEO of the institution from 2001 to 2005. ATPS is an international policy research institution devoted to the promotion and application of science and technology for Africa's development.
Osita Ogbu was the Chief Economic Adviser to the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and the Cabinet Minister responsible for the National Planning Commission from 2005 to 2006. As the Chief Economic Adviser, Osita Ogbu was the Deputy Leader of the National Economic Team. He was a former Chairman of the Governing Council of the Nigerian Institute of Social and Economic Research, Ibadan.
He is currently a Professor of Economics and Director of the Institute for Development Studies at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka. He is also the MD/CEO of the African Development Solutions International Ltd. [ADSI], a knowledge-based consulting firm, in Abuja, Nigeria.
He is a current Trustee of The Clement Isong Foundation and a Director of the AfriHeritage Institution, Enugu. He serves on the Economic Advisory Committee and the Privatization Council of Enugu State.