About Amb. Igali

Godknows Boladei Igali is a retired Nigerian public servant, diplomat, author, and scholar. He was appointed by President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua in September 2007 as an ambassador to the Scandinavian countries – Sweden, Denmark, and Norway, a position he occupied until he was appointed a Federal Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Water Resources on 4 May 2010.

Amb Igali was born in Oporoma town, headquarters of Southern Ijaw Local Government Area, Bayelsa State, Nigeria on 4 April 1960. He hails from Eniwari town, Southern Ijaw Local Government Area, Bayelsa State. He holds a Ph.D. in political and international studies from the University of Venezuela, a master’s in international law and diplomacy (MILD) from the University of Lagos, and a B.A. (Hons) in history from the University of Port Harcourt. He also has a postgraduate diploma in international relations and undertook professional studies at the Nigerian Foreign Service Academy and the Foreign Service Academy, Islamabad, Pakistan. He is an author and expert on negotiation, conflict resolution, state formation, national integration, and sustainable development. In 2005, he received the national honors of the Officer of the Order of the Niger, (OON). He is married to Tokoni Igali, and they have four daughters and a son. He holds a chieftaincy title, the Ibetariwei “Guardian of the Interests” of Izon. He underwent theological studies under the late Bishop Harford Iloputaife at the Bible Faith Training Centre in Lagos in 1989.

Appointments

As a career Diplomat, he has served all around the world since joining the Foreign Service in 1982. During his stay at headquarters, he distinguished himself as an expert on economic diplomacy and served as secretary to about ten (10) Nigerian Economic Missions abroad between 1986 and 1991. He also served severally as secretary, committee on export to West Africa and as a special assistant to honorable ministers of foreign affairs. He was appointed the Nigerian consul general to Cameroon (1999–2005). Igali served as the special assistant (special duties) in the Nigerian Presidential Villa (2005–2006) under the President Olusegun Obasanjo administration. During that period, he was also secretary to the presidential committee on money laundering and financial crimes. In addition, he also served as secretary to the presidential subcommittee on the review of the public service rules (2005). He was later appointed secretary to the Bayelsa State government in January 2006 and was concurrently named an honorary adviser and peace envoy to the President on Niger Delta (2006–2007). He last served as Nigeria’s ambassador to the Scandinavian countries, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, and Norway (from 2008 to 2010). He was appointed in 2010 as the Federal Permanent Secretary for Water Resources and then redeployed to the Federal Ministry of Power by President Goodluck Jonathan in 2013.

During his tenure as a Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Water Resources, he undertook the most comprehensive water sector reform policy including the introduction of Public Private Partnership (PPP) in water supply which has become a reference point in the Nigeria water sector today. He also played a major role in bringing the nexus between water, energy, and agriculture through the construction of multipurpose dams in Nigeria. These dams include Gurara (which provides portable water, 30 megawatts of power, and 3,000 hectares of farmland irrigation) and Kashimbila (which provides portable water, 40 megawatts of power, and 4,000 hectares of farmland irrigation) that have been completed.