Dave Opiyo
2 May 2008
Nairobi — You rarely see him in public and very little is known about him by Kenyans.
This is unlike his predecessor, the former UN secretary-general, Mr Kofi Annan, who helped broker a peace deal between President Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga.
Meet Mr Oluyemi Adeniji, the man steering the National Dialogue and Reconciliation team, seeking to resolve the current political crisis facing the country.
Indeed, ever since landing into the country almost two months ago, Mr Adeniji has only addressed one press conference. He says that he likes keeping a low profile, but is keen on succeeding in his work.
Father of three
Mr Adeniji, a father of three, describes himself as neither an introvert nor an extrovert, but an individual who always prefers compromise in all his undertakings.
Says the soft-spoken career diplomat: "People should learn to talk and resolve their differences amicably instead of making rash decisions this is indeed the essence of diplomacy."
He adds: "The question of being a hardliner should not arise at all. We should know that we need each other if the country is to succeed we should always tolerate each other's views at all time."
He says that Kenyans should consider themselves lucky as the post election violence did not escalate to alarming levels.
He says; "Kenya had for a long time been considered a beacon of hope, and that is why countries across the world would not stomach it going down the drain, just like the other war-ravaged countries."
Mr Adeniji says if both African and Western countries intervened in other trouble spots, as quickly as they did in Kenya, then the world would be a much better place than it currently is.
Short memories
With the peace deal now in place, Mr Adeniji warns Kenyans not to sit back and be contented with the political settlement, but strive to resolve all the remaining issues that triggered the post election violence.
He regrets that Kenyans had a tendency of having short memories - forgetting very fast, some of the issues that caused bad blood amongst them during the electioneering period.
"That is why the very issues re-appear in every electioneering period. This is the time Kenyans should take advantage of the platform provided for by the mediation team, to resolve all these issues," he adds.
However, Mr Adeniji points out that there is commitment by members of the grand coalition government that all the outstanding issues will be implemented in order to chart out a better future for the country.
All arms of government, says Mr Adeniji, should be well-informed of their role in ensuring the implementation of the recommendation of the mediators.
And he stresses on the importance of having a coalition agreement that would seal all the loopholes threatening the unity of the grand coalition.
No conflicts
A draft of the said agreement has already been prepared by the Mr Mutula Kilonzo. It is yet to be tabled before the National Dialogue and Reconciliation teams.
Says Mr Adeniji, " The agreement should guide the coalition partners on how to properly manage the coalition, to make sure that there are no conflicts threatening the unity of the Government."
He adds: "You cannot have a coalition government when each partner is implementing its own manifesto. These manifestos must be synthesised to find areas of commonality."
The Nigerian diplomat says that with the conclusion of the talks, there was still need for frequent follow-ups to ensure that every detail of their recommendations were implemented to the letter.
And he appeals to Parliament, the civil society and Kenyans at large, to join hands and monitor this exercise.
Mr Adeniji has had a long and distinguished career as a diplomat, having spent 34 years. He first joined the Nigerian Foreign Service in July 1960.
In the early years, he served in the Nigerian embassies in Washington DC, Freetown and Accra, and in various capacities in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Moved to France
From 1970 to 1973, he was minister in the Nigerian Permanent Mission to the UN in New York. He was appointed ambassador to Austria and Permanent Representative to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in 1976.
From 1977 to 1981, he was appointed Permanent Representative to the UN office at Geneva and ambassador to Switzerland before being moved to France as an ambassador between 1987 and 1991.
He was then appointed director-general of the Nigerian Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1991, a post he held until 1994.
He has also served as Special Representative of the UN secretary-general to the Central African Republic and as Special Representative and Chief of the UN Mission in Sierra Leone.
He continued in this capacity until 2003 and played an instrumental role in the peace talks in Sierra Leone and the signing of the Lomé Peace Agreement.
Mother tongue
Mr Adeniji then served as Foreign minister in the Government of Nigeria until June 2006, when he went on to become minister of Internal Affairs/Interior.
He currently is also Special Envoy of the African Union to the Sudan and President and chief executive of the Lagos-based African Strategic and Peace Research Group, a research body which focuses on issues relating to peace and security in Africa.
A recognised expert on disarmament and conflict resolution, Mr Adeniji is author of several publications on both subjects.
Born on July 22, 1934 in Nigeria, Mr Adeniji was educated at the University College, Ibadan. He holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree from University of London.
He speaks English and French, apart from his Yoruba mother tongue.
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