Posted by By Modupe Ogunbayo on
Kingsley Bosah Chiedu Moghalu. sounds like any ordinary name. It does not resonate like it should rightly do. But, the name personifies a top 42 year old Nigerian United Nations diplomat whose accomplishment is legendary
Kingsley Bosah Chiedu Moghalu. sounds like any ordinary name. It does not resonate like it should rightly do. But, the name personifies a top 42 year old Nigerian United Nations diplomat whose accomplishment is legendary
Moghalu joined the United Nations in 1992 as a UN Human Rights Officer in Cambodia. He later served as a Political Affairs Officer in the Department of Peacekeeping Operations at UN Headquarters in New York from 1993 to 1996; Political Advisor to the Special Representative of the Secretary-General in Croatia from 1996 to 1997; and Legal Advisor and Spokesman of the United Nations International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda at Arusha, Tanzania (1997-2002). He also worked in the private sector as a Legal Officer in the Shell Petroleum Development Company (Nigeria) Ltd. (1987-1988) and General Counsel & Corporate Secretary of Newswatch Communications, Ltd. in Lagos (1988-1991). In 1993 he was the first-ever Research Fellows Scholar in Residence at the Centre for American and International Law (formerly the Southwestern Legal Foundation) in Dallas, Texas. From 1989 to 1992 he was a Special Correspondent for several international newspapers in Europe and North America, and is a columnist for Global Viewpoint, the opinion/commentary service of Los Angeles Times Syndicate International, as well as Inter Press Columnist Service Mr. Moghalu has been interviewed, quoted and featured in numerous global media including CNN, BBC World Television, C-SPAN, The New York Times, The Economist, Financial Times, and others. In January 2002 he was a guest on the award-winning BBC Television interview programme HARDtalk with Tim Sebastian. He has also published numerous articles on international affairs and law in influential newspapers, magazines and academic journals, including the International Herald Tribune, The Washington Post, Dallas Morning News, New York Law Journal, Texas Lawyer, Legal Times, Mail & Guardian, Bangkok Post, Arab Times, The Fletcher Forum of World Affairs, Pace Intenational lawyer and senior official of the United Nations.
Moghalu is Head of Resource Mobilsation and Global Partnerships at the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria in Geneva, Switzerland. The Global Fund, an international financing institution established in January 2002 at the initiative of UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan to finance a dramatic turnaround in the worldwide fight against AIDS, TB and Malaria in developing countries, has assets of US $5 billion in pledges and contributions from governments, foundations, private corporations, and individuals. Mr. Moghalu is responsible for public sector resource mobilisation and relations between the Global Fund and governments and international organisations, building strategic alliances that sustain increased political and financial commitment at a global level to the fight against the three killer diseases.
Kofi Annan, the United Nations Secretary General established The Global Fund in January 2002. The Fund currently has $6 billion in pledges and contributions from governments, foundations, private corporations and individuals to finance concrete programmes for the prevention and treatment of HIV/AIDS, TB and malaria in developing countries with a high incidence of these diseases.
Before his appointment to the World Health Organisation and the Global Fund in December 2002, he was the special counsel and spokesman of the United Nations International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (UNICTR) based in Arusha, Tanzania. In that position he was responsible for policy development, strategic planning and external relations. Moghalu who is only 36 years old was one the notable personalities of one of the two international war crimes tribunals established by the United Nations Security Council, with a stuff strength of 1000 from 90 countries. Moghalu was still there when UNICTR delivered the first-ever judgement by an international court on genocide. From then on, Moghalu became the famed twinkling star that just continued shining like a diamond in the sky.
Moghalu joined the United Nations in 1992. His first assignment was in Cambodia as a UN human rights officer. A year later, he was appointed political affairs officer in the Department of Peacekeeping Operations at the UN Headquarters in New York. From 1996 to 1997, he served in the former Yugoslavia as political advisor to the special representative of the UN Secretary-General in Croatia. He was then assigned as legal adviser to the UNICTR in Tanzania in 1997 and later promoted to the dual posts of special counsel and spokesman. Moghalu has not always been a diplomat. Earlier, he had worked in the private sector as legal officer in the Shell Petroleum Development Company (Nigeria) Ltd. (1987-1988) and General Counsel & Corporate Secretary of Newswatch Communications Ltd. in Lagos (1988-1991). During this period he was also a special correspondent for several international newspapers and magazines in the United States and Europe, writing on the socio-political and economic development of Africa.
At the invitation of numerous organisations around the world, Kingsley Moghalu is a frequent keynote speaker on the major global issues of our times at high-level international and professional conferences and other public forums. Moghalu is frequently interviewed by top Western press. He was a guest on the award-winning BBC Television interview programme HARDtalk with Tim Sebastian in 2002.
An eminent writer, he had authored two books on international law and politics that will be published later in the year: Rwanda's Genocide: The Politics of Global Justice (New York: Palgrave Macmillan) and Justice and High Politics: War Crimes and World Order in the 21st Century (Ann Arbor, Michigan: University of Michigan Press). He has also contributed articles on international affairs and law in academic journals and in influential newspapers.
Not only that, Moghalu has received several honours and distinctions. He was made an Honorary Member of the United States National Bar Association in 1998 in recognition of his contributions to international law and justice. In June 1993 he was honoured as the first Research Fellow Scholar in Residence at the Centre for American and International Law (formerly The Southwestern Legal Foundation) in Dallas. He served as judge in the prestigious Philip C. Jessup International Law Moot Court, the only world-wide moot court competition, organised annually by the American Society of International Law, in Boston, United States in 1992. Moghalu was the Joan Gillespie Fellow at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University, Massachusetts, USA in 1991-1992, and a recipient of the Southwestern Legal Foundation Fellowship in 1991. He was also the recipient of the United States Information Agency's Travel Grant Award in 1991.
Born in Lagos on May 7 1963, Kingsley Moghalu was brought up in Geneva, Washington, D.C. and Nigeria. His father, the late Isaac Moghalu, JP, was one of Nigeria's pioneer diplomats in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs after Nigeria's independence and served in Switzerland and the United States and later became a permanent secretary in the home service. He died in 1998. His mother, Lady Vidah Moghalu, is a retired dietician. He is the first child amongst four brothers and a sister, the second child, the only girl, initially studied Optometry but is now an information specialist in the United States where she lives with her husband. His second sibling owns his own company in Atlanta, US while the third son is a teacher also in the US. The last son works for an oil multinational in Nigeria.
Married to Maryanne Onyinyechi, in 1994, they have three sons and a daughter. His hobbies are reading, writing and walking. He is driven by a strong sense of integrity, accountability, respect for others and a strong belief in God. These were virtues he admired greatly in his late father who was proud of the fact that he never collected a bribe in his 35 years of service to the nation.
Moghalu started his educational career at a nursery school in Washington DC, United States and had his secondary education at Eziama High School, Aba ; Government College, Umuahia and Federal Government College, Umuahia where he obtained his Advanced Levels in 1978. He graduated from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, with LL.B (Honours) in 1986 and got his Barrister at Law, B.L. degree from the Nigerian Law School, Lagos a year later. In 1987, he became a Solicitor and Advocate of the Supreme Court of Nigeria admitted to the Nigerian Bar.
With the help of Bolaji Akinyemi, a professor and former Nigerian foreign minister, he got an excellent cover letter to the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy. On the strength of this, he not only gained admission to the school, but was awarded the Joan Gillespie Fellowship. His brilliance led the American Embassy in Lagos to grant him a US Information Agency Travel Grant award and purchasing his ticket to US for his graduate studies. He finished his study there in 1992. He has just finished his doctorate degree in International Relations at the London School of Economics and Political Science.
To Moghalu, a true leader, ''is someone who has a clear vision, who serves by leading, who is not afraid to lead and tries to carry others along. But it is important to be principled, and to understand that leadership is not a popularity contest.
Even while sitting by the beautiful Lake Geneva in Switzerland and enjoying the comforts of his status, Moghalu's heart bleeds for the disadvantaged in the country. Therefore, he founded the Isaac Moghalu Memorial Foundation. This is a non-profit organisation that encourages access to education for children and youth from poor families and the promotion of a culture of literacy in rural communities in Nigeria especially in Nnewi where he hails from. "You have children dropping out of school to go and trade, hoping to become instant millionaires overnight or because of poverty or because of both. This trend needs to be fought, otherwise our future is bleak," he told Newswatch.