About CBN

History | Branches | Organogram | Departments | The Board | Departmental Directors | Past Governors | Freedom of Information Office | The CBN Service Charter | Our Information Security Policy | CBN Act 2007 (Audio Version)

Retired CBN Board Members

Dr. Obadiah Mailafia  
Retired as Deputy Governor, Economic Policy - Served in the CBN from 5/3/2005 To 3/26/2007

Obadiah Mailafia was born on 24 December 1956 in Randa, Sanga Local Government Area of Kaduna State. He has lived all his life in Nasarawa and Plateau States . He attended Mada Hills Secondary School , Akwanga, between 1970 and 1974, where he won the Commissioner of Education Award for academic distinction. During 1974-75 he attended the School of Basic Studies, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, graduating with BSc Social Sciences (Economics, Sociology and Politics), with the highest grade of the graduating class in the political science honours of 1978. After National Service in Ikare, in Ondo State , he returned to ABU, where during 1980-82 he did a Master's degree while working as a Graduate Assistant. He subsequently won a French Foreign Ministry Scholarship which took him to France during 1984�86, from where he graduated with the Dipl�me de l'institut d'administration publique in International Economics (equivalent to an M.Phil. degree) from the famous ENA-IIAP in Paris . Dr. Mailafia later completed his doctoral studies in 1994 and was awarded D.Phil at the University of Oxford in England , specialising in International Economics and Political Economy. He was a Foreign and Commonwealth Office Scholar and received the Webb Medley Award from the Faculty of Social Studies of the University of Oxford .

Dr. Mailafia has had a distinguished career spanning academia, government, consulting and international service. During 1982 to 1989 he was a Fellow of the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies, Kuru. During 1990 � 1993, he was on the teaching staff of the Oxford University . His academic career in the U.K culminated in his appointment as Principal Lecturer (Professorial Grade) and Head of International Business and Management at Regents Business School London, from where he left in 1999 to join the African Development Bank. He was also a Visiting Senior Fellow at the Nordic Institute for African Studies in Uppsala , Sweden , and at the New England College, New Hampshire, USA.

At the ADB, he has been a Chief Economist, responsible for Strategic Planning and Corporate Reporting. He has served on several important committees and undertaken several sensitive missions for the ADB Group, including as Secretary to the Senior Task Force on the Ninth Replenishment of the African Development Fund and Coordinator for funding to research and capacity building institutions. Until recently he was also Managing Editor of the African Development Review, an internationally reputed journal on African economic and development issues.

A prolific writer and policy analyst, he is a member of several scholarly societies, among them, Life-Member of the Oxford Union Society, The Global Association of Risk Professionals (GARP), The Royal Economic Society, United Kingdom, The American Economic Society, The American Political Science Association, The Strategic Planning Society (London), The Aristotelian Society (the London club of philosophers), and The Association of Professional Administrators (F�RAM), Paris, France . Dr. Mailafia was recently a winner of the Mammoun Beheiry Memorial Award for the excellence of his contributions to the ADB's strategic repositioning process. An economist, administrator, policy scientist, strategist and corporate finance specialist, Dr. Mailafia has published widely, notably, his book Europe and Economic Reform in Africa, (Routledge, 1997) has enjoyed a wide international readership.

Dr. Mailafia's Specialist Skills and Competencies include:

Dr. Mailafia enjoys reading, current affairs, tennis, poetry, and Egyptology. He is married to Margaret Vou (n�e Fom) and they are blessed with 2 sons.

See List of Retired Board Members
See List of Serving Board Members
See Past and Present Governors of the CBN
See Frequently Asked Questions about the board