Biographical Note
SG/A/902
AFR/1094
BIO/3631
13 January 2005
Secretary-General Appoints Lieutenant-General Joseph Owonibi (Nigeria) as Force Commander of the United Nations Mission in Liberia
NEW YORK, 12 January (UN Headquarters) -- The Secretary-General has appointed Lieutenant-General Joseph Olorungbon Owonibi of Nigeria as Force Commander of the United Nations Mission in Liberia (UNMIL).
Since November 2003, Lieutenant General Owonibi had served as the Deputy Force Commander and Chief Military Observer of UNMIL. Prior to this, he served in several high-level national and international positions, including Coordinator of the Nigerian Army Training Group which undertook the reorganization and training of the Gambian National Army from 1992 to 1994, and Commander of the first Reconnaissance Company in support of the Nigerian battalion within the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL). Lieutenant-General Owonibi has served with the Nigerian Army since 1971.
Lieutenant-General Owonibi holds a Master of Science degree in strategic studies from the University of Ibadan (Nigeria) and diplomas in public administration from the Administrative Staff College of Nigeria as well as the University of Kentucky (USA). A graduate of the National War College in Abuja, Lieutenant General Owonibi was born on 3 May 1949.
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