Princess Adejoke Orelope-Adefulire, Senior Special Assistant to the President on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

Her Excellency, Princess Adejoke Orelope-Adefulire is the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). She is an accomplished public servant, administrator, consummate politician, social worker, and a princess from a royal family in Lagos State. Described as simple in outlook and self- effacing in her interactions, she has to her credit a long history of meritorious public service. Princess Orelope-Adefulire has over the past 26 years carved a niche for herself as an accomplished grassroots politician, with a passion for the emancipation of the womenfolk and youth development, especially in the area of girl-child education. Her passion and commitment to the socio-economic development of the country saw her serving in different leadership positions over the years. Her political journey began during the Third Republic, when she was elected as a Member of the Lagos State House of Assembly (January 1992 to November 1993) to represent Alimosho Constituency I. In 2001, she was appointed Electoral Commissioner in Lagos State Independent Electoral Commission – a position she held until 2003, when she was appointed the Commissioner for Women Affairs and Poverty Alleviation by the then Governor Bola Ahmed Tinubu. It was a choice which his successor, Governor Babatunde Fashola, found equally appropriate and quite in line with the proverbial round peg in a round hole and re-appointed her as Commissioner between 2007-2011.

In an apparent demonstration of his appreciation for her outstanding performance, Governor Babatunde Fashola selected her as his running mate during the 2011 general elections. She served as the Deputy Governor of Lagos State between May 2011 and May 2015. Following a successful transition, His Excellency, President Muhammadu Buhari appointed her as his Senior Special Assistant on SDGs in March 2016 to provide overall leadership in the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development in Nigeria. As SSAP-SDGs, she provides strategic direction and guidance for the implementation of the 17 SDGs at the national and the sub-national levels in Nigeria. She represents Nigeria on issues related to SDGs at the global level.  Since assuming office in 2016, she has brought her wealth of experience to bear and piloted the implementation of the Global Goals creditably to the admiration of key stakeholders. Based on her track record of performance, she was reappointed the SSAP-SDGs by President Muhammadu Buhari in 2019. Princess Orelope-Adefulire has led the implementation of a number of women economic empowerment programmes. As a Deputy Governor, she cosponsored the Child Right’s Law as well as the Domestic Violence Law in Lagos State. She equally facilitated the establishment of 22 functional Skills Acquisition Centres for the unemployed young men and women and a 176-Bed Transit Home for the victims of domestic violence and abuse. The Centres have trained and empowered thousands of young men and women to be economically selfreliant. She has promoted routine medical screening for women, supported the Girl-Child Education Initiative and built the First Multipurpose Home/Clinics for children with Disabilities in Lagos State in order to provide succor to the parents, especially the mothers of children with disabilities. Popularly called ‘Iya Alanu’ (cheerful giver) and always ready to help, Princess Orelope-Adefulire has received several awards locally and internationally. She was awarded the International Public Servant of the Year Award in 2007 by the Scottish Widows – a UK-based Non-Governmental Organization (NGO), and bagged the Lagos State Person of the Year Award in 2009. She received the Daisey George Award 2010 in USA, as an advocate of children’s protection and development.

In 2018, she was honoured by the International Women’s Society (IWS) in recognition of her efforts at empowering and defending the rights of women, youth and children. Similarly, in recognition of her contributions towards the attainment of SDGs 8 and 10 in Nigeria, Princess Orelope-Adefulire was on May 10, 2019 inducted as a Fellow of the Global Membership Platform of the Association of Business Executives (ABE) in United Kingdom. She is a recipient of the Guinness World Records for the most children reading aloud with an adult at a single location, which she achieved while reading with 4,222 school children in 2011. Princess Orelope-Adefulire is married and blessed with Children.

To listen to Princess Adejoke Orelope-Adefulire speak at the 2020 Sustainability in the Extractive Industries (SITEI) Conference, please click here to register.