Sandra George
Prof. Osita Ogbu, born in September 1957 in Onitsha and originally from Ovoko in Igbo-Eze South LGA of Enugu State, is a distinguished Professor of Economics at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka. He served as Director of the Institute for Development Studies at the university from 2011 to 2021.
He obtained a B.Sc. in Economics from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka (1979), and later earned both an M.A. (1984) and Ph.D. (1988) in Economics from Howard University, Washington D.C., USA. He also obtained a Certificate in Corporate Governance from Harvard University in 2009 and was a Visiting Fellow at the Brookings Institution in 2012.
Prof. Ogbu has held several international and national positions, including Consultant Research Economist at the World Bank, Program Officer at the International Development Research Centre (Canada), and Executive Director/CEO of the African Technology Policy Studies Network in Nairobi. He also served as Chief Economic Adviser to the President of Nigeria under President Olusegun Obasanjo and Chairman of the Governing Council of the Nigerian Institute of Social and Economic Research (NISER).
He serves on several boards and councils and is currently Co-Chair of the Economic Advisory Council of the Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG). In 2014, he received the Nigerian National Honour of Officer of the Order of the Niger (OON). A respected scholar and author, Prof. Ogbu has published numerous works on Africa’s development, including his recent book Development as Attitude (2023). He is also a novelist and community leader, currently serving as Chairman of the Alaigbo Stabilization Fund under Ohaneze Ndigbo. Prof. Ogbu is married to Dr. Ogugua Osi-Ogbu and they have three children.