Board of Trustees

Diamond Development Initiatives•Board of Trustees

Meet our
Board of Trustees

Diamond Development Initiatives.
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Dr. Lydia Umar

BOARD CHAIR

Lydia Umar is a teacher by training and a development worker by passion and practice. She is the Executive Director of Gender Awareness Trust..

Haj. Aisha Abubakar

BOARD MEMBER

Hajiya Aisha Abubakar holds a B.Sc in Nursing and is a Development professional with training and vast experience in reproductive health and family …
 
Prof. Abdullahi Bala

BOARD VICE CHAIRMAN

Prof. Abdullahi Bala holds a First Class degree in Agriculture from ABU Zaria, a Master’s degree in Soil Chemistry from the University of Reading,…

Princess Ebunoluwa Oladunni

BOARD MEMBER

Princess Oladunni obtained a B.Sc. in Business Administration in 1977 from Ohio State University, Columbus, United States of ….
 
Adamu Garba

BOARD MEMBER

Adamu’s earlier career was spent as an auditor from 1993 to 1999 – first at Ernst & Young and later at Olawale Coker & Co. He served as Regional Finance Officer in the USAID Nigeria ….

Barrister Bashir Hamis

BOARD SECRETARY

Bashir currently serves as an Assistant Director and Head, Quality Assurance Unit of Nigeria’s Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS). He had previously served …

Halima Bawa-Bwari

BOARD MEMBER

Halima is an Environmental Scientist with experience in Biodiversity including Biosafety, Coastal and Marine conservation and management,…
 

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Dr. Lydia Umar

Board Chair
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Lydia Umar is a teacher by training and a development worker by passion and practice. She is the Executive Director of Gender Awareness Trust, an NGO she co-founded in 2000. She is a gender and women’s rights expert, trainer, researcher, consultant and project adviser both within and outside Nigeria.

She has served as a Board member of some International, Regional and National organizations, including Chairperson Steering Committee of Global Crisis Preventive Mechanism for West Africa, a Swisspeace project; Board Vice-Chair of the Regional West Africa Network for Peace and Nigeria’s Network on Police Reforms in Nigeria.

She has represented Nigeria at International (UN) & Regional (UNOWA) fora. She is the Country Representative of the Working Group on WYPS- WAS Nigeria. Dr Lydia Umar leads a team of visionary board members that provide policy direction to DDI.

Haj. Aisha Abubakar

Board Member

Hajiya Aisha Abubakar holds a B.Sc in Nursing and is a Development professional with training and vast experience in reproductive health and family planning. She had previously served as the Primary Resource Person, Advisor and Advocate for USAID Nigeria Implementing Partner Programs that enhanced the sustainability of Nigerian NGOs working on Integrated Health Care Delivery and Women’s participation.

Aisha had previously worked in Pathfinder International, USAID Nigeria FHS Project, USAID Nigeria, CEDPA and more recently as the Maternal Newborn and Child Health Advisor at Save the Children International.

Prof. Abdullahi Bala

Board Vice Chairman
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Prof. Abdullahi Bala holds a First Class degree in Agriculture from ABU Zaria, a Master’s degree in Soil Chemistry from the University of Reading, United Kingdom and a PhD in Soil Microbiology from the University of London. He is a professor of Soil Science and currently serves as the Vice-Chancellor of the Federal University of Technology, Minna. Prof. Bala has worked at a number of institutions including the Independent Policy Group, Abuja (2004-2007), and the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), (2010-2012).

Princess Ebunoluwa Oladunni

Board Member

Princess Oladunni obtained a B.Sc. in Business Administration in 1977 from Ohio State University, Columbus, United States of America and specialized in International Business. She also obtained a Master’s Degree in Economics in 1989 from the University of Lagos. She began her career in banking with the Central Bank of Nigeria in 1978 where she also retired as a Deputy Director in the International Finance Division. She is currently the Managing Director/CEO of Starcrest Investment Nigeria Limited – an investment consulting firm.

Adamu Garba

Executive Director
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Adamu’s earlier career was spent as an auditor from 1993 to 1999 – first at Ernst & Young and later at Olawale Coker & Co. He served as Regional Finance Officer in the USAID Nigeria Office of Transition Initiatives (OTI) Project from 1999 to 2001. His role involved conducting pre-award visits to potential grantees, managing disbursements of grants, and monitoring, training and providing technical assistance to grantees.

Adamu served as Team Leader for the United States African Development Foundation (USADF) program during its very first year of operating in Nigeria from 2001 to 2002. He has been serving as the head of USADF’s implementing partner organization in Nigeria – Diamond Development Initiatives – from 2002 to date. Adamu has 18 years experience in community development work.

Adamu is a recipient of the prestigious British Chevening Award – a scheme of Britain’s Foreign and Commonwealth Office that seeks to identify “high-calibre graduates with the personal, intellectual and interpersonal qualities necessary for leadership.” He holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Agricultural Technology from Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University Bauchi, Nigeria; a Masters degree in Development Studies from Bayero University Kano, Nigeria; a Postgraduate Certificate in Development Education and Training from the University of Wolverhampton, United Kingdom, and an MSc in Project Management from the University of East London, United Kingdom.

Barrister Bashir Hamis

BOARD SECRETARY
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Bashir currently serves as an Assistant Director and Head, Quality Assurance Unit of Nigeria’s Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS). He had previously served as Head, Legal Section, Special Enforcement Unit of the Federal Inland Revenue Service, Company Secretary at Dangote Flour Mill Plc, Assistant Legal Adviser at Dangote Group, State Counsel at the Kano State Ministry of Justice, and Chairman of the Kano State Rent Tribunal. A lawyer, he holds an LLB (Hons.) degree from Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria and a BL from the Nigerian Law School, Lagos.

Halima Bawa-Bwari

Board Member
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Halima is an Environmental Scientist with experience in Biodiversity including Biosafety, Coastal and Marine conservation and management, Nature Conservation, Wildlife management, Industrial Compliance Monitoring, Coastal Resilience, Lake Chad Basin Climate Change Resilience and Climate Finance issues including the Green Climate Fund and the Green Bonds.

She is the Acting Director, Department of Climate Change, Federal Ministry of Environment and was the Deputy Director (Vulnerability and Adaptation) – a United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). She is the National Focal Point, Climate Change Gender Negotiator for Nigeria and National Focal Point for several Global Climate Finance Organisations.

She has been the National Focal Point for: the Abidjan Convention on Coastal and Marine Conservation and Management, Convention on Biological Diversity’s (CBD) Coastal and Marine Biodiversity, Ramsar Convention on Wetlands and Global Taxonomy Initiative (GTI). She also coordinated the Guinea Current Large Marine Ecosystem Project (GCLME) for Nigeria. Halima holds an MSc. in Zoology from the University of Ibadan and a B.Tech. in Applied Zoology from Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University, Bauchi, Nigeria.