Our Man Crush Monday, Olusoji Adeniyi is not only diligent but also admirable. Soji is a development, monitoring and evaluation professional with strong competencies in cultural sensitivity, as well as the management of human capital and complex operations at various levels of engagement. He has over 30 years’ experience across three continents in the private and public sectors, including 20 years within the United Nations (UN) system.
Soji is an advocate of total quality management and service excellence, and is a certified Six Sigma professional with an in-depth understanding of human resources issues and the need for efficient and effective operations. Soji’s diligence, coupled with his mastery of project management, public health, monitoring, evaluation and reporting have earned him international recognition.
He was the Humanitarian Performance Management Specialist for UNICEF Nigeria, and Co-Lead of the UN Humanitarian Team for the North East at inception. He also led civil society engagement in the National Peace Plan Working Committee convened under the Nigeria-United Nations Development Assistance Framework (UNDAF). A notable feat was his appointment as the chairman of the United Nations Joint Staff Pensions Board, the first African to assume this position in UN history.
Upon early retirement from the United Nations, Soji founded or co-founded several non-profit and humanitarian organisations, including Africa500, Primetrainers Africa, Africa Back2Basics, Commonwealth Africa Initiative, Wealthways Nigeria, and MPM Insight Nigeria. He also works as a consultant for several organisations in the humanitarian space including the African Union, National Institute for Peace and Conflict Resolution, National Emergency Management Agency, ECOWAS, AfDB, UNICEF and UNDP. Soji also sits on the board of several organisations, and remains committed to the human capital development of young people around the world and Africa in particular.
Olusoji has distinguished himself, setting the standard for others to follow. This makes him an admirable Man Crush.