Founder of Human Capital Africa and former World Bank Vice President for the Africa Region, Dr. Obiageli “Oby” Ezekwesili, has been conferred with the International Anti-Corruption Excellence Award in the Lifetime/Outstanding Achievement category.
The prestigious honour was presented at the 2025 International Anti-Corruption Excellence Award ceremony, held on December 14, 2025, in Doha, the capital and financial hub of Qatar. The event was broadcast live on the host country’s national television and attended by high-level personalities from across the globe.
In a formal notification earlier issued by the Secretariat of the Award, on behalf of the High-Level Award Committee chaired by the United Nations Special Advocate for the Prevention of Corruption, Dr. Ali Bin Fetais Al Marri, Ezekwesili was announced as a joint recipient of the 2025 award.
“On behalf of the Secretariat of the International Anti-Corruption Excellence Award and His Excellency Dr. Ali Bin Fetais Al Marri, it gives me the greatest pleasure to inform you that your nomination has been selected as a joint winner of this year’s International Anti-Corruption Excellence Award in the category of Lifetime/Outstanding Achievement,” the letter stated.
According to the organisers, Ezekwesili’s nomination underwent a thorough, independent, and rigorous assessment, and was found to exemplify the values, expertise, integrity, and global impact that the award represents.
Explaining the selection process, Dr. Yasser Refaie, Director of the Rule of Law and Anti-Corruption Centre and Head of the Award Secretariat, said Ezekwesili’s candidacy was reviewed by both the Assessment Advisory Board and the High-Level Award Committee, and emerged as exemplary in advancing transparency and accountability worldwide.
Dr. Ezekwesili, a Nigerian economic policy expert, chartered accountant, and globally recognised governance reformer, is widely respected for her decades-long commitment to transparency, institutional reform, and ethical leadership.
She earned the sobriquet “Madam Due Process” during her tenure as the pioneer head of Nigeria’s Budget Monitoring and Price Intelligence Unit, where she led landmark reforms to sanitise public procurement.
Ezekwesili served twice as a minister under former President Olusegun Obasanjo, first as Minister of Solid Minerals (2005–2006) and later as Minister of Education (2006–2007), where she championed transparency in budget management, strengthened quality assurance through the Federal Inspectorate Service, and promoted public-private partnerships in education delivery.
From 2007 to 2012, she served as Vice President of the World Bank for the Africa Region, overseeing operations in 48 Sub-Saharan African countries and supervising a lending portfolio exceeding $40 billion.
She is also a co-founder of Transparency International, one of the world’s foremost anti-corruption organisations, and remains an influential global voice on governance and accountability.
In Nigeria and beyond, Ezekwesili is widely known as a co-convener of the #BringBackOurGirls movement, which gained international prominence following the 2014 abduction of schoolgirls from Chibok, Borno State. The campaign sustained global attention on insecurity, governance failure, and the rights of abducted persons.
Beyond activism, she founded platforms such as FixPolitics, the School of Politics, Policy and Governance (SPPG), and Human Capital Africa, all dedicated to leadership development, institutional reform, and citizen participation.
Her career also includes service on the boards of global organisations and universities, as well as advisory roles to African leaders and international institutions. Over the years, she has received numerous international honours for public service, governance advocacy, and leadership.
Speaking on the recognition, Ezekwesili said the honour transcended individual achievement and belonged to all citizens committed to public accountability.
“This honour belongs to all citizens and reformers who insist that public power must serve the public good. Anti-corruption work is not about individuals, but about building institutions and norms that outlive any one person,” she said.
Dr. Ezekwesili received the Lifetime Achievement Award from His Highness Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, Emir of Qatar, in recognition of her sustained leadership in transparency reforms, public-sector accountability, and values-driven governance.
The Jury of the International Anti-Corruption Excellence Award cited her exceptional moral courage, resilience, and policy leadership in environments where anti-corruption reform often comes at great personal cost.
Over several decades, she has combined principled advocacy with practical institution-building, contributing to reforms in public financial management, extractive sector governance, education systems, and global transparency norms, consistently advancing the belief that corruption is not inevitable, and that societies prosper when public power is exercised in service of citizens.
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