ANDREW, DAVID ADEJO

PERMANENT SECRETARY, FEDERAL MINISTRY OF EDUCATION

Mr. David Adejo Andrew, a consummate professional with passion for delivering results, was born on 21st October, 1964 in Apapa, Lagos, Lagos State where he completed his Primary and Secondary Education at Army Children School 3, Apapa and Gaskiya College, Ijora-Badiya respectively.

He possesses a Second Class (Honours) Upper Division Degree in Botany from the University of Jos as well as an M.Sc Crop Science from the University of Maiduguri. He completed his mandatory one-year National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) in Muhammadu Kobo Senior Secondary School, Lapai, Niger State.

Mr. Andrew gained employment in the Federal Civil Service of Nigeria in 1988 and was posted to the Federal Department of Forestry Field Office, Maiduguri, Borno State where he learnt the rudiments of the forestry profession. In the course of his career, he has acquired a number of professional qualifications spanning the field of project management, procurement, communications, results-based monitoring and evaluation, sustainable development, environmental management, socio-economic service delivery as well as policy research, formulation and analysis. Mr. Andrew has been exposed to functional skills that seek to break the barriers of knowledge as suitable for the emerging world.

In his over thirty-three years of working as a civil servant, Mr. Andrew had worked in different agencies of government and international development partners including serving as Special Assistant – Infrastructure and Energy – in the administration of late President Umaru Musa Yar Adua, and Programme Analyst, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) where he rose to the position of Acting Team Leader Governance and Peace Building Unit.

Upon return to the Federal Ministry of Finance, he contributed to and eventually led the articulation of the building blocks of a National Single Register and Payment Delivery System for credibly identifying the poor and vulnerable individuals which is being used by the National Social Investment Office (NSIO) in providing social safety nets interventions in the country. As National Coordinator of the World Bank Assisted Youth Employment and Social Support Operation (YESSO), his vast experience in Community Driven Development, ensured the adoption of a Community Based Targeting System and Host Community Based Identification Scheme being used for providing support to the poor and vulnerable in all parts of Nigeria and Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in the North East.

A consummate professional and team player with cosmopolitan disposition, Mr. Andrew is widely traveled, including as a leader of Nigerian delegation on a number of environment related Conferences. A Life Member and Fellow of the Forestry Association of Nigeria and as the Director, Federal Department of Forestry he was able to, in his one year six months stay, lay the foundation for re-positioning the sector to effectively contribute to national development.

He rose to the position of Federal Permanent Secretary in 2019 and was first deployed to the Office of the Secretary to the Government of Federation as Permanent Secretary, Political and Economic Affairs Office, where he facilitated the process that led to the development of the National Poverty Reduction with Growth Strategy, National Policy on Inclusive Volunteerism for Nigeria, National Chemical and Biological Emergency Preparedness and Response Plan, amongst others.

He is happily married with three children.