Staff

Bolaji Owasanoye

Position: Executive Director and a Trustee of Human Development Initiatives. 

A man of many parts, Prof. Owasanoye is also the Director of Research as well as a lecturer at the Institute of Advanced Legal Studies, University of Lagos, Lagos, Nigeria.  He specializes in Commercial and International Trade Law, Child Rights and Human Rights Law as well as Law of External Debt Management.

Bolaji Owasanoye, who is a legal practitioner by training, has had 18 years research and teaching experience.  He has coordinated and participated in various national and international projects such as the NIALS Project in Annotation of Federal Laws, NIALS/Ford Foundation Rights of the Child Project, UNICEF/WORDOC Human Rights Project on Situation Analysis of Women and the Girl Child in Nigeria and NIALS Ford Foundation Family Law (Legal Aid Clinic) Project.

Prof. Owasanoye is also a consultant with UNITAR on Legal Aspects of Debt and Financial Management, UNICEF on the Implementation of the UN Convention on the Rights if the Child in Nigeria, ILO on the International Programme on the Elimination of the Worst Forms of Child Labour in Nigeria, West African Institute for Finance and Economic Management (WAIFEM), International Law Institute (ILI) and African Legal Center for Excellence.

He is a member of the Nigerian Society of International Law, Association of British Council Fellows, Nigerian Bar Association, International Bar Association, National Geographic Society as well as Senior Special Fellow United Nations Institute for Training and Research.

Prof. Bolaji Owasanoye is also author, co-author and editor of many publications.

Joy Onyeakazi

Position: Programme Officer

Joy Onyeakazi is a Public Health Educator and advocate for Women's Rights with background training in Health Sciences. 

Mrs. Onyeakazi has been involved in development work since 1991 and has garnered many years of experience on women issues and HIV/AIDS programming.  She has participated in various local and international workshops, seminars and conferences on children, adolescents and women.  She has also been trained internationally on information education and communication (IEC) strategies as well as health management and leadership.

Her responsibilities at HDI include programme planning, implementation, assessment and evaluation on adolescent reproductive health and rights as well as supervision of widows' projects.

Nwachukwu Michael Ogbuehi

Position: Ag. Chief of Programmes

Mr. Ogbuehi holds a Master of Industrial & Labour Relations degree of the University of Ibadan and broadly oversees the organisation’s human resources and administrative issues. His other responsibilities include strategic plan development and monitoring of its successful implementation, project management, developing and coordinating trainings and manpower development programmes, ensuring timely delivery on projects, activities and reporting obligations, resource mobilization and maintaining liaison with the organisation’s clients and stakeholders. Mr. Ogbuehi has participated in several local and international programmes on children, adolescents and women. His hobbies include reading, meeting people and traveling by road.

Omokemi Akinbodunse

Position: Legal Officer.

Miss Akinbodunseis a legal practitioner, a human rights advocate and a reformist.   Her responsibilities include litigation, mediation, counseling widows and adolescents, procuring widows' entitlements from third party individuals, employers e.t.c. as well as organizing conferences, seminars and workshops on widows' issues, She has been opportune to attend various national and international conferences and seminars

Adekunle Akinpelu

Position: Legal Officer

Mr. Akinpelu is a legal practitioner with background in mass communication. He is a human rights advocate and a reformist. His areas of interest include litigation, mediation and corporate law. He has vast experience as a media practitioner from both print and electronic media. He also had a brief sojourn in a leadership consulting firm.    

Mr. Akinpelu is currently the Legal, Media and Public Relations Officer of Human Development Initiative. He undertakes both legal and media activities of the organization, including ensuring regular publication of the organization’s news magazine, Repro-mat He hobbies include public speaking, writing and traveling. 

Yinka Saka

Position: Accounts/Administrative Officer

Yinka Saka holds a Higher National Diploma from the Federal Polytechnic Ado Ekiti, Ekiti State, Nigeria. 

His responsibilities at HDI include preparation and monitoring of all budgets, keeping track of HDI's financial records as well as seeing to any other administrative task.   He has also been opportune to attend training programmes in various states within Nigeria.

Mr. Saka enjoys traveling and meeting people.

Bolanle Dare

Position: Programme Assistant

Bolanle Dare holds a Higher National Diploma in Business Administration and Management from Lagos State Polytechnic, Lagos, Nigeria as well as a Post Graduate Diploma in Financial Management from University of Ado Ekiti in Ekiti State, Nigeria.

Her duties at HDI include organizing life skill trainings, seminars and workshops as well as monitoring the progress widows who have benefited from HDI’s empowerment programmes over the years have made in their various businesses.

Miss Dare's hobbies are reading novels, traveling, playing volleyball, listening to music and watching television.  Her personal goal is to work in a challenging environment where she can discharge her hardworking quality and exemplary conduct in operational division of a dynamic organization.

Sade Ayeni

Position: Secretary (Support Staff). 

Apart from the School Leaving Certificate that Folasade Ayeni has acquired, she has undergone both Basic and Advanced Computer Studies at the Federal College of Education (Technical) Akoka, Lagos, Nigeria.  She has also passed stage 3 of the professional typing speed examination of the Royal Society of Art (R.S.A.), Nigeria which signifies that she can type 120 words per minute.

Mrs. Ayeni has participated in various workshops, seminars and trainings targeted at adolescents, children and women.

Obianuji Juliet Chukwulobe

Position: Child Help-line Operator

Miss Chukwulobe is currently pursuing a B. Sc. in Business Administration from the University of Lagos (Distance Learning Institute).  Her hobbies are reading, listening to music, watching television and traveling.

Oluwafemi Akanbi

Position: Office Assistant (Support Staff)

Oluwafemi Akanbi’s hobbies are reading, listening to music and playing basketball. His personal goal is to ensure that he fulfills his dream of being a Computer Engineer.