If you want to know more about the current Deputy Governor of Rivers State, check out this article! You will be able to find out more about the post itself and the person who currently occupies it. And if someone asks you ‘Who is the Deputy Governor of Rivers State?’, you will be able to answer with confidence.
Who is a deputy governor?
In case you have not heard, every person running for governor in Nigeria has to have a running mate, who will later take up the position of a deputy governor. Thus, the deputy governor of the state is the second highest position in the state government (after the governor, of course).
The main duty of the deputy governor is to assist the governor in their work. However, deputy governor is obligated to take over from the governor if the latter is not able to continue serving until the end of their term.
The position of Rivers State Deputy Governor was created in 1999. Since then, it has been occupied by members of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP). It comes as no surprise that five out of six of them have been male.
But times have changed:
In 2015, Rivers State elected its first female Deputy Governor, Ipalibo Banigo, and we are going to tell you more about this woman.
Current Deputy Governor of Rivers State
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Ipalibo Gogo Harry (who later became Ipalibo Banigo) was born on December 20, 1952 in Degema LGA, Rivers State. She attended Queen’s College in Lagos from 1964 until 1970. After that, she went to receive higher education at the University of Ibadan. She graduated in 1976 with a medical degree (Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery).
However, Ipalibo did not stop there:
After graduating from the University of Ibadan, she moved on to obtain a master’s degree in Public Health from the Harvard University School of Public Health in 1981. Between 1981 and 1984, she worked as a Senior Medical Officer in charge and the registrar of births at the Port Health Services.
Later, she became a principal at the School of Health Technology of Port Harcourt, Rivers State, where she worked from 1985 until 1994. At the same time, Ipalibo attended the University of London to get her postgraduate degree in Tropical Hygiene in 1990. In 1992, she received a diploma in Dermatology from the same university.
Her excellent qualifications and extensive knowledge of the field gave her the opportunity to work as a Director of Public Health Services at the Rivers State Ministry of Health and Social Welfare. Ipalibo worked there from 1994 to 1995, until she moved on to a different post, which was the Acting Commissioner for Health and Social Welfare.
In the following years, she has also took the positions of Director-General and Permanent Secretary at the same ministry. In 1998, she became the Head of Service of Rivers State. From 1995 to 1999, she worked as the secretary to the
But who said life ended at retirement?
On the contrary, Banigo’s career has only begun. Apart from being appointed the Public Health Adviser at Shell Nigeria in 2000, she also served as the executive director and the secretary to the board of the National Primary Health Care Development Agency.
Ipalibo‘s great knowledge base and years of experience in different areas make her a perfect candidate to speak at various lectures, conferences and seminars. Some of the conferences she has spoken at include World Health Assembly, World Health Regional Meeting, Sandoz Dermatology Conference and the International Summit on Health.
Up until now, she has been involved in numerous organisations and institutions. Some of them include University of Nigeria, University of Calabar, Rivers State Food and Nutrition Committee, Rivers State Hospital Management Board, UNICEF, UNFPA, Rivers State Relief Committee and the Rivers State Hospital Management Board.
And here comes the most interesting part:
In 2014, Ezenwo Wike, who ran for the position of the Rivers State Governor, chose Banigo as his running mate. In 2015, Wike became the governor, which meant that Ipalibo became the deputy governor. As we have mentioned before, she became the first woman to have this position in the history of the Rivers State Government.
While her role in the government is mostly supportive, Ipalibo represents her own ideas and values. Her main areas of interest are women rights and emancipation, education and, of course, medicine. She serves as the powerful voice for the women of Rivers State. Since her time as a deputy governor, Banigo has attended various events, where she represented the governor and the interests of Rivers State Government.
Like many smart politicians, Ipalibo does not share the details of her personal life with the public. All we know is that she is a loving mother, grandmother and wife. However, if you want to keep up with her professional endeavours, you can find her on Twitter and Facebook.
- Facebook: http://ift.tt/2w6xroO
- Twitter: http://twitter.com/harrybanigo
We live in a time when women can finally have the same amount of power as men. It is wonderful to see women in politics that are not just there to be pretty, but to prove their worth with words and actions. We wish Ipalibo Banigo all the best and hope to see more good come from her work. Nigeria needs more women like her.
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