There have been media speculations on the real identity and work experience of the new Director General of Voice of Nigeria (VON) Sampson Ogbonda Worlu.
247ureports.com unveils the full and authentic profile of Sampson Ogbonda Worlu, the new Director General [DG] of Voice of Nigeria:
Sam Worlu was Senior Special Assistant to President Goodluck Jonathan on Economic and Strategic Matters between 2010 and 2011. This was after he had served as Senior Special Assistant to the Vice President on Economic and Bi-National Matters (2009-2010). In this capacity, Worlu was the primary resource to the Vice President on the Nigeria/South Africa Bi-National Commission. Between 2007 and 2009, he was the Senior Special Assistant to the Vice President in charge of matters related to the National Economic Council, the National Council on Privatisation, Inter-Party Consultative Forum/Committee, the Steering Council of the National Integrated Power Projects (NIPP) among other sundry issues.
Earlier in his career, Worlu was Minister-Plenipotentiary, Embassy of Nigeria, Rome, Italy from 2005 to 2007 (In charge of Consular and Information Matters), having served in the same Embassy as Minister Counsellor from 2003 to 2005. Before this time, Worlu was the Speech Writer and Head Public Relations, Office of the First Lady of the Federal Republic of Nigeria from the beginning of President Olusegun Obasanjo’s administration in 1999 to 2003. Perhaps, it was while he served as Special Assistant to the Hon. Minister of Foreign Affairs between 1998 and 1999 that he prepared himself for the various service challenges that were to come later.
As a line officer in the nation’s civil service, Sam Worlu attended the prestigious Foreign Service Academy from January to November, 1978 and started work as Desk Officer (Training) in the Department of Research in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1988. He was posted to the Nigerian Embassy in Beijing, Peoples Republic of China as Desk Officer/Second Secretary (Information and Consular Matters) from 1989 to 1992. He then served as Desk Officer/Special Analyst on Southern African Affairs before being promoted to First Secretary, Office of the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Foreign Affairs in charge of Security Documents and Liaison with Military Institutions between 1996 and 1998. After 24 years of very high quality service delivery in the nation’s civil service, Worlu voluntarily retired in May, 2011.
In the course of his specialised civil/public service career, Sam Worlu made critical contributions to the socio-economic development of Nigeria through his membership of several strategic committees and councils. He was a member of the National Economic Council’s Technical Committee on Modalities for the Management of Excess Crude Revenue. It was the outcome of the work of this Committee that gave rise to the establishment of the Nigerian Sovereign Wealth Fund (NSWF). He was a member/Secretary of the National Economic Council’s Committee on Remittances to the Federation Account from the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), and the Nigerian Customs Service as well as Member/Secretary of the National Economic Council Committee on the National Gas Master Plan. He was Member, Technical Committee of the National Council on Privatisation (2007-2011); Member, Technical Board of Nigerian Telecommunications Limited (NITEL) (2009-2011); Member, Technical Board of Sky-Power Aviation Handling Company (2009-2011); Member, Finance and Labour Sub-Committee of the Presidential Task Force on Ports Reform (2008-2011); Member, National Steering Committee on Nigerian Vision 2020 (NV2020). For four times, Worlu was a Delegate to the ECOWAS Initiative on Peace in Liberia from 1995 to 1998 and was a Presidential Mission Coordinator (PMC) for the President’s State Visit to Turkey in February 2011.
A First Class Honours graduate of the University of Port Harcourt, Sam Worlu was also at the University of South Africa, Pretoria and the Foreign Service Academy, Lagos, where he studied Political Science and Public Administration; Business Leadership; and Diplomacy and International Relations respectively.
Before this current Call- Back- to- Service by the President, Sam Worlu has been involved in the leadership of some business interests in the private sector. He is the Chairman of the Board of SIRA Integrated Services Limited (a subsidiary of SIRA Group of Germany); Chairman, FHL Nigeria Limited.
Born on August 28, 1960, Sam Worlu hails from Choba in Obio/Akpor Local Government Area of Rivers State. He has been decorated and honoured with dozens of awards for his boldness, diligence, commitment and patriotism some of which include Director General’s Award for Exemplary Service, 2002; Director General’s Award for Dedication, Discipline and Courage, 2003; Special Presidential Commendation for Meritorious Service to Motherland among several others. Mr. Worlu is married with children
