Norwegian Ambassador to Speak at AUN

The Norwegian Ambassador to Nigeria, His Excellency Rolf Ree, will be in Yola and the American University of Nigeria (AUN) on a three-day working visit from March 17. On the 19th, he is expected to deliver a talk to the university community, in continuation of the university’s Diplomatic Lecture Series.

The lecture series was started in 2011 as a forum for interaction between the diplomatic community in Nigeria and the AUN community.

A master’s degree holder in Political Science from the University of Oslo, Ree has had a long career in the Norwegian Foreign Service. Most recently, prior to his posting to Abuja, he served as Deputy Head of Mission at the Norwegian Embassy in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, from 2007 to 2012. The Norwegian envoy will meet members of the Adamawa Peace Initiative (API) and interact with students and faculty of the university.

AUN’S Diplomatic Lecture Series has in the past included presentations by the Ambassadors from Switzerland, Ireland, Canada, Israel, the European Union, and the United States.

All American ambassadors in Nigeria since 2004 have delivered speeches on AUN’s Yola Campus; Dr. John Campbell (2004), Robin Sanders (2008), Terrence McCulley (2011) and James Entwistle (2014). Other envoys who came from 2011 to date include the ambassadors of Israel (Moshe Ram), Canada (Christopher Cooter), European Union (David Macrae), Ireland (Paddy Fay), Cameroun (Ibrahim Salahuddeen), British Head of Chancery (Mark Edwards), Rwanda (Joseph Habineza), and the most recent, Switzerland’s Ambassador, Hans-Rudolf Hodel. So far, the highest diplomatic visit was by, President Jacob Zuma of South Africa in December 2010.