EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR - NOBLE PEPPLE

Noble Egbert Pepple assumed the role of Executive Director/CEO of the Agency at the end of January 2010. He is on secondment from Shell Nigeria, and comes to the job with strong pedigree in sustainable development, change management, personal and organizational leadership.

He is responsible for the major transformation that RSSDA has undergone since 2010, which has seen the Agency achieve key delivery milestones and placed it on sound footing for even greater success. Under his leadership, RSSDA won in the Gold category the prestigious 2012 International Star Quality in Leadership Award given by the Business Initiative Directions, a Madrid-based international organization which champions the global promotion of better business reputation, innovation and excellence.

An alumnus of the IMD Business School, Lausanne's executive education programme, Noble holds a Bachelors degree in Business Administration from Rivers State University of Science & Technology, Port Harcourt and an MSc (Hons) degree in Environment and Development from the London School of Economics. He has also undergone leadership development at various first-rate institutions, including Harvard Business School, Boston, USA.

Prior to taking up his role in the Agency, Noble had had a rich, diverse and productive career in the Shell Group, spanning Community & Government Relations, Exploration, Sustainable Development, Issues Management and Communications. Between 1997 and 2003, he was posted to Shell's corporate headquarters in London to support top Shell leadership across the Group in managing major corporate issues. His last job in Shell was as Regional External Affairs Manager, looking after the Shell Nigeria Country Chair's office in Abuja.

He is a past Chairman of the Public Affairs Sub-Committee of the Oil Producers Trade Sector (the main oil and gas industry body in Nigeria).

HEAD, TECHNICAL SERVICES - MITCHELL ALAMINA

Mitchell Alamina joined the Agency on secondment from Shell Nigeria on 1st December, 2008 as Senior Adviser, Policies, Systems and Processes, and Chairman of Programmes Technical Review Committee (PTRC). He remained in this position until the Transformation programme which saw him assume the position of Head of Technical Services overseeing Strategy and Planning, Partnership Development, Interface and Stakeholder Management, HSSE and Library and Documentation.

Mitchell holds a Second Class Upper degree in Political Science from the University of Ibadan and a Master of Arts degree in Economic and Social Studies from the University of Manchester.

His functional experience spans the State and Federal Public Services, the Foreign Service as well as the private sector in Oil and Gas. He is very much at ease in the development world having served as one of the pioneer development professionals in Shell Nigeria. He has helped develop the Community Development Management Information System (CDMIS) and worked extensively in developing the Global Memorandum of Understanding (GMoU) module. His development experience covers wide areas in Social Impact Assessment, Development Research, Issues Management, Monitoring and Evaluation, Systems and Compliance, Strategy and Planning and has participated in expert reviews, sectoral assessments and evaluation studies.

Since joining RSSDA, Mitchell has focused primarily on programme appraisal and technical coordination, quality assurance, systems, processes and procedures. He has also served as the Champion for the Agency’s transformation process.
Mitchell is an ardent sportsman who has represented his schools, universities, Rivers State and his Country in football.

GENERAL COUNSEL - BOMA JACK

Boma  Patricia Jack (Esq) holds a Masters degree in International Law and Diplomacy. With background in Law, Management and Community Development Practice. Her exposure to international standards development, management and best practices in sustainable development was earned through work and trainings.

She is experienced with cross-cultural and multi-disciplinary teams and tasks vide experiences in Africa, Europe, Asia and America where she held several leadership and management positions. She is a strategic thinker, enthusiastic and a person of good judgement.

She joined The Rivers State Sustainable Development Agency as Chief Legal Consultant in May, 2008, became Manager, General Services in September of the same year and appointed as the General Counsel for the Agency in May, 2010.

GM, HUMAN CAPITAL DEVELOPMENT - GODWIN POI

Godwin Poi is a UK trained Chartered Accountant who has extensive senior management experience in a wide range of organisations in the private, commercial and public sectors.
Over the years, he has acquired practical hands-on skills in socio-economic development work in addition to his wide range of knowledge and expertise in facts and figures acquired as a trained chartered accountant with membership of both UK and Nigerian chartered accountancy bodies.

Between 1993 and 2008, he led senior work teams in the social and economic sustainable development of some of the very deprived and run down inner city areas of London including Hackney and Newham Councils, Marsh Farm Estate in Luton and other cities in the UK.  He designed, managed and implemented regeneration programmes that have transformed some of the most deprived areas of London.   Most of these projects where led by pro-poor policies and strategies.  These are success stories being proudly announced by successive UK governments till date.  The current Olympic Village in London and the Holly Street mega housing estate development project in Hackney are two major examples.  Many of these Projects also required attracting European as well as other external investments in order to start and be completed.

A prize winning graduate of Economics and Accountancy from University of Wales in Cardiff, he had an Honours Commendation in his Executive MBA post graduate degree from Middlesex University in London.  This course included an intensive 2-week senior management training at Pace University in New York, USA.

Godwin was previously a Manager with Coopers & Lybrand in London (now Price Waterhouse) Chartered Accountants; Deputy Chief Executive with Daston City Challenge and Executive Director of Finance & Strategy with Renaisi Limited – a cutting edge regeneration specialists, also in London.
He was, for 3 years, a member of a senior panel that advised Mr. John Prescott (UK’s former Deputy Prime Minister) on best practice in regeneration in the UK.

GM, HUMAN RESOURCES & ADMINISTRATION - TONYE SUKUBO, ACIA

Tonye Sukubo joined Rivers State Sustainable Development Agency (RSSDA) on 01 September, 2008, as General Manager, Corporate Services Division. Following the recent restructuring and transformation exercise in May 2010, he was appointed General Manager overseeing the Finance and Administration Division. He is currently serving in the capacity of General Manager, Human Resources & Administration.

Tonye began his career with the erstwhile Investment Banking & Trust Company Plc (‘IBTC’) - now Stanbic IBTC Bank Plc., where he rose to the position of Manager, overseeing the administrative functions and the substantial infrastructure and telecommunication facilities of the Bank’s various locations and corporate head office – I.B.T.C. Place, in Victoria Island, Lagos, Nigeria. He left IBTC in 2005 for further studies and later returned to the Bank in 2007 as team leader of one of the SBU’s in the Corporate & Investment Banking Division, overseeing and managing key accounts and relationships of some of the Bank’s major corporate clients.

Tonye Holds a Bachelors degree in International Relations from the Obafemi Awolowo University (formerly University of Ife), Ile-Ife, Nigeria and a Masters degree in International Development from the University of Bath, Bath, United Kingdom. He has attended varied training and development programmes both locally and overseas in financial markets, international trade finance, corporate affairs management, negotiation, facility management and leadership.

He is a Chartered Administrator and Associate of the Chartered Institute of Administration, Nigeria and a Member of the Nigerian Institute of Management, Nigeria.

GM, AGRO-ALLIED & BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT - BIEDIMA OLIVER

Mr. Biedima Oliver is a pioneer member staff of the RSSDA. He currently functions as the General Manager for Agric/Agro-allied & Business Development Services Division, the core business area of the Agency and reports directly to the Executive Director/CEO.

He is a Marine Engineer with over 18 years experience garnered from various Organizations including SPDC and RSG, where he was a Special Assistant on Energy Matters.
Biedima joined the team [formerly called the Rivers State Sustainable Development Programme - RSSDP], as the Secretary to the Adhoc Committee for the RSSDP before the law establishing the Agency was passed, hence bringing along institutional memory and capacity to the Agency. He later became the Head of Directorate (Secretariat) after its formal establishment.

He is an alumnus of Cranfield School of Management and Harvard Business School where he had obtained training in Advanced Management, Sustainability and Leadership.
Mr. Oliver is calm, hardworking, resourceful and an extra-miler.

CHIEF INTERNAL AUDITOR - EDITH CHINDA-PAUL

Edith Chinda-Paul was appointed the Chief Internal Auditor (CIA) RSSDA in February, 2009. She obtained her audit training from MIS Training Institute, UK, and the global leader in Audit, Risk, Fraud and Security Training. She holds an HND in Business Studies, a Post Graduate Diploma Marketing, Associate Chartered Insurance Institute and Risk Management Diploma. All obtained from various Universities in the UK and also an MBA in management.

She worked in the Federal Government owned financial institution NICON Insurance Corporation where she held various strategic positions. She was once a Regional Manager and supervised Accountants and Auditors for a number of years.  Edith headed the Claims and Investigation Department of the company. She was seconded to ECOWAS as the National Coordinator of Brown Card Insurance Scheme 1994-1997.  Later in her career she was deployed to head the UK Corporate Office of the company until her appointment in RSSDA.

A recipient of; (i) the Great African Merit award; (ii) the Distinguished Nigerian Woman of Merit award; (iii) Honorary PhD in humanities by FCBF Institute, Philadelphia USA. (iv) Member Nigeria Institute of Management.

She has undergone several Leadership and Audit training locally and internationally.