Elijah was born 2nd September 1977 into the family of Apostle Raphael and late Mrs Mabel Onyeagba of Awoovu village, Enugwu Ukwu. His father was a pastor and his mother a teacher. He was Managing Director/CEO of an Abuja based realty firm Countrywide Housing Company (CHC) committed to development of affordable housing. Prior to setting out on his private venture he worked across top notch commercial banks including Keystone Bank, Skye Bank, Equatorial Trust Bank, Aso Savings & Loans Plc and also the country’s minting establishment, Nigeria Securities, Printing and Minting.
Elijah is Alumnus of the International Housing Finance Program and Securitization of the Wharton Business School in Pennsylvania. Elijah is an Archbishop Desmond Tutu Fellow of the African Leadership Institute. He is also a Senior Member of the Chartered institute of Bankers of Nigeria (HCIB) and a Fellow of the Institute of Treasury and Financial Administration (FITFA), a new leader with the Crans Montana Forum and a member of the African Leadership Network-ALN. He is an alumnus of the prestigious University of Nigeria Nsukka where he obtained a second class upper Bachelor of Science Degree in Economics, Master’s Business Administration in Finance from University of Calabar and Master’s in Applied Economics from the American University in Washington DC, USA. He has a PhD in Economics (Public Policy) from the Prestigious Atlantic International University, Hawaii USA. He also sits on the Advisory board of Democracy Youth Roundtable. Professionally, In addition, he has undergone several leadership and management courses in Harvard Business School USA – High Potential Leadership Program HPLP- 2008, Leadership Development LD 2009, Wharton Business School USA – Strategic Marketing – MT 2010, Said Business School Oxford UK, 2012 and INSEAD Business School, Fontaine Bleau, France –Leadership Transition LT, 2013.
His Excellency, Amb. Elijah Onyeagba, PhD is a Nigerian Diplomat recently appointed by President Buhari as an Ambassador plenipotentiary of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Before his appointment, Elijah was the APC House of Representative candidate for Anaocha/Njikoka/Dunukofia Federal Constituency in the last concluded 2019 general elections. He is an Economist by training with an MBA in Finance and over seventeen years’ experience in commercial, corporate, retail, mortgage banking, real estate, research, marketing and leadership majoring in structuring and advisory on construction finance deals with specialty in residential/affordable housing projects. Elijah speaks at conferences and seminars nationally and internationally and for the past five years have been a panelist at the Mo Ibrahim governance weekend discussing issues on Africa and the youth bulge.
Elijah has shown in the last days his preparedness for the task of international diplomacy with the remarkable rapport he seems to enjoy amongst the international community. The uncommon vigor foreign diplomats have observed keenly from the young Nigerians has changed the foreign perception against the President Muhammadu Buhari leadership and affirms truly the government’s penchant for excellence. Amb. Elijah has not only changed the image of diplomatic missions in Nigeria but turned Burundi to a desirable destination for many Nigerians too. He has received numerous awards for his academic prowess, professional excellence in banking and in the real estate industry, contribution to youth empowerment, education and community development including Nigeria Goodwill Ambassador Awards, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, The Distinguished Economists Award, The Nigeria Economics Students Association, the Award of Excellence for Outstanding Contribution to the Banking Sector and other troves of awards, and most recently Abuja’s Most Outstanding Under 50 Public Servant for International Relations 2021.
He is married to beautiful Udo and they are blessed with children.