Chemist Rita Michael-Ojo
Chemist Rita Ejemeare Michael-Ojo has a myriad of working experiences spanning both the public and private sectors of the economy, and cutting across inter-disciplinary and multi-cultural work settings. She attended the University of Benin, obtaining a Bachelor’s Degree in Chemistry Education. Also, has a Master of Public Administration (MPA) from University of Lagos.
After a stint in the private sector, Ms. Michael-Ojo joined Raw Materials Research and Development (RMRDC), a parastatal of the Federal Ministry of Science and Technology in 1991 as a Public Relations Officer. Though relatively inexperienced then, her natural interpersonal and communication skills soon started yielding dividends – as her liaison with various state governments and other stakeholders soon led to the establishment of RMRDC liaison offices in different states in Nigeria. Ms. Rita Michael-Ojo later moved her career into the bigger corporate world when she joined the Anglo-Dutch oil giants, Shell Exploration and Production Company (SNEPCO), where her skills in corporate services were deployed in such critical areas as negotiations, influencing, facilitations, business development and strategy etc. In all of these, she demonstrated her inherent ability to manage and work with multi-disciplinary and multi-cultural teams. In 2011, she decided to allude to the age-long maxim that “charity begins at home.” She returned to her primary professional constituency – Chemistry. She joined the services of Institute of Chartered Chemists of Nigeria (ICCON), a Federal Government agency whose primary mandate is the regulation of the teaching, learning and standard best practice of Chemistry in Nigeria. Her sojourn in ICCON saw her hold such positions of responsibility as Head, Public / Government Affairs and Protocol; Head, Human Resources, Head Corporate Services and Protocol and Head Membership and Training Departments. Growing through the ranks, she attained the rank of Deputy Director when she retired in 2023. In these rather sensitive positions, she played a crucial role in forming synergies and articulating modalities that were crucial to the realization of the Institute’s mandates geared towards sanitizing Nigeria’s chemical and allied sectors. Rita’s humane disposition has spurred her into social services that impact positively on humanity. She is a member of the Abuja Prestige Metro Lions Club.
Chemist Michael-Ojo is currently a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Chemists of Nigeria (ICCON) and a Fellow of Chemical Society of Nigeria, a Board member of the Nigeria Environmental Summit Group (NESUG). She is the Managing Consultant of Metro UniCon Limited.
On a more leisurely note, she is an ardent golfer and member of Ikeja Golf Club Lagos, IBB Golf Club Abuja and Parkland Golf Resort Club Abuja. She enjoys travelling and reading.