President Barack Obama has tapped Adewale “Wally” Adeyemo, who served in top roles at the Treasury Department, to succeed Caroline Atkinson as his deputy national security adviser for international economic affairs.
Ms. Atkinson has served in her current post since June 2013, a position that includes coordinating U.S. participation in the annual summits of the Group of 20 and Group of Seven countries. Ms. Atkinson also played key roles in the recently concluded climate negotiations in Paris and in pushing the White House’s trade agenda, including the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement.
Mr. Adeyemo, 34, joined the White House’s National Economic Council as deputy director this fall from the Treasury, where he served most recently as the deputy chief of staff to Secretary Jacob Lew. He was the Treasury’s lead negotiator on the currency agreement that was part of the Pacific trade deal.
Mr. Adeyemo also worked on Treasury’s response to crises in Ukraine and Greece and in 2010 was one of the first officials charged with standing up the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
When Adeyemo appeared before the US senate committee on banking, housing, and urban affairs in September, he appreciated his parents who left Nigeria to seek a better life for him.
“While they could not be here today, I want to acknowledge my father and mother who immigrated to this country in search of the American dream and the opportunity to give my brother, sister, and me a better life,” he had said.
“They have worked hard, as an elementary school principal and a nurse, to give tremendous opportunities to their children, but along the way, they have instilled in us the values that guide us every day.
“They often remind us that this country affords the chance to do anything we wanted if we work hard. And they have taught us that we have a responsibility to serve the community and the country that has afforded them so many opportunities.”
The 34-year-old graduated from the University of California, Berkeley, with a bachelor’s of arts, before moving to Yale Law School, where he bagged his Juris Doctor (JD) for further studies in specialised law.
While at Yale, he was the co-director, project on law and education for the university.
Before his appointment, Adeyemo was the deputy chief of staff at the department of the treasury, a position he held for three years. He has served in various positions at treasury, including senior advisor to the chief of staff and deputy executive secretary.
Adeyemo also worked as the chief of staff at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau from 2010 to 2011. He was an editor for the Hamilton Project at the Brookings Institution from 2008 to 2009.
COULD HE BECOME THE GOVERNOR OF US FEDERAL RESERVES?
The governor of the US federal reserves is equivalent to that of Nigeria’s apex bank, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
Adeyemo’s position as deputy NSA has been the springboard to Michael Froman, who is currently the US trade representative and Lael Brainard, Federal Reserve governor.
American finance experts also believe that the post can serve as a springboard to the Nigeria-born who is toeing the same line as those who have gone ahead of him on the job. But the question still remains; can Adeyemo become the first Nigerian/ US citizen to become governor of the US federal reserve?
Source: The wall street journal
Comments
Post a Comment