Nkoyo Esu 

Nkoyo Esu Toyo is a senior Nigerian public policy and development leader with more than three decades of experience spanning economic governance, social protection, gender equality, diplomacy, and large-scale systems reform. Her career sits at the intersection of government leadership, multilateral engagement, and civil society institution-building, with a consistent focus on inclusive growth, poverty reduction, and strengthening public systems to deliver results at scale.

She brings deep, practical experience working across Nigeria’s federal and sub-national institutions. As Special Adviser on Sustainable Development to the Government of Cross River State, she played a central role in domestication of the Sustainable Development Goals, development of a 30-year Growth and Development Strategy, and implementation of national social investment programs covering school feeding, youth employment, cash transfers, and micro-credit. This work required close coordination with economic advisers, planning commissions, and federal partners, as well as hands-on oversight of delivery, performance tracking, and partner alignment.

Her national leadership experience includes service as a Member of Nigeria’s Federal House of Representatives, where she worked on foreign affairs, constitutional reform, gender equality, and regional security. She led efforts to address the socio-economic and humanitarian consequences of the Bakassi displacement, championed reforms to eliminate gender-based discrimination, and created platforms to strengthen youth and women’s participation in leadership and decision-making. These roles grounded her understanding of Nigeria’s political economy, policymaking processes, and the realities of translating reform into action.

Internationally, Ms. Toyo served as Nigeria’s Ambassador to Ethiopia and Djibouti and Permanent Representative to the African Union. In this capacity, she engaged at the highest levels on peace, security, displacement, and development cooperation, including contributing to the Kampala Convention on internally displaced persons and supporting high-level peace negotiations in Sudan and South Sudan. She also initiated the African Union Youth Volunteer Corps, reflecting her long-standing commitment to youth opportunity and regional systems for talent and leadership development.

Complementing her public service, she has over two decades of experience as an independent consultant to multilateral and bilateral partners, including the EU, DFID, UN Women, ActionAid, and national planning institutions. Her work has covered gender-responsive budgeting, women’s economic empowerment, conflict-sensitive development, and social frameworks for regional growth strategies, particularly in the Niger Delta. She is also the founder and long-standing leader of Gender and Development Action (GADA), one of Nigeria’s early gender policy and movement-building organizations.

Ms. Toyo holds an MPA from Harvard Kennedy School, an MA in Governance and Development from the University of Sussex, L LM from the University of Lagos and an LLB from Ahmadu Bello University. She brings seasoned people management experience, board-level governance, and the credibility to represent complex portfolios with senior government, donor, and private-sector stakeholders. Her leadership style is pragmatic, integrative, and grounded in evidence — well suited to advancing an inclusive approach to economic opportunity and gender equality in Nigeria.