
Dr. Newton Jibunoh
Dr. Newton Jibunoh, is the Founder of the Nigeria's foremost environmental non-governmental organization, Fight Against Desert Encroachment (FADE). Accredited to UNEP and UNCCD, FADE Africa, which was founded in 2000, is focused on combating desertification and its fall-outs such as climate change, poverty, migration and conflict.
Dr. Jibunoh is specificallytrained in the Science of Desertification from the Ben-Gurion University at the Negev, Israel; the CAREERI Institute in China studying the Gobi Desert; and the American Desert Commission in Nevada studying the Arizona and Nevada desert.
His moniker –Desert Warrior—came as a result of his numerous desert exploration. Dr Jibunoh has crossed the Sahara Desert (driving from London to Lagos, and Lagos to London) three times. He embarked upon two solo expeditions in 1966 and 2000. The third expedition in 2008 was in the company of five other desert warriors. In 2011, Dr Jibunoh partnered with the Lagos State Government to establish the first ever Green Reality TV Show called, “Dr. Newton Jibunoh’s Desert Warriors Reality Show”.
A lover of Arts, Dr Jibunoh is the Founder of DIDI Museum, Nigeria's first private museum established May 13, 1983. He has authored many books and publications, and recently, he writes weekly as a columnist for the Sun Newspaper where he focuses on issues affecting the nation and the environment.
Dr Jibunoh was also Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Costain (West Africa) Plc, and later became the Chairman until he retired in 2006. He is an internationally acclaimed speaker and has represented Nigeria in a number of Climate Change summits and conferences such as Bangkok, Copenhagen, and Cancun.