Board of Director

Stephen Shehu Abaka

Abaka has over 12 years of technical and management experience in telecommunication/Customer Service Management, Humanitarian Response, Relief and Development he is an expert in related areas of Cash & Markets, Food Security & Livelihoods. He started his early career as a Customer Care Representative of Airtel in Ibadan and later joined MTN in Adamawa as Field Support Officer. He joined the International Rescue Committee in 2014 to service the vulnerable population after the insurgency rampage in NE Nigeria as a voucher program assistant. From there he has worked and rose to the position Program Manager and Global Advisor working with several international organizations; Mercy Corps, Premiere Urgence International, Christian Aid, Cuso International, Catholic Relief Services (CRS) and Catholic Agency for Oversees Development (CAFOD).

He is a member of the NORCAP expert team and currently the CashCap Expert-Central Asia with UNICEF Europe and Asia Region supporting the 5 countries of Central Asia. His most recent assignment was with the United Nations World Food Programme WFP-Tajikistan where he served as Inter-Agency Cash Working Group Technical Advisor supporting Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan.

As a surge expert and technical advisor, Abaka has been deployed to work and provide technical support and trainings to other countries like South Sudan, Zimbabwe, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan and the UK. He is a seasoned capacity development expert/trainer on areas of Project Management, Food Security & Livelihoods, Social Protection and Humanitarian Cash programming and Abaka is a certified CALP Network trainer.

He holds first Degree M.Eng. (Mechanical Engineering) from University of Maiduguri 2011, Post graduate Diploma in Education (PGDE) National Open University-2014, Post graduate Diploma in Agronomy and Farm Management from Ramat Polytechnic Maiduguri-2018, Master’s in Humanitarian and Refugee Studies from University of Maiduguri- 2019, Master’s in International Cooperation and Humanitarian Aid from Kalu Institute Spain 2020, , and is currently pursuing his PhD in Business Management from UNICAF University Zambia.

Abaka is the founder of Hand Open-Wide Development initiative (HOWDI) a charity organization, CEO OO1 Football Talent Hub, board member of several organizations. Abaka loves traveling and uses his leisure time for watching football, spending time with family and connecting with friends.