Reuben Olembo

Professor Reuben James Olembo (1937–2005) was a prominent Kenyan academic, scientist and environmentalist. He was a deputy executive director of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), which he played a pivotal role in helping found, and United Nations Assistant Secretary General from 1994 to 1998.[1] He became the Acting Secretary General of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES),[2] after his retirement from UNEP.

 Rayuwar farko 
Reuben Olembo was born on November 28, 1937, in Bunyore in the then Vihiga District of Kakamega in Western Province, Kenya. He excelled in his studies at Kima Primary School, and then Maseno School, both of which were mission schools. Faith played a key role in his early family life and education. His parents were both ministers in the Church of God, established in his village by American missionaries.

Olembo na daga cikin rukunin farko na daliban da aka yi jigilar su zuwa Amurka a cikin 1959 a matsayin wani bangare na jirgin saman Kennedy-Mboya, bayan da ya ki amincewa da damar yin karatu a Jami'ar Cambridge da ke Burtaniya.   Ya halarci Jami'ar Purdue a Indiana  kuma tsakanin 1961 da 1965 an ba shi digirinsa na farko (Biology da Chemistry), digiri na biyu da digiri na uku (genetics, tare da ƙananan yara a cikin nazarin halittu da kididdiga).  Abubuwan da ya samu na ilimi sun kasance sananne saboda "bai fito daga ilimin kimiyya ba kuma ba shi da kwarewar dakin gwaje-gwaje." 

Olembo ya koyar a Jami'ar Makerere da ke Uganda tsakanin 1965 zuwa 1969, inda ya samu lakabin "Prof." An ce ya taimaka wa ‘yan Uganda da dama shiga tsarin Majalisar Dinkin Duniya ta hanyar bayar da tallafin karatu, kuma ya taimaka wajen kafa Cibiyar Kula da Muhalli ta Jami’ar Makerere.

Olembo ya koma Kenya don shiga Sashen Botany a Jami'ar Nairobi . An nada shi shugaban sashen a shekarar 1970, yana da shekaru 33. Ya ci gaba da kasancewa a wannan mukamin har zuwa 1975. Shi ne dan Kenya na farko da ya zama Farfesa a sashen kuma ya shugabanci sa.  Ya gabatar da sabbin kwasa-kwasai masu tsauri a fannin ilimin halittu a matakin digiri na farko da na gaba.

Olembo ya kasance mai fafutukar neman ilimi a Kenya da kasashe makwabta. Ya yi aiki a matsayin mai jarrabawar takardar shedar Makaranta ta Jami’ar Cambridge, da babban mai jarrabawar Hukumar Jarrabawar Afirka ta Gabas, da kuma mai tantance digiri na waje a Najeriya, Ghana, da Tanzaniya. 

Ya rubuta kuma an buga shi a ko'ina kan kwayoyin halitta, ilimin halittu da manufofin muhalli. 

 Ayyukan kasa da kasa 
Olembo ya kasance memba na tawagar Afirka a taron Stockholm na 1972 wanda ya kai ga kafa UNEP. Ya shiga kungiyar a shekarar 1974 a matsayin babban jami’in tsare-tsare. Ya taka muhimmiyar rawa wajen karfafa wasu yarjejeniyoyin muhalli masu yawa (MEAS) kamar Yarjejeniyar Ciniki ta Kasa da Kasa a cikin Nauyin Tsirrai na Flora da Fauna (CITES), inda ya kasance Sakatare-Janar na wucin gadi tsakanin 1998 da 1999; Yarjejeniyar Kan Bakin Haure (CMS), Yarjejeniyar Majalisar Dinkin Duniya kan bambancin halittu (CBD), Yarjejeniyar Majalisar Dinkin Duniya don Yaki Hamada (UNCCD), da yarjejeniyar kasa da kasa ta FAO kan albarkatun kwayoyin shuka don abinci da noma.  A lokacin da yake aiki tare da UNEP, Dokta Olembo ya kuma lura da ci gaban Dabarun Kare Kayayyakin Duniya, babban takarda kan kiyaye albarkatun rayuwa don albarkatu masu dorewa. Ya zama babban abin da ake magana a kai don dabaru da manufofin kiyaye ƙasa na duniya baki ɗaya. Har ila yau, yana da rawar da ya taka wajen kafa manufar Ƙasa ta Duniya, Shirin Ayyukan Daji na 1985, da Cibiyoyin Albarkatun Ƙirƙira.

Ya kasance shugaban tarurruka da dama na taron jam'iyyu (COP) a tsakanin tarukan kasa da kasa da dama kan al'amuran muhalli da ya jagoranta kuma ya yi magana a kai.

 Aikin kasa 
Olembo shi ne mamba mafi dadewa a kwamitin amintattu na wuraren shakatawa na Kenya, wanda aka nada shi a cikin 1967.

Yayin da yake Jami'ar Nairobi, Olembo ya taimaka wa 'yan majalisa daga Yammacin Kenya don gina Cibiyar Fasaha ta Harambee don Lardin Yamma, wadda ta zama Kwalejin Kimiyya da Fasaha ta Yamma (WECO) kuma, a cikin 2007 ta zama Jami'ar Kimiyya da Fasaha ta Masinde Muliro . 

Olembo ya yi aiki a matsayin mai baiwa gwamnatin kasa shawara kan harkokin muhalli ga ministan muhalli da albarkatun kasa. Ya kirkiro tsarin da ya zama Hukumar Kula da Muhalli ta Kasa (NEMA).  Daga nan aka nada shi a matsayin manajan amintaccen Asusun Kula da Muhalli na Kenya. Ya shiga Hukumar Gudanarwa na Kamfanin Seed na Kenya  a cikin 2003, inda ya yi aiki har zuwa mutuwarsa a cikin Maris 2005 bayan ya shiga cikin wani shiri na dabarun kamfani. 

 Ganewa 
Jami'ar Purdue ta karrama Olembo a cikin 1994 tare da lambar yabo na tsofaffin ɗalibai don Noma.  Har ila yau, ya kasance Fellow Foundation na Rockefeller, Fellow of the Kenya Academy of Sciences (satare) kuma memba na Ƙungiyar Ƙasa ta Duniya (komitin zartarwa). [ <span title="This claim needs references to reliable sources. (October 2016)">abubuwan da ake bukata</span> ]

 Nassoshi 

Rukuni:Mutuwan 2005
Rukuni:Haifaffun 1937
Rukuni:Shafuka masu fassarorin da ba'a duba ba