Obama Appoints Adeyemo As New Security Chief

President Barrack Obama has appointed son of a Nigerian immigrant, Adewale ‘Wally’ Adeyemo as his deputy National Security Advisor for international economics.

This new appointment is coming at a time when anti-immigrant rhetoric is consuming a section of the American political divide as they prepare to usher in a new president.

Adewale Adeyemo, the newly-appointed National Security Advisor for the American president

The 34-year-old’s appointment was announced at the White House in Washington DC, on Tuesday and President Obama said he “will be calling on Wally’s intellect, judgment and dedication as we sustain America’s global economic leadership, which reinforces our national security, and as we work with allies and partners around the world to create jobs and opportunity for all our people.”

Premium Times reports that Adeyemo’s story is that of hard work, inspiration, and strict family values that came together 25 years ago when in February 9, 1990, he was steered out of bed by his father, Joseph Adeyemo, who now works as the principal at the Terrace View Elementary School, Colton, in California.

Wally, as the younger Adeyemo is fondly called, is a graduate of the University of California, Berkeley, where he received his bachelor’s degree and the Yale University Law school, where he was the students’ body president.

Adeyemo joined the Treasury Department in 2009 after law school, working alongside policymakers charged with coordinating international response to global recession.

He was seconded to the team charged to implement a part of the Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act in 2010, where he worked for now Senator Elizabeth Warren as the first Chief of Staff of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

The young man is expected to play a key role in coordinating United States’ response to international financial crises while working with international partners and allies to strategise and implement targeted economic policies to advance and strengthen American national security and economic goals.