Ms Amal Iyingiala Pepple, CFR,is the Minister of Housing, Land and Urban Development. she was until June 2009 the Head of the Civil Service

Civil service

The term civil service has two distinct meanings:* A branch of governmental service in which individuals are employed on the basis of professional merit as proven by competitive examinations....

 of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Prior to joining the Government, Ms. Pepple started her career as a Lecturer in Political Science

Political science

Political Science is a social science discipline concerned with the study of the state, government and politics. Aristotle defined it as the study of the state. It deals extensively with the theory and practice of politics, and the analysis of political systems and political behavior...

 at Rivers State College of Education, Port Harcourt Rivers State. Ms. Pepple has also served as Administrative Secretary of the Social Democratic Party

Social Democratic Party

The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by a large number of political parties in various countries around the world...

, Rivers State. She has also been Director of the Federal Civil Service and Director of the Economic Affairs Office in the Presidency as well as Permanent Secretary in the following Federal Ministries: Civil Service Commission, Transport

Transport

Transport or transportation is the movement of people, cattle, animals and goods from one location to another. Modes of transport include air, rail, road, water, cable, pipeline, and space. The field can be divided into infrastructure, vehicles, and operations...

, Information and National Orientation, Petroleum

Petroleum

Petroleum or crude oil is a naturally occurring, flammable liquid consisting of a complex mixture of hydrocarbons of various molecular weights and other liquid organic compounds, that are found in geologic formations beneath the Earth's surface. Petroleum is recovered mostly through oil drilling...

 Resources, Commerce

Commerce

While business refers to the value-creating activities of an organization for profit, commerce means the whole system of an economy that constitutes an environment for business. The system includes legal, economic, political, social, cultural, and technological systems that are in operation in any...

, Agriculture

Agriculture

Agriculture is the cultivation of animals, plants, fungi and other life forms for food, fiber, and other products used to sustain life. Agriculture was the key implement in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that nurtured the...

 and Water Resources and Finance

Finance

"Finance" is often defined simply as the management of money or “funds” management Modern finance, however, is a family of business activity that includes the origination, marketing, and management of cash and money surrogates through a variety of capital accounts, instruments, and markets created...

.

Ms. Pepple obtained a first class Bachelors degree in Political Science from the Obafemi Awolowo University

Obafemi Awolowo University

Obafemi Awolowo University is a government-owned and -operated Nigerian university. The university is in the ancient city of Ile-Ife, Osun State, Nigeria...

, Nigeria, in 1975 and a Masters degree from the School of Oriental and African Studies

School of Oriental and African Studies

The School of Oriental and African Studies is a public research university located in London, United Kingdom and a constituent college of the University of London...

in 1981.