and negotiations, such as the Gibraltar referendum of 1967, the St Kitts-Nevis-Anguilla constitutional crisis of 1969 to 1970, the problems following Commonwealth Games’ boycotts during the 1980s and the process leading to peace and democracy in Zimbabwe, Namibia and in particular, South Africa. He also moved up the ladder within the Commonwealth Secretariat. He became the Director of the International Affairs Division in 1971 and in 1975 rose to the position of Assistant Secretary-General. In 1977, Commonwealth Governments elected him deputy secretary-general with responsibility for international affairs and the secretariat's administration. In October, 1983, he resigned from his post and returned to Nigeria at the invitation of the Civilian President Shehu Shagari to serve as the country's foreign minister. On the overthrow of the government by the military on 31 December 1983, he went back with the unanimous support of the Commonwealth Governments to his previous position as Deputy Secretary-General. In 1989 at their meeting in Kuala-lumpur he was elected by Commonwealth Heads of Government the third Commonwealth Secretary-General. He was re-elected at the 1993 Limassol Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting for a second five-year term. Apart from striving to strengthen intra-Commonwealth relations and promoting democracy and good governance, one of the major projects he tackled during his tenure was the establishment of democracy in South Africa. He tirelessly championed and spoke in favour of the struggle to rid South Africa of Apartheid. In 1990, on the release of former President Nelson Mandela from Pollsmoor Prison, Anyaoku hosted Madiba to his first official dinner as Commonwealth Secretary-General in London. Between 1 November 1991 and 17 November 1993, he visited South Africa 11 times, using his diplomatic skills to help in breaking deadlocks in the negotiation process that brought the end of apartheid in South Africa. In 1998, in recognition of Chief Emeka Anyaoku's contribution to the transition in South Africa, and the manner in which he had championed the cause of the progressive movements in Southern Africa, the President of South Africa accorded him the rare honour of addressing a joint sitting of the South African Parliament. President Nelson Mandela wrote the foreword of Chief Emeka Anyaoku's biography, Eye of Fire authored by Phyllis Johnson as well as to Chief Emeka Anyaoku's memoirs, The Inside Story of the Modern Commonwealth. Anyaoku was involved in numerous interventions to broker peace between several Commonwealth leaders and opposition parties in their countries. He