Iolu Abil

Iolu Abil
President of Vanuatu
In office 2 September 2009 – 2 September 2014
Prime Minister	Edward Natapei Sato Kilman Serge Vohor Sato Kilman Edward Natapei (Acting) Sato Kilman Moana Carcasses Kalosil Joe Natuman
Preceded by	Maxime Carlot Korman (Acting)
Succeeded by	Philip Boedoro () (Acting)
Personal details
Born	1942 (age 74–75) Lauaneai, New Hebrides (now Vanuatu)
Political party	Vanua'aku Pati
Alma mater	University of the South Pacific
Religion	Presbyterianism

Iolu Johnson Abil (born 1942) is a Vanuatuan politician. He was elected and sworn in as the President of Vanuatu on 2 September 2009.

Abil is from Tanna island, which is located in Vanuatu's southernmost Tafea Province. He was born in the village of Lauaneai on Tanna in the New Hebrides in 1942 to parents George Yavinian and Nassaiu. His father originally owned his own store, but closed the business after Iolu later suggested the family join a business cooperative.

Abil holds the chiefly title of Yaniniko, which means chief's spokesman on the island of Tanna. His hereditary title was granted to him by his grandfather, Joe Yautim, who was a Yaramara, or chief, on Tanna. Abil's father, George Yavinian, was also a chief, but had not been granted the right to be a chiefly spokesperson as of the early 1980s.

Abil attended the local Lenakel village elementary school on his home island of Tanna. He next enrolled at Lenakel Senior Primary School, which he attended from 1956 until 1958. He graduated from Onesua High School.

He is an elder in the Presbyterian Church in Vanuatu.

Abil joined the British National Service as a cooperative inspector in 1964. He also took a job with the New Hebrides Cooperative Department in 1964, a position he held for the next sixteen years. He enrolled in cooperative development training courses in Papua New Guinea and Fiji during the 1960s. He then became a student at the Loughborough International Co-operative College in the United Kingdom for two years.

Abil completed three months of administration and management courses at the University of the South Pacific in Suva, Fiji, in 1973.

...
Wikipedia