Ezekwesili, Ekpo, Baru, Kuru, Olagunju to attend Realnews fifth anniversary lecture

The Realnews Magazine and Publications Limited, would hold its fifth Anniversary Lecture on Thursday, November 16, 2017.

The lecture entitled: “African Leadership in a Turbulent Era,” which will be delivered by a former Minister of Education, Dr. (Mrs) Oby Ezekwesili, will hold at the Sheraton Hotel, Ikeja, Lagos, by 10:00 a.m. prompt.

Ezekwesili, who is former Vice President of the World Bank and Co-founder of Transparency International, was last week, appointed democracy ambassador by the Swedish-based International Institute for Electoral Assistance, International IDEA.

She is the first female to give the Realnews Anniversary Lecture series. The lecture will be chaired by Prof. Akpan Hogan Ekpu, who is the Director General of the West African Institute for Financial and Economic Management (WAIFEM).

After the lecture, a panel of discussants will leverage on the topic to speak on how leadership crisis is affecting different sectors in Nigeria and the way forward.

The panellists are the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of the Assets Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON), Mr. Ahmed Kuru, the Executive Director, Bank of Industry (BOI), Mr. Waheed Olagunju and the Group Managing Director, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).
Dr. Maikanti Baru.

Both the lecturer and all of the panellists have confirmed their attendance at the event.

Realnews choice of topic in 2017, according to the Publisher/Editor, Maureen Chigbo, was informed by emerging global trend, especially the emergence of Mr. Donald Trump, as America’s 45th President, with Russia and China increasingly wielding more influence on Africa.

“There is also the looming threat of nuclear war in the Korean peninsula. This is coming at a time when African countries are struggling with ceaseless political and socio-economic turbulence, high youth unemployment and hundreds, if not thousands of young people from the continent perishing in the Mediterranean Sea on perilous journeys to Europe in search of so-called greener pastures.

“From South Sudan where warlords appear bent on disintegrating the country, to the lingering Boko Haram insurgency in West and Central Africa, coupled with a rash of uprising by separatist groups, including the Niger Delta militants and Independent People of Biafra in Nigeria and the increasing wave of terrorism in other parts of Africa, the prognosis looks bleak, to say the least,” she said.

Chigbo said that after the panel and interactive session, there would be an investiture into the prestigious Realnews Hall of Fame, exclusively reserved for only guest speakers, discussants, Realnews Book reviewers and chairpersons at our anniversary lecture series.

Former inductees into the Realnews Hall of Fame are the United Nations Special Representative to West Africa and Sahel, Dr. Mohammed Ibn Chambas, Liberian Presidential Candidate, Mr. Alex Cummings, Corps Marshal, Federal Road Safety Corps, Dr. Boboye Oyeyemi, Nigerian Inspector General of Police,
Ibrahim Idris, Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Alpine Investments Ltd, Mohammed Hayatu-Deen, former Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria, Prof. Chukwuma Soludo, former Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Maurice Iwu and the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Export Import Bank (NEXIM), Mr. Roberts Orya.

Others are the President, Media World, Dr. Ngozi Anyaegbunam, the Director General, Bureau of Public Enterprise Mr. Benjamin Dikki, and Managing Director, Falcon Corporation Limited, Prof. Joe. I. Ezigbo.

“They (inductees) all played key roles during our anniversary Lectures and the induction into the Realnews Hall of Fame is just a token of our appreciation for the honour they did to Realnews Magazine and Publications Limited,” said Chigbo, publisher/editor of Realnews.

Realnews, a general interest magazine and an online publication which thrives on investigative journalism debuted November 19, 2012.

It focuses on oil and gas sector with its attendant environmental challenges, as well as issues relating to business and economy, politics, power, health, women and youth.