Ahead of this year’s Democracy Day celebration on June 12, Nigeria’s leading biographical publishing firm, Profiles & Biographies, has announced that it would roll out the 2023 edition of ‘Changemakers: 100 Nigerians Leading Change’, a biographical compendium that shares the stories of outstanding Nigerians making extraordinary impact and providing leadership in their spheres of influence as part of the event.
In a statement jointly signed by the Co-editors, Kammonke Abam and Tammie Edet Kammonke, those that made the list were selected from diverse backgrounds in acknowledgment of their tremendous contributions to the development of the society.
Abam and Kammonke stated that like other compendia published by Profiles & Biographies, ‘Changemakers: 100 Nigerians Leading Change’ is the company’s modest contribution to discovering and curating Nigeria’s best human endowment.
“Nigeria’s human capital is the country’s biggest asset. We must take deliberate steps to unlock that potential and harness it through recognising peculiar endowment of citizens,” the statement said.
According to the editors, the choice of June 12 date for the formal release of the book was a deliberate statement to underscore the significance of the day in Nigeria’s political history, noting that the day presents an opportunity for a deep reflection on our national leadership ethos with a view to addressing the country’s leadership deficits
They added: “There is a nexus between our biographical publications, the quest for transformational leadership in Nigeria and the harnessing of the nation’s human capital, which for us, June 12 represents.
“Immortalising the late Chief MKO Abiola who epitomises the struggle for democracy and popular participation in our electoral process is an excellent acknowledgment of what he stood for and the virtues he represented.
“We affirm our faith in a new Nigeria, a Nigeria where justice prevails and the rule of law is upheld, and where the huge human endowments are harnessed for the sustainable development of our country.
“We also want to reiterate the fact that Nigeria is blessed with an untapped human capital in all spheres of life which is evident in the array of persons profiled in Changemakers compendium and our other biographical compendia,”
Among those listed in this edition are the Founder of The Zeebah Foundation, Mr. Nzan Ogbe; a renowned philanthropist and Chairman of Global Citizen Nigeria, Mr. Tunde Folawiyo; the Founder/Global Lead of the Women Environmental Programme (WEP), Dr. Priscilla M. Achakpa; a feminist activist, grassroots mobiliser and a development consultant, Emem Okon; an organisational management expert and Co-Founder/CEO, Clean Technology Hub Nigeria, Ms Ifeoma Malo; a women’s and children’s rights advocate and founder and Executive Director of the Centre for Children’s Health Education, Orientation and Protection (CEE-HOPE), Betty Abah and the Executive Director of Nigeria’s foremost advocacy non-governmental organisation, Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth, Nigeria, Prince Williams Chima.
Others are a serving Senator, Ali Ndume; retired international soccer star, Kanu Nwankwo; rights activist, Auwal Musa Rafsanjani; the wife of the Olu of Warri, Olori Aiyivieruewinoya “Ivie” Emiko-Atuwatse, among others.
