PROMINENT Africans and Nigerians have confirmed their participation in the Realnews 12th Anniversary Lecture holding on Tuesday, November 19, 2024 at the Sheraton Hotel, Lagos.
A statement by Maureen Chigbo,Publisher/Editor of Realnews, an online magazine made available to National Record revealed the personalities to include Ms. Beatrice Eyong, UN Women’s Country Representative; Karim El Aynaoui, Executive President, Policy Center for the New South, Rabat, Morocco; Mrs. Hadiza Bala Usman, Special Adviser to the President of Nigeria on Policy & Coordination and Head, Central Delivery Coordination, and Engr. Shehu Tijjani, Managing Director, Amal Technologies Ltd.
Ms. Eyong, a Cameroonian national, will chair the lecture that will be delivered by Prof. Ibrahim Agboola Gambari, Chief of Staff to former President Muhammadu Buhari and former Permanent Representative of Nigeria at the United Nations.
Eyong will also moderate the discussion session featuring Bala Usman who doubles as a Special Guest and discussant along with Tijanni. El Aynaoui will also keynote the lecture.
In her acceptance message dated September 10, 2024, Eyong, who has over 35 years professional working experience in international organisations promoting gender equality and women’s empowerment, said: “I intend to attend the lecture….”
She holds a Master of Science degree in Agricultural Extension from the University of Reading, United Kingdom; a Diploma in Women, Extension workers and Agriculture from the Larenstein International Agricultural College – Deventer, the Netherlands; and a Diploma in Integrated Rural Development, from the Pan African Institute for Development West Africa, Buea – Cameroon.
According to the statement, El Aynaoui, from Morocco, emailed his acceptance, stating: “Thank you very much for your very kind invitation which I accept gladly. I am very honored”.
El Aynaoui is executive vice-president of Mohammed VI Polytechnic University and Dean of its Humanities, Economics, and Social Sciences Cluster, and an economist. From 2005 to 2012, he worked at the Central Bank of Morocco where he held the position of Director of Economics, Statistics, and International Relations.
At the Central Bank of Morocco, he was in charge of the Research Department and equally a member of the Governor’s Cabinet. Previously, he worked for eight years at the World Bank as an Economist for its regional units in the Middle East and North Africa, and Africa. Karim El Aynaoui has published books and journal articles on macroeconomic issues in developing countries.
On her part, Bala Usman, who has a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration and Master’s degree in Development Studies from the University of Leeds, UK, in her acceptance message stated: “I will be there and I have sent to my team to schedule”.
Bala Usman was the former Managing Director of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), an activist and a politician.
Similarly, Tijjani, described as a technologist, innovator, visionary leader and entrepreneur dedicated to transforming Nigeria’s technological landscape, said in his message: “Thank you for the honour. I shall be in attendance by the grace of God.”
Tijjani is a First Class graduate in Information Technology and Business Information Systems from Middlesex University with a background in hardware and firmware engineering.
The Management of Realnews Magazine and Publications Limited, publishers of Realnews Magazine Online, had announced the lecture would be on the theme: “Africa in World Shifting Geopolitics: Matters Arising on Demography, Technology, Artificial Intelligence, Natural Resources”.
Maureen Chigbo, the publisher of Realnews, said there will be an induction of all the speakers into The Realnews Hall of Fame immediately after the Lecture. Chigbo explained that the Realnews Hall of Fame was established to honour only those who played key roles during the anniversary lectures.
