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Best Female Athlete in Africa

March 5, 2024 13

A #Nigerian female athlete, Tobi Amusan has been named Best Female Athlete in Africa for 2022 by the Confederation of African Athletics (CAA). Tobi is ranked 1st on the continent, above Faith Kipyegon 2nd & […]

Record Breakers

A Nigerian Became the Heaviest Para Power Lifter In Guinness World Record

March 5, 2024 3

Alice Folashade Oluwafemiayo, a Nigerian woman, made history by becoming the heaviest para powerlifter in the -79 kg category with a remarkable 144 kg lift in December 2021. Oluwafemiayo’s world record-breaking performance brought cheer to […]

Record Breakers

A Record Breaker That Represented Nigeria as A Footballer and An Athlete

March 5, 2024 1

Chioma Ajunwa, a legendary Nigerian woman, represented Nigeria as both a footballer and an athlete. BACKGROUND Chioma Ajunwa was born on 25 December 1970 in Umuchukwu in the Orumba South Local Government Area of Anambra […]

PRESIDENT BOLA AHMED TINUBU

Asiwaju Bola Tinubu’s emergence as the Governor of Lagos State at the dawn of the Fourth Republic witnessed a tremendous transformation of Lagos to a mega city. He went on to become the architect of a modern Lagos after cleaning up Lagos State. He introduced the famous Lagos master plan that remained a success template for every successive governor after him. He initiated ingenious ideas and a financial re-engineering that has made Lagos Nigeria’s most economically viable state.

Chief Bola Ahmed Adekunle Tinubu GCFR (born 29 March 1952) is a Nigerian accountant and politician who is the president-elect of Nigeria. He served as governor of Lagos State from 1999 to 2007 and senator for Lagos West during the brief Third Republic.

Tinubu spent his early life in southwestern Nigeria and later moved to the United States where he studied Accounting at Chicago State University. He returned to Nigeria in the early 1990s and was employed by Mobil Nigeria as an accountant, before entering politics as a Lagos West senatorial candidate in 1992 under the banner of the Social Democratic Party. After dictator Sani Abacha dissolved the Senate in 1993, Tinubu became an activist campaigning for the return of democracy as a part of the National Democratic Coalition movement.

In the first post-transition Lagos State gubernatorial election, Tinubu won by a wide margin as a member of the Alliance for Democracy. Four years later, he won re-election to a second term. After leaving office in 2007, he played a key role in the formation of the All Progressives Congress in 2013. In 2023, he was elected president of Nigeria.

Tinubu is generally accepted in reliable sources to have been born in Nigeria in 1952; this year of birth is sometimes disputed by political opponents, who argue that he is much older. Some reliable sources note that his age has not been verfied He completed undergraduate studies in the United States, first at Richard J. Daley College in Chicago and then at Chicago State University. He graduated in 1979 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting.

Tinubu worked for the American companies Arthur Andersen, Deloitte and GTE Services Corporation. After returning to Nigeria in 1983, he joined Mobil Oil Nigeria, and later became a company executive.

Tinubu’s political career began in 1991, when he joined the Social Democratic Party. In 1992, he was elected to the Senate, representing the Lagos West constituency in the short-lived Nigerian Third Republic.

After the results of the 12 June 1993 presidential elections were annulled, Tinubu became a founding member of the pro-democracy National Democratic Coalition, a group which mobilized support for the restoration of democracy and recognition of Moshood Abiola as winner of the 12 June election. Following the seizure of power as military head of state of General Sani Abacha, he went into exile in 1994 and returned to the country in 1998 after the death of the military dictator, which ushered in the transition to the Fourth Nigerian Republic.

In the run-up to the 1999 elections, Bola Tinubu was a protégé of Alliance for Democracy (AD) leaders Abraham Adesanya and Ayo Adebanjo. He went on to win the AD primaries for the Lagos State governorship elections in defeating Funsho Williams and Wahab Dosunmu, a former Minister of Works and Housing. In January 1999, he stood for the position of Governor of Lagos State on the AD ticket and was elected governor.

During his 8 years in government, Tinibu initiated new road construction, required to meet the needs of the fast-growing population of the state.

Tinubu, alongside a new deputy governor, Femi Pedro, won re-election into office as governor in April 2003. All other states in the South West fell to the People’s Democratic Party in those elections. He was involved in a struggle with the Olusegun Obasanjo-controlled federal government over whether Lagos State had the right to create new Local Council Development Areas (LCDAs) to meet the needs of its large population. The controversy led to the federal government seizing funds meant for local councils in the state. During the latter part of his term in office, he was engaged in continuous clashes with PDP powers such as Adeseye Ogunlewe, a former Lagos State senator who had become minister of works, and Bode George, the southwest chairman of the PDP.

Relations between Tinubu and deputy governor Femi Pedro became increasingly tense after Pedro declared his intention to run for the gubernatorial elections. Pedro competed to become the AC candidate for governor in the 2007 elections, but withdrew his name on the eve of the party nomination. He defected to the Labour Party while still keeping his position as deputy governor. Tinubu’s tenure as Lagos State Governor ended on 29 May 2007, when his successor Babatunde Fashola of the Action Congress took office.

In 2006, Tinubu attempted to persuade the then-vice president of Nigeria Atiku Abubakar to become the head of his party, the Action Congress (AC). Abubakar who was a member of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), had recently fallen out with President Olusegun Obasanjo over Abubakar’s ambition to succeed Obasanjo as president. Tinubu offered Abubakar the chance to switch parties and join the AC, offering him the his party’s presidential candidacy, with the condition that he, Tinubu, would be Atiku Abubakar’s running mate. Atiku declined the proposition and, having switched to the AC, chose a running mate from the South East, Senator Ben Obi. Although Atiku ran for office on Tinubu’s platform in the election, the PDP still won, in a landslide.

In 2009, following the landslide victory of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in the April 2007 elections, Tinubu became involved in negotiations to bring together the fragmented opposition parties into a “mega-party” capable of challenging the then ruling PDP. In February 2013, Tinubu was among several politicians who created a “mega opposition” party with the merger of Nigeria’s three biggest opposition parties – the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP), a faction of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) and the new PDP, a faction of the then ruling People’s Democratic Party[ – into the All Progressives Congress (APC).

In 2014, Tinubu supported former military head of state General Muhammadu Buhari, leader of the CPC faction of the APC – who commanded widespread following in Northern Nigeria, and had previously contested in the 2003, 2007 and 2011 presidential elections as the CPC presidential candidate. Tinubu initially wanted to become Buhari’s vice presidential candidate but later conceded for Yemi Osibanjo, his ally and former commissioner of justice. In 2015, Buhari rode the APC to victory, ending the 16-year rule of the PDP, and marking the first time an incumbent Nigerian president lost to an opposition candidate.

Tinubu went on to play an important role in the Buhari administration, supporting government policies and holding onto the internal party reins, in lieu of his long-held rumored presidential aspiration. In 2019, he supported Buhari’s re-election campaign defeating the PDP candidate Atiku Abubakar. In 2020, following an internal party crisis which led to the removal of Tinubu ally and party chairman Adams Oshiomole, it is believed the move was to scuttle Tinubu’s presidential prospects ahead of 2023.

On 10 January 2022, Tinubu made his formal announcement of candidacy for president.

On 8 June 2022, Tinubu won the party convention vote of the ruling APC, scoring 1,271, to defeat Vice President Yemi Osinbajo and Rotimi Amaechi who scored 235 and 316 respectively.

On 1 March 2023, INEC declared Tinubu winner of the 2023 presidential election. He was declared president-elect after he polled 8,794,726 votes to defeat his opponents. His runner-up Atiku Abubakar of the opposition People’s Democratic Party (PDP) polled 6,984,520 votes. Labour Party’s Peter Obi had 6,101,533 votes to come third.

Tinubu married Oluremi Tinubu, who is the current senator representing the Lagos Central senatorial district, in 1987. They have 3 children, Zainab Abisola Tinubu, Habibat Tinubu and Olayinka Tinubu. He fathered 3 children from previous relationships, Kazeem Olajide Tinubu (12 October 1974 – 31 October 2017), Folashade Tinubu (born 17 June 1976) and Oluwaseyi Tinubu (born 13 October 1985), whose mother is rumoured to be the former air hostess and prophetess Bunmi Oshonike.

Tinubu holds two chieftaincies; he is the “Asiwaju” of Lagos and the “Jagaban” of the Borgu Emirate in Niger State.

VICE PRESIDENT KASHIM SHETTIMA

Kashim Shettima is a very intelligent and outspoken politician from the Kanuri tribe. He is generally seen as extremely hospitable to other faith and ethnic groups.

Kashim Ibrahim Shettima was born on September 2, 1966. He is currently a Senator and former governor of Borno State.

During his time as a Governor, Shettima had amongst his closest aides, an Ibo Christian from Anambra State in the Southeast, an Urhobo Christian from Delta State in the South-South, a Christian from Edo State in the South-South, a Yoruba Christian from the Southwest, a fulani man from Gombe in the northeast and a Hausa man from Zamfara State in the northwest.

Sen. Kashim Shettima was born in Maiduguri, Borno state, Nigeria to the family of Sir Kashim Ibrahim. He is married to Nana Shettima, and they have three children: two females and a male.

Sen. Kashim attended Lamisula Primary School in Maiduguri from 1972 to 1978; Government Community Secondary School, Biu in southern part of Borno State from 1978 to 1980; transferred to Government Science Secondary School, Potiskum (now in neighbouring Yobe State) where he completed his secondary education in 1983. He studied at the University of Maiduguri and earned a Degree (BSc) in Agricultural Economics in 1989. He had his one-year compulsory membership of the National Youths Service Corps, NYSC, at the defunct Nigerian Agricultural Cooperative Bank, Calabar, capital of Cross River State in South-South, Nigeria, from 1989 to 1990.

He obtained a master’s degree (MSc) in Agricultural Economics in 1991 at the University of Ibadan in Southwest, Nigeria. Shettima joined the University of Maiduguri as a Lecturer with the Department of Agricultural Economics and was in the academia from 1991 to 1993.

In 1993, he moved into the banking sector and was employed by (now defunct) Commercial Bank of Africa Limited as head of accounts unit at the bank’s office in Ikeja, Lagos State, Southwest, Nigeria.

Shettima was there from 1993 to 1997. In 1997 he crossed over to the African International Bank Limited as a Deputy Manager and rose to become a Manager in 2001. In 2001, he moved to the Zenith Bank as head of its main branch in Maiduguri. At the Zenith Bank he rose to Senior Manager/Branch Head; Assistant General Manager (AGM)/Zonal Head (North-East), Deputy General Manager/Zonal Head (North-East) before he stepped out of the Zenith Bank as a General Manager in 2007 following his appointment as Commissioner for Finance in Borno State.

Shettima worked with the Commercial Bank of Africa as an Agricultural Economist at its Ikeja Office, Lagos State (1993-1997). He then became a deputy manager, later manager, at the African International Bank Limited, Kaduna Branch (1997–2001), and was appointed Deputy Manager/Branch Head of the Zenith Bank’s Maiduguri Office in 2001, becoming General Manager five years later. In mid-2007, Shettima was appointed Commissioner of the Borno State Ministry of Finance and Economic Development. Later he became Commissioner in the Ministries of Local Governments and Chieftaincy Affairs, Education, Agriculture and later Health under his predecessor as Borno Governor Ali Modu Sheriff.

From 2007 to 2011, he served as Commissioner in 5 Ministries. In the January 2011 ANPP primaries, Engineer Modu Fannami Gubio was selected as candidate for the governorship. However, Gubio was later shot dead by gunmen, and Shettima was selected in a second primary in February 2011. In the 26 April 2011 elections, Shettima won with 531,147 votes while the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) candidate, Muhammed Goni, gained 450,140 votes.

He was Commissioner of Local Governments and Chieftaincy Affairs (2008), Education (2009), Agriculture and Natural Resources and finally to the Ministry of Health from where he contested the Governorship in 2011 which he won under the platform of the now defunct All Nigeria Peoples Party, ANPP and was inaugurated on May 29, 2011. He won reelection in 2015 under the All Progressives Congress, APC and was unambiguously chosen as Chairman of the Northern States Governors’ Forum, an umbrella body of Governors in the 19 States located in northern Nigeria. He has so far been driving key changes in the affairs of the forum with focus on promoting northern unity and reviving ailing industries belonging to northern States.

As Governor of Borno State, he has efficiently managed challenges arising from the Boko Haram insurgency which he inherited in 2011. With the approval of the National Security Adviser and the Nigerian Army in 2013, his government formalized establishment of youth volunteers called the Civilian JTF.

The volunteers have played very significant role in supporting the military in ongoing fight against Boko Haram insurgents. He approves salaries, kits and patrol vehicles for the civilian JTF while at the same time giving so much support to the Nigerian Armed Forces.

He leads in mobilization of community based intelligence gathering and the provision of hundreds of patrol vehicles and material logistics to the military in particular and to all other security agencies. In September, 2014, Maiduguri, the seat of Government became very vulnerable to being occupied by insurgents. The fear was so intense that notable residents relocated their families to Abuja. However, amidst such fright, Governor Kashim Shettima who was out of the country for an official assignment, returned to Maiduguri in a show of courage and patriotism. On his return, the Governor mobilized residents towards rising up in defense of their ancestry.

Although Maiduguri didn’t fall, the insurgents succeeded in occupying 20 out of the 27 local government areas of the State before the Nigerian Armed Forces liberated them between 2015 and 2016.

The Governor has been coordinating and leading the temporary accommodation, rehabilitation and resettlement of victims of the Boko Haram insurgents. With peace building, Governor Kashim Shettima has been championing Reconstruction, Rehabilitation and Resettlement of victims. He has focused so much attention on expansion and remodeling of existing schools and the building of new boarding primary and junior secondary schools to cater for over 50, 000 unaccompanied orphans whose parents were killed by insurgents across the 27 local government areas of the State.

Governor Kashim Shettima’s leadership credentials have attracted positive recognition within and outside Nigeria. Governor Shettima emerged the 2014 Governor of the Year (Leadership Newspapers), Governor of the Year, 2015, (Nigeria Union of Journalists, national body); Governor of the Year, 2015 (NewsWatchTimes Newspapers); Governor of the Year, 2015 (Vanguard Newspapers); Governor of the Year, 2016 (Tell Magazine); 2017 Zik Prize for Leadership; Kaduna NUJ Award for courage and exceptional leadership (2017), FCT NUJ Merit Award for exceptional Leadership, 2017.

In February, 2019 he became the winner of the Borno Central Senatorial District election, thereby replacing Senator Babakaka Bashir.

ALLEN ONYEMA, CON

Allen Ifechukwu Onyema, CON is a Nigerian lawyer and entrepreneur. He is the chief executive officer of Air Peace, which he established in 2013.

He was born in March 1964 in Benin City to Michael and Helen Onyema as the first of nine children. He hails from Anambra State, Nigeria.

Allen studied law at the University of Ibadan and graduated in 1987. He attended the Nigerian Law School and was called to Bar in 1989. He attended several Schools including Government College, Ughelli, Delta state.

He left Government College in 1984 having obtained his Higher School Certificate and was directly offered admission to read law at the Nigeria’s Premier University, The University of Ibadan in the same year.

It was in the University of Ibadan that his appetite for peace made him to lead a group of nine other students to travel to the ancient city of Zaria to quell a raging religious and ethnic riot that claimed lives.

As a result of the publicity he and his colleagues received on return to their campus, their enthusiasm grew and this led to the formation of a group known then as Eminent Friends’ Group – a group formed with the objectives of promoting ethnic harmony amongst Nigeria’s diverse ethnic nationalities and fighting the incidence of violence of all forms.

Upon graduation from the university in 1987, he established branches of the organization in all the states of the federation. While in the Nigerian law school in 1987, he combined his studies with social activism bothering on engendering peace in Nigeria.

Allen Onyema was called to the Nigerian Bar in 1989 and started his legal practice in 1990 in Chief Vincent Amobi’s Law Firm – Nwizugbo & Company Lagos although he had a glaring opportunity to work in Shell Oil Company. He later ascended to become the Head of Chambers in Nwizugbo & Company two years later. After a well-spent career in Nwizugbo & Company, Allen Onyema resigned from this law firm to establish his own, ONYEMA & CO.

Aside from being a businessman, Allen is also a philanthropist, he is the National Chairman of FEHN (Foundation of Ethnic Harmony in Nigeria) and has also been appointed to the Executive Board of ICNC, the International Center on Nonviolent Conflict, where notable world leaders such as Hon. Dr. Andrew Young and Suarez Ramos are members. Chief Allen Onyema also organized the “1st Nigeria Forever Project” a project steered towards the promotion of broad nationalism against ethnic nationalism, the project was supported by the Federal Government.

Allen Onyema is married to Alice Ojochiba Onyema and the union is blessed with four children.

GOODLUCK EBELE JONATHAN GCFR GCON

Goodluck Ebele Jonathan GCFR GCON is a Nigerian politician who served as the president of Nigeria from 2010 to 2015.

He lost the 2015 presidential election to former military head of state General Muhammadu Buhari, and was the first incumbent president in Nigerian history to concede defeat in an election.

Prior to that, he served as the vice president of Nigeria from 2007 to 2010 under the administration of Umaru Musa Yar’Adua; and in oil-rich Bayelsa State as governor from 2005 to 2007, and deputy governor from 1999 to 2005.

Dr. Goodluck Ebele was born in November 20, 1957 in Otuoke, Ogbia Local Government of Bayelsa State. His father, Lawrence Ebele Jonathan was a canoe- maker and his mother, Eunice Ayi Ebele Jonathan, is a retired farmer.

He was educated at St. Stephen’s Primary School, Otuoke; St Michael’s Primary School, Oloibiri; Mater Dei High School, lmiringi; Ogbia, and University of Port Harcourt, where he received his Bachelor of Science degree, Master’s degree and Doctorate in Hydrobiology and Fisheries Biology.

Before joining politics, he served as a Science Inspector of Education, a lecturer at Rivers State College of Education Rumuolumeni (now Ignatius Ajuru University) and as an Assistant Director at the defunct Oil Minerals Producing Areas Development Commission.

His remarkable political career began with the return of democracy to Nigeria in 1998, following the death of General Sani Abacha who ruled Nigeria as a military dictator from 1993. In the run up to the 1998 elections, Diepreye Alaimeyeseigha, governorship candidate for the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, chose Dr. Goodluck Jonathan to be his running mate. The Alaimeyeseigha/Jonathan ticket won the election and he became the first civilian deputy governor of Bayelsa State on May 29, 1999. They were re-elected in 2004. Jonathan’s diligence and loyalty to Governor Alaimeyeseigha earned him the recognition as the “most hardworking deputy governor” in Nigeria. He was also widely respected for his humility, sense of responsibility and loyalty.

Goodluck Jonathan served as deputy governor of Bayelsa state until December 12, 2005, when he was sworn in as governor. In 2007 he won the PDP Bayelsa State gubernatorial primary and was in the midst of his campaign when he was nominated to be the PDP presidential candidate, Governor Umaru Musa Yar’ Adua’s vice presidential running mate.

The Yar’ Adua/Jonathan ticket won the election. Their victory marked the first peaceful transition of power from one elected civilian leader to another since Nigeria attained independence from Britain in 1960. On May 29, 2007, Dr. Jonathan took the oath of office as Nigeria’s Vice-President, the first time that a civilian from Nigeria’s South-South geopolitical zone would hold such high political office in Nigeria.

Following President Yar’Adua’s prolonged treatment in Saudi Arabia and as a result of the national assembly’s adoption of the ‘Doctrine of Necessity’ resolution in the absence of a constitutional accommodation for such absences, Vice President Jonathan became Acting President on February 9, 2010. In line with constitutional provisions, after the unforeseen and unfortunate death of President Yar’ Adua on May 5, 2010, Jonathan was sworn in as President and Commander-in-Chief of the FederalRepublic of Nigeria on May 6 2010, becoming Nigeria’s 14th Head of State. As Vice President, and being from the Niger Delta region, President Jonathan worked with the late President Yar’ Adua and South South leaders to develop a response to the militancy in the region that culminated in the widely acclaimed Niger Delta Amnesty Program, which brought peace and stability to the region.

In 2011, President Jonathan vied for the presidency as the PDP’s candidate and was elected president, a position he held until 2015. As President he made major contributions to the political, economic and social development of Nigeria through his Transformation Agenda. He promoted democratization through the observance of the rule of law, enactment of the Freedom of Information Act, electoral reforms and non-interference in electoral outcomes. He expanded the economy and increased agricultural and industrial production and supported and elevated the creative industry sector. He promoted social advancement through gender inclusion and equity and expanded access to education through the establishment and expansion of specialised and tertiary institutions. He significantly expanded the physical infrastructure and then laid the foundation for the take-off of a national intermodal transport system that combines roads, railroads, waterways and aviation. President Jonathan through the developmental activities of his Transformation Agenda, successfully placed the country in the leadership of the Africa Rising movement by establishing Nigeria through a long overdue rebasing of its economy as the largest economy in Africa.

He worked tirelessly to strengthen the capacity of ECOWAS to respond to several challenges and personally led efforts that resolved the political crises in Cote d’lvoire, Niger, Guinea Bissau, Mali, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Benin and Togo.

In 2015, after a keenly contested presidential campaign and to the surprise of his opponents he conceded victory to General Muhammadu Buhari of the All Progressives Congress via a phone call even before the final tally and formal announcement by the Independent National Electoral Commission. With this unprecedented action President Jonathan demonstrated commitment to peace and electoral transparency giving significance to one of his most repeated mantras-“nobody’s political ambition is worth the blood of any Nigerian.” Against the backdrop of African and international commendation for the statesmanship, President Jonathan presided over the first peaceful transfer of political power from a ruling party to an opposition party in Nigeria culminating with the swearing in of President-elect Muhammadu Buhari as President/Commander in Chief on May 29, 2015. President Jonathan has received several local and global awards in recognition of his exceptional public service. He is committed to continuing to promote peace, democracy and development in Africa though the Goodluck Jonathan Foundation where he serves as Chairman.

CHIEF NIKE DAVIES-OKUNDAYE

Chief Nike Davies-Okundaye (born 1951), also known as Nike Okundaye, Nike Twins Seven Seven and Nike Olaniyi, is a Nigerian batik and adire textile designer. She is best known as an artist for her cloth work and embroidery pieces.

Nike Okundaye was born in 1951 in Ogidi, Kogi State, in North-Central Nigeria, and was brought up amidst the traditional weaving and dyeing as practised in her home town. Her parents and great grandmother were musicians and craftspeople, who specialized in the areas of cloth weaving, adire making, indigo dyeing and leather. She learned how to use the loom to produce cloth during the time she lived with her great grandmother Ibitola (“Red Woman”). She spent part of her early life in Osogbo, Western Nigeria, modern-day Osun State. Growing up in Osogbo, which is recognized as a major centre for art and culture in Nigeria, young Nike was exposed to the indigo dyeing and adire production that dominated her informal training.

Over the past twenty years, Davies-Okundaye has given workshops on traditional Nigerian textiles to audiences in the United States and Europe. She had her first solo exhibition at the Goethe Institute, Lagos, in 1968. She is the founder and director of four art centres that offer free training to more than 150 young artists in visual, musical and performing arts, comprising more than 7,000 artworks.

Finding that the traditional methods of weaving and dyeing that had been her original inspiration were fading in Nigeria, Davies-Okundaye set about launching a revival of this aspect of Nigerian culture, building art centres offering free courses for young Nigerians to learn traditional arts and crafts. As art historian John Peffer states, “One thing shared by many of the latest generation of African artists in the diaspora – those who have been successful on the art circuit – is that their work critiques the very burden of representation that is also the condition of their visibility.” In her view, the traditional art of Adire Eleko is only possible because of a specific Nigerian heritage of passing knowledge from one generation to the next. In a video interview published by Nubia Africa, Okundaye states that “school can only teach what they [art students] already know.” According to a CNBC Africa interview, she trained more than 3,000 young Nigerians for free and she continues to help by funding many poor to establish their small businesses and art workshops in different parts of Nigeria.

Davies-Okundaye’s adire and batik textiles use visual themes taken from Yoruba history and mythology, as well as visual themes inspired by her own life experiences and dreams. According to Kim Marie Vaz, folklore often intermingles with personal experiences to express disheartening subjects regarding female suffering. Folklore that Davies-Okundaye was exposed to through evening stories spoken by the village elder, addressing social issues centred on the female suffrage, in which Davies-Okundaye uses folklore figures to express her concerts on the female suffering through her batiks that portraying the goddess Osun (i.e. “Mother of Africa”) communicating on ideologies and social norms placed females in constrained positions.

Davies-Okundaye strives to improve lives of disadvantaged women in Nigeria through art. She teaches the unique techniques of indigo cloth-dyeing (Adire) to rural women at her workshop in south-west Nigeria. She hopes to revive the centuries-old tradition and the lives of these women. Adire – that which is tied and dyed – is native to the Southwest region of Nigeria. The freehand dyeing is sometimes known as “Adire Eleko”. “Adire” refers to indigo dye, and “Eleko” refers to the boiled cassava, lime, and alum-resist technique used to create patterns. There is a strong tendency to keep dyeing recipes and methods secret from inquisitive outsiders. Davies-Okundaye chooses to continuously reference adire patterns in her artwork because adire is a women’s art, and was taught to her by her mother. Adire pattern motifs were traditionally handed down from mother to daughter, and the designs themselves virtually have not changed in form over time.

Davies-Okundaye was featured on CNN International’s African Voices, which features Africa’s most engaging personalities, exploring their lives and passions. Her painting is permanently displayed at the Smithsonian Museum as of 2012, and her work is also part of the collection of the Gallery of African Art and the British Library in London and at Johfrim Art and Design Studio. She holds the chieftaincy titles of the Yeye Oba of Ogidi-Ijumu and the Yeye Tasase of Oshogbo.

Davies-Okundaye was included in the 2019 show I Am… Contemporary Women Artists of Africa at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African Art in Washington, D C In April of the same year, she was conferred with an Honorary Doctorate by Rhodes University during its annual graduation ceremonies.

Nike Davies Okundaye is mother to two sons and four daughters. She was formerly married to fellow Nigerian artist prince Twins Seven Seven, of late memories, but that marriage ended in divorce. Her children from that marriage are son Olabayo Olaniyi, College of Santa Fe graduate, is also an artist. Her second son Foluso Olaniyi, and her first daughter Oluwaseyi Awoyomi, a multifaceted artist. She later married David John Davies, and had her daughters Caroline and Allyson. Her current marriage is to Nigerian Ex Police commissioner, Reuben Okundaye, father to her last child Amen Okundaye. Davies-Okundaye has more than 150 students in Europe and America. She is also a philanthropist.

Nike Davies-Okundaye is the recipient of honours from numerous esteemed cultural institutions. She has served on the UNESCO Committee of the Intangible Nigerian Heritage Project. She has been honoured as the CEPAN Foundation Art Icon of the year. Davies-Okundye has given workshops and lectures at universities world over.

Published sources: A book about Nike was written by Kim Marie Vaz, The Woman with the Artistic Brush: A Life History of Yoruba Batik Artist Nike Okundaye.

PASTOR W. F. KUMUYI

William Folorunso Kumuyi is the founder and General Superintendent of the Deeper Life Bible Church. He is a Pastor, Author and Televangelist. Kumuyi is popularly known for his Holiness Preaching.

Born (June 6 1941) into the family of Mr. Gabriel Kumuyi Akinfenwa, Comfort Idowu Kumuyi Akinfenwa, an Anglican family in Erin-Ijesha, Osun State, Nigeria, he completed his secondary school education in 1961, and in 1962 started teaching mathematics at Mayflower School in Ikenne, Ogun-State, from where he proceeded to the University of Ibadan and in 1967 graduated with a first-class honours degree in mathematics. He became a born-again Christian in April 1964.

Though he grew up as a church boy with Christian parents in his early days, he lost interest in Church at some points in his life.

“I grew up in a very strict Christian home,” he told Isaacson, “We would get up in the morning, read the Bible, sing hymns, and go to church regularly. When I went to secondary school I lost interest in the church because our principal taught us atheism. But after a while I thought again and started going to various churches in town. Eventually, in 1963, a group of singers and preachers from a Gospel church got permission to come to the school. I understood the Gospel message, and was born again on April 5th, 1964. I read John Wesley, Charles Finney, Spurgeon, and lots of other books. I got involved with the Scripture Union, and I grew.”

He gained a first-class degree in Mathematics at the University of Ibadan; then went back to Mayflower School to teach. After five years he went to the University of Lagos to do a Postgraduate Certificate in Education and became a lecturer there in 1973, and from there, he started a small Deeper Life Bible Study group.

In 1973, while serving as Math Lecturer at The University of Lagos, W.F. Kumuyi started a Bible study group with 15 university students who had come to him requesting training in the Scriptures.

A former Anglican who joined the Apostolic Faith Church after being baptised, Kumuyi was in 1975, expelled from the church for preaching without credentials. However, he continued his independent ministry, which later became the Deeper Life Bible Church.

By the early 1980’s that small group had grown to several thousand, at which time Deeper Life Bible Church was formally established.

By 1988 the congregation had grown to 50,000 and now numbers over 120,000 members, making it the third largest Christian church in the world. The Deeper Life Bible Church not only has an attendance of over 120,000 every Sunday, but has planted over 500 churches in Lagos, 5,000 in the rest of Nigeria (with an independent estimate of more than 800,000 members in Nigeria alone), and over 3,000 elsewhere (with missionaries to over 100 countries of the world) as the movement missionary contribution.

OBA ADEYEYE E. OGUNWUSI

Oba Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi, (Ojaja II), is a Nigerian monarch. He is the traditional ruler, and the Ooni of Ile-Ife of the Yoruba kingdom since 2015.

He started his elementary education at Subuola Memorial Nursery and Primary School, Ibadan and Ibadan District Council, Akobo, Ibadan. He then proceeded to the prestigious Loyola College, Ibadan and later to St. Peters Secondary School, Ile-Ife, where he bagged his secondary school certificate (SSCE). He graduated as an accountant from The Polytechnic, Ibadan.

He is a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria. He is also an Associate Accounting Technician. Oba Ogunwusi is a certified member of the Institute of Directors. He is also a member of the Global Real Estate Institute. He holds a number of honorary doctorate degrees: one in Public Administration from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka and another in Law from Igbinedion University.

Oba Ogunwusi is the Chancellor at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka.

Ooni Adeyeye Ogunwusi was selected from amongst several well to do indigenes of Ile-Ife who were also heirs to the throne on 26 October 2015. He received his staff of office on 7 December 2015. He has been described as an ‘astute entrepreneur driven by the need to turn impossibilities into possibilities. Oba Ogunwusi is the spiritual leader of the Yoruba people now saddled with the responsibility of making supplications to God and the Òrìṣà on behalf of his tribe and the world at large during annual festivals such as Olojo.

Shortly after his coronation, Ooni Ogunwusi met with the Alaafin of Oyo and by so doing initiated a new era in the history of the Yoruba States. He effectively broke the jinx of institutionalised discord between the thrones that had plagued Ile-Ife and Oyo for decades. The Oba is an advocate for the empowerment and emancipation of women and young people. He has transformed Ile-Ife into a tourist zone, with changes including the beautification, redesign and re-construction of the ancient city.

Oba Ogunwusi is also a renowned philanthropist who is committed to humanity and an advocate for the less privileged. He has granted support over the years through the House of Oduduwa Foundation and, recently, through Hopes Alive Initiative.

Oba Ogunwusi was born at 13.00GMT on 17 October 1974 to the family of Oluropo and Wuraola Ogunwusi of the Giesi Royal House, Agbedegbede Compound in the city of Ile-Ife. His birth was predicted years before he was conceived. Hence, he was named Enitan by his mother while his grandfather named him Adeyeye, which means ‘the crown befits the throne. Oba Ogunwusi is the fifth child in a family of seven.

Oba Ogunwusi was involved in previous relationships. Notable among them is Adebukola Bombata, whom he married in 2008, Olori Wuraola Zaynab Otiti, his second wife (2016-2017), and Omolara Olatubosun, with whom he has his only daughter and with whom he is a co-parent. The daughter’s name is Princess Adeola Aanuolouwapo Ogunwusi (born in May, 1994). Ogunwusi married Prophetess Morenike Naomi Oluwaseyi in October, 2018.

DR. NGOZI OKONJO-IWALA

A Nigerian – American scholar of economics and Finance, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala wins award as one of the 100 most powerful women in the world. She was named by Forbes as one of the 100 most powerful women in the world.

Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala is the seventh Director-General of the WTO. She took office on 1 March 2021, becoming the first woman and the first African to serve as Director-General. Her term of office will expire on 31 August 2025.

Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala took office as WTO Director-General on 1 March 2021. She is a global finance expert, an economist and international development professional with over 30 years of experience working in Asia, Africa, Europe, Latin America and North America. Dr Okonjo-Iweala was formerly Chair of the Board of Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance. She was previously on the Boards of Standard Chartered PLC and Twitter Inc. She was appointed as African Union (AU) Special Envoy to mobilise international financial support for the fight against COVID-19 and WHO Special Envoy for Access to COVID-19 Tools Accelerator. She is a skilled negotiator and has brokered numerous agreements which have produced win-win outcomes in negotiations. She is regarded as an effective consensus builder and an honest broker enjoying the trust and confidence of governments and other stakeholders.

Previously, Dr Okonjo-Iweala twice served as Nigeria’s Finance Minister (2003-2006 and 2011-2015) and briefly acted as Foreign Minister in 2006, the first woman to hold both positions. She distinguished herself by carrying out major reforms which improved the effectiveness of these two Ministries and the functioning of the government machinery. She had a 25-year career at the World Bank as a development economist, rising to the No. 2 position of Managing Director, Operations. As a development economist and Finance Minister, Dr Okonjo-Iweala steered her country through various reforms ranging from macroeconomic to trade, financial and real sector issues.

She is a firm believer in the power of trade to lift developing countries out of poverty and assist them to achieve robust economic growth and sustainable development. As Finance Minister, she was involved in trade negotiations with other West African countries and contributed to the overhaul of Nigeria’s trade policy enabling it to enhance its competitiveness.

She is renowned as the first female and African candidate to contest for the presidency of the World Bank Group in 2012, backed by Africa and major developing countries in the first truly contestable race for the world’s highest development finance post. As Managing Director of the World Bank, she had oversight responsibility for the World Bank’s $81 billion operational portfolio in Africa, South Asia, Europe and Central Asia. Dr Okonjo-Iweala spearheaded several World Bank initiatives to assist low-income countries during the 2008-2009 food crisis and later during the financial crisis. In 2010, she was Chair of the World Bank’s successful drive to raise $49.3 billion in grants and low interest credit for the poorest countries in the world.

As Minister of Finance in Nigeria, she spearheaded negotiations with the Paris Club of Creditors that led to the wiping out of $30 billion of Nigeria’s debt, including the outright cancellation of $18 billion. In her second term as Finance Minister, Dr Okonjo-Iweala was responsible for leading reform that enhanced transparency of government accounts and strengthened institutions against corruption, including the implementation of the GIFMS (Government Integrated Financial Management System), the IPPMS (Integrated Personnel and Payroll Management System), and the TSA (Treasury Single Accounts).

Dr Okonjo-Iweala has been listed in the Top 100 Most Powerful Women in the World (Forbes, 2022, 2014, 2013, 2012 and 2011), as one of the Top 100 Most Influential People in the World (TIME, 2014 and 2021), one of the 25 most influential women (Financial Times, 2021), Minister of the Decade, People’s Choice Award by Nigeria’s This Day newspaper (2020), one of Transparency International’s Eight Female Anti-Corruption Fighters Who Inspire (2019), one of the 50 Greatest World Leaders (Fortune, 2015), the Top 100 Global Thinkers (Foreign Policy, 2011 and 2012), the Top Three Most Powerful Women in Africa (Forbes, 2012), the Top 10 Most Influential Women in Africa (Forbes, 2011), the Top 100 Women in the World (The UK Guardian, 2011), the Top 150 Women in the World (Newsweek, 2011), and the Top 100 most inspiring people in the World Delivering for Girls and Women (Women Deliver, 2011). She has also been listed among 73 “brilliant” business influencers in the world by Condé Nast International.

In 2022, she obtained the Global Leadership Award by the American Academy of Achievement. In 2021, she received a Global Leadership Award from the United Nations Foundation as a “Champion for Global Change”. In 2020, she became an Angelopoulos Global Public Leader at Harvard University Kennedy School. She was also appointed to the Presidential Economic Advisory Council (PEAC) for President of South Africa His Excellency Cyril Ramaphosa in 2020. In 2019, Dr Okonjo-Iweala was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. In 2017, she received the Madeleine K. Albright Global Development Award from the Aspen Institute, the Women’s Economic Empowerment Award from WEConnect International, and the Vanguard Award from Howard University. In 2016, she received the Power with Purpose Award from the Devex Development Communications Network and the Global Fairness Award from the Global Fairness Initiative in recognition of her contribution to sustainable development. She was also conferred High National Honours from the Republic of Cote d’Ivoire and the Republic of Liberia. She was also the recipient of Nigeria’s second highest national honour Grand Commander of the Order of the Niger (GCON, 2022) and Nigeria’s third highest National Honors Commander of the Federal Republic (CFR). In 2023, she received the Grand Cross of the Order of Rio Branco from the Federative Republic of Brazil.

In addition, Dr Okonjo-Iweala has been awarded the David Rockefeller Bridging Leadership Award (2014), the President of the Italian Republic Gold Medal by the Pia Manzu Centre (2011), the Global Leadership Award by the Chicago Council on Global Affairs (2011), the Global Leadership Award by the Columbia University School of International and Public Affairs (2010), the Bishop John T. Walker Distinguished Humanitarian Service Award (2010), the Humanitarian Award for a Lifetime of Public Service and Advocacy of Sustainable International Development of the United Nations Association of New York (2022), and the Alumnae Recognition Award from the American Association of University Women (2022). She was named Finance Minister of the Year (Africa Investor Magazine, 2014), Finance Minister of the Year for Africa and the Middle East (THE BANKER, 2004), Global Finance Minister of the Year (EUROMONEY, 2005), Finance Minister of the Year for Africa and the Middle East (Emerging Markets Magazine, 2005), and Minister of the Year (THISDAY, Newspaper 2004 and 2005).

Dr Okonjo-Iweala is currently the co-Chair of the Global Commission on the Economy and Climate with Lord Nicholas Stern and Mr Paul Polman , co-chair of the Global Commission on the Economics of Water, and chair of the Board of the African University of Science and Technology, Abuja. She presently serves on the following advisory boards or groups — the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, the Oxford University Martin School Advisory Council, Mercy Corps International Advisory Board, the International Commission on Financing Global Education (Chaired by Gordon Brown), Tsinghua University Beijing — School of Public Policy and Management Global Advisory Board, the CARICOM (Caribbean) Commission on the Economy, and the Bloomberg Task Force on Fiscal Policy for Health, among others. She is also a member of the G30 Group of top 30 people in International Finance and the council of the Prince of Wales’s initiative Earthshot Prize and an inaugural board member of the Ellen Johnson Sirleaf Foundation.

Previously, she was also a Senior Adviser at Lazard (2015-2019), and she served as the co-Chair of the Global Partnership for Effective Development Cooperation with UK Secretary Justine Greening, and Chair of the World Bank’s Development Committee (2004). She was also a member of the International Monetary and Finance Committee of the IMF (2003-2006 and 2011-2015), the United Nations’ Secretary General’s High-Level Panel on the Post-2015 Development Agenda, the Danish Government-led Commission on Africa, the World Economic Forum Global Leadership Council on Transparency and Corruption, and the Commission on World Growth (led by Nobel Prize winner Professor Michael Spence). She served for a decade on the Rockefeller Foundation Board and the World Economic Forum Young Global Leaders. She was a member of the Board of Trustees of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Dr Okonjo-Iweala has also served on the advisory board of the ONE Campaign, the Clinton Global Initiative, the Global Development Network, and the University of Oxford’s Blavatnik School of Government.

Dr Okonjo-Iweala is the founder of Nigeria’s first ever indigenous opinion-research organization, NOI-Polls. She also founded the Center for the Study of Economies of Africa (C-SEA), a development research think tank based in Abuja, Nigeria. She is a Distinguished Visiting Fellow at the Center for Global Development, and at the Brookings Institution, premier Washington D.C. think tanks.

Dr Okonjo-Iweala graduated magna cum laude with an A.B. in Economics from Harvard University (class of 1977) and earned a Ph.D. in Regional Economics and Development from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT, 1981). She has received honorary degrees from 20 universities worldwide, including from: Yale University, the University of Pennsylvania, Brown University, Trinity College (University of Dublin), Amherst College, Colby College, Tel Aviv University, Northern Caribbean University, Jamaica, University of Amsterdam, American University, Nyenrode Business University, London School of Economics and Political Science, and a host of Nigerian universities including Abia State University, Delta State Uncaiversity, Oduduwa University, Babcock University, and the Universities of Port Harcourt, Calabar, and Ife (Obafemi Awolowo).

She is the author of several books, including Women and Leadership: Real Lives, Real Lessons co-authored with Julia Gillard (Penguin Random House, July 2020), Fighting Corruption is Dangerous: The Story Behind the Headlines (MIT Press, 2018), Reforming the UnReformable: Lessons from Nigeria, (MIT Press, 2012), and The Debt Trap in Nigeria: Towards a Sustainable Debt Strategy (Africa World Press, 2003). She also co-authored with Tijan Sallah the book Chinua Achebe: Teacher of Light (Africa World Press, 2003). She has also published numerous articles including, Finding A Vaccine is Only the First Step (Foreign Affairs, April 2020), Mobilizing Finance for Education in the Commonwealth (Commonwealth Education Report 2019), Shine a Light on the Gaps — an essay on financial inclusion for African Small Holder Farmers (Foreign Affairs, 2015), Funding the SDGs: Licit and Illicit Financial Flows from Developing Countries (Horizons Magazine, 2016).

Dr Okonjo-Iweala is married to neurosurgeon Dr Ikemba Iweala. They have four children and five grandchildren.

PROF. DAVID DAVID

Prof. David David, Communication and Information Director/Board Member at the Global Youth Mental Health, Australia, GYMHA | Special Board Adviser at YYCI Global Leaders, UK. | Founder/CEO at Nigerian Books of Record, Nigeria | Founder/CEO of Rekordbreakers Mobile App. | Founder/CEO, READS Campaign Africa | President/Chairman, Books of Record Group.

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Prof. David David, is a Nigerian multipotentialite. As a writer, his works range from fiction (poetry, plays and novels) to nonfiction. He is one of the most prominent voices attracting a new generation of readers to African literature with scores of literary works to his credit.

Prof. David David is the Founder/CEO of Nigerian Books of Record Research Center, the sole researcher of Nigerian Books of Record, NBR.

The NBR was conceived to promote and support the Government in laundering the Nigerian image, by celebrating Nigeria’s excellent records in other to drive the campaign of the Federal Ministry of Information and Culture and National Orientation Agency, NOA of attitudinal re-orientation among Nigerians.

Nigerian Books of Record as a literary work is published by Books of Record Nigeria Limited. It is updated and revised yearly.

The NBR is used as reference material for students and lecturers in all Nigerian Universities, Polytechnics and Colleges of Education. Over the years, the NBR grew into a global brand and inspired the publication of the 36 Nigerian States Books of Record.

Prof. David is the Founder/CEO, READS Campaign Africa. READS is an acronym for Record Breakers Educational Series. However, READS Campaign is aimed at ending child molestation and fighting for the rights and well-being of children, through short and educative novels, plays and poetry that offers a timely solution to environmental and societal crimes committed against children; especially the girl child and young adults.

The cause of the campaign is championed with the creation and promotion of educative stories that emphasizes on children’s right to education. So far, over 20 titles have been making waves under the umbrella of the READS Campaign with the aim of putting the READS titles in every home. It is targeted at young adults and serves as a modern medium to sensitize the society, create awareness and inform the public on the need to get the 70% of the child population off the streets into the classrooms.

Prof. David David is also the Founder/CEO of Rekordbreakers Mobile App, Nigeria’s leading distributor of indie ebooks. A digital platform with track record and an amazing history of providing digital distribution and marketing services of ebooks and books in print for authors, publishers and literary agents. He is the Chairman of Books of Record Nigeria Limited, the publishers of Record Breakers Educational Series, READS, Nigerian Books of Record, NBR, and the 36 Nigerian States Books of Record.

He is the President/Chairman of Books of Record Group. The parent organization that powers Books of Record Nigeria, Books of Record Africa and Books of Record World, an organization that document, celebrates and honors the remarkable achievements and excellent records of impact makers, record breakers and change agents around the world.

Prof. David is the convener of Nigerian Image Revolution (NIR); a coalition of pro-democracy group and individuals with a clear mandate to launder the international image of Nigeria through the celebration of Nigeria’s best, promotion of political knowledge, and participation of the Nigerian citizens in governance. He is one of the few championing the cause for a new Nigeria and the reformation of the black image as a whole.

He was born in his hometown, Akai Ubium in Nsit-Ubium Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State. He attended Salvation Army Schools, Akai Ubium for his primary and secondary education, before sailing out of his little community for further studies. He holds a Ph.D. from the prestigious Shield of Faith Bible College, California USA. He was appointed, Communication and Information Director at the Global Youth Mental Health Organization in Australia in 2020. In 2023, he was appointed a Special Board Adviser at the YYCI Global Leaders in the United Kingdom. He is a Fellow of several professional bodies and a country representative for WORLD ORGANIZATION FOR HUMAN RIGHT AND PEACE.

In 2022, the eminent researcher who is also the founder of the first Nigerian encyclopaedia of indigenous records earned four honorary professorial awards from prestigious academic facilities in the US, Croatia, India and Nigeria, ten honorary doctorate degrees from different institutions around the world and eight ambassadorial awards from credible establishments.

The awards came in appreciation of his 2022 #nbrnationaltour, where he toured states in Nigeria, universities, and academic facilities both inside and outside the country with the sole aim of exhibiting his research collections and establishing indigenous research collaborations.

Professor David contributed to the establishment of indigenous record-keeping culture in several universities, academic facilities and institutions where these records have been swept away in his professional career as a credible researcher.

MRS. FOLORUNSO ALAKIJA

Mrs. Folorunso Alakija is a dynamic Nigerian business woman and philanthropist who has established herself as one of Africa’s foremost entrepreneurs.

Before venturing into business, she was an office administrator and banker. Eventually, she followed her heart and creative calling to join the fashion industry. Her “Rose of Sharon House of Fashion” was a household name in Nigeria. As a testimony to her drive for excellence, she served as a two – time president, and now lifelong Trustee of the Fashion Designers Association of Nigeria (FADAN).

Today, Mrs. Alakija is involved in many business endeavors; her business interests span oil exploration, printing and real estate industries. She is the Vice Chairman of FAMFA Oil Limited, her family’s oil exploration and production business, seeing to its strategic planning and day to day administration, as well as Dayspring Property Development Company Limited – a real estate company. She oversees the Rose of Sharon Group which includes Digital reality Print Ltd, a world class printing company as the Group MD.

In obedience to the word of God and working according to His will and purpose, she and her husband founded a house fellowship which has grown to become a full-fledged Christian Ministry known as the Rose of Sharon Glorious Ministry International. Thereafter she founded the Rose of Sharon Foundation with a mandate to help widows and their children as well as orphans, taking away hopelessness and wiping tears away.

In the last ten years, the foundation has empowered over three thousand widows and their children through skills acquisition training programs, granting interest-free loans and awarding academic scholarships up to tertiary Institution level.

She is an acclaimed public speaker and the first female to be appointed as Chancellor of a public university in Africa. She is a Fellow of Yaba College of Technology and holds six Honorary Doctorate Degrees. She is a prolific writer and has authored several inspirational books, including her autobiography.

She has served the nation as a member in four different committees and as the Vice Chairman of the National Heritage Council and Endowments for Arts. She also serves as the Chief Executive Matron of the African Young Entrepreneurs, an Ambassador of the Junior Chambers International and matron of several other organizations.

She is an alumnus of the Lagos Business School, a Member, Commonwealth Enterprise & Investment Council Advisory Board and Member, Advisory Board, Harvard University Center for African Studies.

She is a recipient of many awards in various capacities locally and internationally. She is happily married to Modupe Alakija for well over four decades and is blessed with 4 sons and

CHIEF OLUSEGUN OBASANJO

Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, (born March 5, 1937, Abeokuta, Nigeria), Nigerian general, statesman, and diplomat, who was the first military ruler in Africa to hand over power to a civilian government. He served as Nigeria’s military ruler (1976–79) and, as a civilian, as president (1999–2007).

Obasanjo attended Baptist Boys’ High School in Abeokuta, in southwest Nigeria, and later worked as a teacher. Unable to afford college, he joined the army in 1958 and received officer training in England. Obasanjo rose quickly through the army ranks. During the Biafra conflict (1967–70) he was appointed to head a commando division that was stationed at the Biafran front in southeastern Nigeria. The conflict ended when Biafran forces surrendered to him in January 1970.

In 1975 Brigadier General Murtala Ramat Mohammed ousted General Yakubu Gowon, the military head of state at the time, but announced that he would relinquish power to civilian rule by 1979. The following year, however, Mohammed was assassinated during an unsuccessful coup attempt, and leadership passed to Obasanjo, his deputy. During the three years he headed the government, Obasanjo emerged as an important African statesman and established ties with the United States. Obasanjo followed his predecessor’s timetable for a return to civilian rule and did not run for president when elections were held in 1979. Voting was extremely close, but Nigeria’s Federal Electoral Commission declared Shehu Shagari, from the north, the winner over the strongest challenger from the south, Obafemi Awolowo, who was a Yoruba. The results were condemned by most of Obasanjo’s fellow Yoruba as well as others over allegations that the election had been rigged, but the outcome was upheld by the Supreme Court, and Obasanjo gained the respect of the Hausa-Fulani leaders in the north for handing over power to Shagari.

Over the next several years, Obasanjo’s international profile rose considerably, as he held various positions in the United Nations and other organizations. A vocal critic of General Sani Abacha, who seized control of Nigeria in 1993 and established a repressive military government, Obasanjo was imprisoned in 1995 for allegedly organizing a coup against Abacha. Following Abacha’s death in 1998, Obasanjo was released. After the interim military leader, General Abdusalam Abubakar, pledged to hold democratic elections, Obasanjo announced his intention to run for president as the candidate of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP). He was declared the winner of the 1999 election with some 63 percent of the vote. There were widespread reports of fraud, however, and the results were strongly criticized by many, particularly the Yoruba, who had largely supported Olu Falae, Obasanjo’s opponent.

Nigeria’s first civilian leader in 15 years, Obasanjo sought to alleviate poverty, reduce government corruption, and establish a democratic system. He also pledged to reform the military and the police. Religious and ethnic strife, however, became a central concern during his presidency, as incidents of violence mounted and as most Muslim-dominated states in the north and centre of the country adopted Sharīʿah law. Obasanjo’s harsh response to ethnic strife in the south earned condemnation. Indeed, his overall authoritative style, the corruption that was still evident among government officials, and a strong challenger—Muhammad Buhari, a northerner who was a former general and a former military head of state—were among the reasons that Obasanjo faced a shrinking power base heading into the 2003 presidential election, despite receiving the pragmatic support of leading Yoruba politicians this time around. Still, Obasanjo was elected to a second term in April 2003, winning more than 60 percent of the votes cast, but, as with previous elections, there were widespread reports of voting irregularities and allegations of fraud.

In 2006 Obasanjo came under domestic and international criticism for attempting to amend the constitution to allow him to stand for a third term as president; the proposed amendment was rejected by the Senate later that year. With Obasanjo unable to run, Umaru Yar’Adua was selected to stand as the PDP’s candidate in the April 2007 presidential election. He was declared the winner. Nonetheless, Yar’Adua succeeded Obasanjo and was sworn in May 29, 2007.

PASTOR E. A. ADEBOYE

Pastor Enoch Adejare Adeboye is a Nigerian Pastor and the General Overseer of The Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG).

Pastor Adeboye has a PhD in applied mathematics from the University of Lagos, and worked as a lecturer in mathematics at the universities of Lagos and Ilorin. After joining the RCCG, he began working to translate the sermons of its then Pastor and founder, Rev. Josiah Olufemi Akindayomi, from Yoruba into English.

In 1981 Adeboye was appointed General Overseer the church, taking over from Papa Akindayomi, who had died the previous year. For three years he filled the role part-time, still lecturing at Ilorin, until giving up his university position to preach full-time.

The church, which was not well known before Adeboye took charge, now claims branches in over a hundred countries, including more than 14,000 in Nigeria. Adeboye has stated that his aim is to put a church within five minutes of every person on Earth.

In 2008, Newsweek magazine named Adeboye one of the fifty most powerful people in the world. He is married to Foluke Adeboye, also a pastor, and together they have for children, Adeolu Adeboye – Son; Leke Adeboye – Son; Dare Adeboye – Son; Bolu Adubi – Daughter.

Pastor E.A. Adeboye was born on 2nd March 1942 at Ifewara in the present day Osun State. His parents (now of blessed memory) were indigenes of the town, which is about midway between Ilesha and Ondo towns.

He had a strict Christian upbring which was engineered by a church going culture, which was the prevalent style of Christianity of those days. This church-going attitude gave him an appreciation of God, but made no extraordinary or outstanding Christian out of him.

He underwent primary and secondary education which were almost curtailed due to the problem of funds, barefooted and in tears. He recalls “for the first seventeen years of my life, I never had to wear shoes”.

However, as God would have it, he survived against all odds to graduate from the University in 1967, at the age of 25. Between 1967 and 1975 he had added two more degrees, an M.Sc in hydrodynamics and a Ph.D in Applied Mathematics, and lectured at the University of Lagos and university of Ilorin. Before his lectureship at these Universities, the G.O had taught mathematics at two secondary schools viz: Okeigbo Grammar School, Okeigbo near Ondo and the Lagos Anglican Girls Grammar School, Surulere/Lagos.

It would appear that his academic and professional career and achievement greatly prepared him for the office into which God was to call him later on.

His childhood Christian background had made him to appreciate God in the ordinary sense. However, it was not strict enough to preclude him from being an active young man engaging in all the perks to which a young lecturer and an educated man was “entitled”, even though he was married.

Married in 1968 to his wife, Pastor (Mrs.) Foluke Adeboye, the young couple was faced with the problem of recurrent caesarian section by which the wife had delivered their first two babies. Medical science had diagnosed that in view of the formation of pelvic bones, having babies by natural means was impossible and such advised against having further children. A solution had to be found.

DR. ALIKO DANGOTE

Aliko Dangote is Forbes 2017 richest person in Africa. He’s stipulated to also be the richest black person in the world. He has held this position for over 4 years and counting, and seems to be unstoppable.

Aliko Dangote was born in 1957 to a business oriented household in Kano State, Nigeria. Unlike many other self-made billionaires, Aliko Dangote was born with a silver spoon. His grandfather, Sanusi Dantata, was one of the wealthiest men in West Africa at the time. He made a bulk of his fortune from groundnuts, oats, and rice.

Following the death of his father, Aliko Dangote’s grandfather took him in and became his defacto guardian. Living with his grandfather exposed him to the different rudiments of entrepreneurship. He learnt a lot about marketing, procuring goods, establishing customer relationships, and more. This even prompted him to start selling boxes of sweets (candy bars) in primary school to his classmates as one of his first trials at entrepreneurship.

After his graduation from Al-Azhar University in Egypt, in 1977, Aliko Dangote at age 21, got a loan of 500,000 Naira ($2,500) from his grandfather to start a trade in commodities, to be repaid within three years. At that time, 500,000 Naira could buy one hundred Mercedes Benz in Nigeria.

He took this loan, and went over to Lagos, in Nigeria, with an uncle of his. With the business loan he had secured, he started importing rice and sugar from Thailand (rice) and Brazil (sugar) respectively.

As he sold these commodities to the locals, his business growth quickly exploded with extremely high revenues, sometimes reaching net profits of over $10,000 daily, and he returned his grandfather’s loan in 3 months, instead of the agreed 3 years.

As his conglomerate grew, Aliko Dangote realised that if he was ever to reach a true billionaire status, he’d have to start manufacturing and stop importing commodities. He’d have to fully control the final price, so he could compete effectively, and also comfortably push out competitors in the industries he operated in.

As he took steps towards manufacturing in 1997, he began to produce sugar, flour, and pasta. He was later awarded a cement plant by the federal government, and further built a multi-million dollar cement manufacturing plant in 2005 with $319 million dollars of his own money, and a $479 million dollar loan from the World Bank International Finance Corporation.

Following the success of all his multiple investments, Aliko Dangote took many of his companies public.

Before this, he stated that his company, The Dangote Group, always reinvested everything it made, back into the business, than storing up money in the bank like many other companies do.

He’s currently building a $9 billion dollar oil and gas refinery in Nigeria, stipulated to be completed between 2018 and 2021, and is also building a multi-million dollar fertilizer processing facility.

Today, The Dangote Group is the largest conglomerate in West Africa.

ADEBAYO OGUNLESI, CON

Nigerian Business mogul who runs 5 Multi-Dollar Standard Airport In UK, Adebayo O. Ogunlesi, making history as one of the African entrepreneurs to have foreign airports which were acquired through his private firm, Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP).

Nigerian, UK-based lawyer and investment banker, Adebayo O. Ogunlesi is making history as one of the African entrepreneurs to have foreign airports which were acquired through his private firm, Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP).

He brought the world’s second largest airport, The Gatwick Airport and also he bought 4 more all in the United Kingdom. Ogunlesi has truly established himself as an icon and an unshakable force in the Aviation Industry.

Born on 20th December 1953, Ogunlesi hails from Makun in Sagamu, Ogun State, Nigeria. He is the son of Theophilus O. Ogunlesi, the first Nigerian professor of medicine at the University of Ibadan. Ogunlesi went to King’s College, Lagos to receive his Secondary education.

He received a B.A. with first class honors in Philosophy, Politics, and Economics from Oxford University in England. In 1979, he received a J.D. magna cum laude from Harvard Law School and an M.B.A. from the Harvard Business School, which he pursued at the same time.

During his time at Harvard, he was on the Harvard Law Review. From 1980 to 1981, Ogunlesi served as a law clerk to Associate Justice Thurgood Marshall of the United States Supreme Court. Ogunlesi was an attorney in the corporate practice group of the New York City law firm of Cravath, Swaine & Moore, where he had been a summer associate while studying for his M.B.A.

In 1983, Ogunlesi joined the investment bank, First Boston as an advisor on a Nigerian gas project. At First Boston, he worked in the Project Finance Group, advising clients on transactions and financings and has worked on transactions in North and South America, the Caribbean, Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Asia. From 1997 to 2002, he was the Head of the Global was appointed Global Head of CSFB’s Investment Banking Division. Also in 2002, he served as a member of Credit Suisse’s Executive Board and Management Committee. From 2004 to 2006, Ogunlesi was Executive Vice Chairman and Chief Client Officer of CSFB.

In July 2006, Ogunlesi started his own private equity firm, Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP), a joint venture whose initial investors included Credit Suisse and General Electric. He currently serves as Chairman and Managing Partner. In 2006, GIP bought London City Airport and three years after, GIP acquired the majority in London Gatwick Airport in a deal worth £1.455 billiion. In 2017, he was appointed by Donald Trump to become an member of his Strategic and Policy Team.

Ogunlesi has gone against all odds and succeeded in a foreign country which shows that Africans, especially Nigerians have what it takes to break against all barriers when they are determined to achieve goals.

PRESIDENT BOLA AHMED TINUBU

VICE PRESIDENT KASHIM SHETTIMA

ALLEN ONYEMA, CON

GOODLUCK EBELE JONATHAN GCFR GCON

CHIEF NIKE DAVIES-OKUNDAYE

PASTOR W. F. KUMUYI

OBA ADEYEYE E. OGUNWUSI

DR. NGOZI OKONJO-IWEALA

PROF. DAVID DAVID

MRS. FOLORUNSO ALAKIJA

CHIEF OLUSEGUN OBASANJO

PASTOR E. A. ADEBOYE

DR. ALIKO DANGOTE

ADEBAYO OGUNLESI, CON

Philip Emeagwali

PRESIDENT BOLA AHMED TINUBU

VICE PRESIDENT KASHIM SHETTIMA

ALLEN ONYEMA, CON

GOODLUCK EBELE JONATHAN GCFR GCON

CHIEF NIKE DAVIES-OKUNDAYE

PASTOR W. F. KUMUYI

OBA ADEYEYE E. OGUNWUSI

DR. NGOZI OKONJO-IWALA

PROF. DAVID DAVID

MRS. FOLORUNSO ALAKIJA

CHIEF OLUSEGUN OBASANJO

PASTOR E. A. ADEBOYE

DR. ALIKO DANGOTE

ADEBAYO OGUNLESI, CON

PHILIP EMEAGWALI