By Anthony Isibor
FIVE distinguished guests were on Tuesday inducted into the prestigious Realnews Hall of Fame during the 12th anniversary lecture of Realnews in Lagos.
The Hall of Fame is exclusively reserved for Realnews guest lecturers and discussants for their services to the organisation.
The five new inductees, included three Nigerians, one Cameroonian and a Moroccan, who have made immerse contributions in their fields of endeavor and they joined 46 others who had been inducted since 2015.
The new inductees were Prof. Ibrahim Agboola Gambari, Ms. Beatrice Eyong, Dr. Karim El Ayanoui, Mrs. Hadiza Bala Usman, and Engr. Shehu Tijjani
Prof. Gambari, who was the Guest lecturer at the event, is a Nigerian academic and diplomat. He had served as Cchief of Staff to former President of Nigeria from 2020 to 2023. Before the appointment, Prof, Gambari was the longest serving Permanent Representative of Nigeria to the United Nations from 1990 to 1999, under five Heads of State and Presidents, and he was also a Minister of External Affairs from 1984 to 1985. While at the UN, Gambari was the President of UNICEF in 1999 and became Under-Secretary-General and the first Special Adviser on Africa to Secretary- General, Kofi Annan from 1999 to 2005. He was the Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations for Political Affairs from 2005 to 2007 Under Secretary-Generals to Kofi Annan and Ban Ki-moon. His last appointment in the UN was from January 2010 to July 2012, when he was appointed by Ban Ki-moon as the Chairperson of the African Union Commission and the Joint African Union-United Nations Special Representative for Darfur.
Ms. Beatrice Eyong, Chairperson of the Lecture, is a Country Representative of the UN WOMEN, Nigeria, a Cameroonian national and an experienced gender specialist with over 39 years of professional working experience in promoting gender equality and women empowerment in different countries in Africa.
She has a Master of Science degree in Agricultural Extension from the University of Reading, UK specializing in Gender analysis and planning, Production of media for extension and training, Microfinance for rural development and the management of extension staff.
She is the UN Women’s Resident Representative to Nigeria and ECOWAS. Before coming to Nigeria, she was the Resident Representative of UN Women, Mali, and has also worked in countries like Niger and Democratic Republic of Congo. She has over 15 years of experience as an agronomist, microfinance officer, and gender specialist for the Cameroonian government in different development programmes.
Dr. Karim El Ayanoui, who was the Keynote speaker at the event, is the Executive President, Policy Center for the New South, Rabat, Morocco. He is also the Executive Vice-President of Mohammed VI Polytechnic University and Dean of its Humanities, Economics and Social Sciences Cluster. El Ayanoui is 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, North Africa, and Africa.
El Ayanoui has published books and journal articles on macroeconomic issues in developing countries. His recent research has been focused on growth and the labour market in Morocco, as well as on reforming the international development economy. He holds scientific and advisory positions at various institutions. He is currently a member of the Malabo Montpellier Panel, the Scientific Committee of the Italian Institute for International Political Studies, the Scientific Council of the Moroccan Capital Market.
Engr. Tijjani, who was a discussant at the event, is a technologist, innovator, visionary entrepreneur, dedicated to transforming Nigeria’s technological landscape.
He is a First-Class graduate in Information Technology and Business Information Systems from Middlesex University. With a background in embedded engineering (hardware & firmware), he founded Amal Technologies Nigeria Ltd an end-to-end electronics manufacturing company in 2018. He is deeply passionate about the semiconductor industry and its transformative potential for Nigeria. He recognizes that semiconductors are the foundation of modern technology and has made it a core focus of Amal Technologies. Under his leadership, Amal Technologies has become a leader in innovation, driving research and development in Nigeria.
Beyond entrepreneurship, Tijjani has completed numerous professional courses that enhance his expertise. He is passionate about empowering Nigeria’s next generation, leading training programmes that equip Nigerians with skills in hardware, firmware, material science, and fabrication. His efforts contribute to Nigeria’s growth, ensuring the country becomes a key player in the global technology industry. Through his leadership, Amal Technologies is driving Nigeria toward a more self-reliant and prosperous future.
Mrs. Bala Usman, a special guest and a discussant, who joined the event virtually, is the Former managing director of the Nigerian Ports Authority, NPA, (2016-2021) was appointed special adviser on policy coordination to President Bola Tinubu in June 2023. She previously served as the chief of staff to the governor of Kaduna State from 2015 to 2016. She is one of the co-founders of The Bring Back Our Girls campaign in 2014, and she is also a founding member of the ruling All Progressives Congress.
Bala Usman grew up on the campus of Ahmadu Bello University in Zaria, where she had her education at the university staff school and went ahead to complete secondary education. In 1996, she rolled at the university and bagged a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration in 2000. She later got a Master’s Degree in Development Studies
Gambari warns on cold war
Speaking at the event, former Undersecretary General of the United Nations, Ambassador Ibrahim Gambari, raised an alarm on the gradual return of the world to a new Cold War in which the big powers are directly joined and the Middle Powers are implicated either directly or by proxy.
Delivering the 12th Annual Lecture of Realnews Magazine on Tuesday in Lagos Gambari, who was a former Nigerian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Chief of Staff to former President Muhammadu Buhari, noted the ongoing geopolitical resurgence and realignment which we are all witnessing in these trying times around the world.
Speaking on the theme ”Africa in World Shifting Geopolitics: Matters Arising on Demography, Technology, Artificial Intelligence, Natural Resources”, Gambari urged Africans generally and Nigerians in particular ”to take a step back and reflect on the contours of change taking around us as for the invitation it provides us to begin seriously to think through their implications for our immediate future and long-term interest.”
The changes, according to him, are unfolding before our eyes, promise a profound transformation the workings of the international system, and nations, big and small, North and South, are busily preparing themselves to ensure that they are neither left behind nor reduced to victims of the new order that is in the making.
Observing that the expenditures on new generations of weapons of mass destruction are skyrocketing and across the world, from the Atlantic to the Pacific, the Arctic to the Antarctic, on land, in the air, on the seas, and in the outer space, he stated that “a relentless militarisation is taking place”.
“Taking advantage of the possibilities opened up by new digital technologies and artificial intelligence, various options for electronic warfare are being developed.
“In all of this, prime locations around the world that offer one form or the other of strategic advantage are being sought,” he said, adding that Africa, with an abundance of such strategic sites is, not surprisingly, the target of competitive bid from the Big and Middle Powers setting up military bases.
“We know that the entire seaboard of Africa is already dotted with military bases operated by various powers; the continent is once again at the centre of a scramble as the new Cold War intensifies. In addition to geo-strategic considerations in the event of conflicts and war, there are strong interests in securing access to and control of strategic and critical minerals and arable land and forests,” he said.
Gambari also noted that competitive investments are also being made in building stable and durable political alliances with the governments of various countries and that the age of zero sum geopolitics is back with all its destabilising consequences for African countries.
Looking at the options open for Africa, Gambari stated that with well over a billion people and with an overwhelmingly youthful population, the African continent is destined for a significant role in the demographics of the world in a context in which populations are both declining and ageing rapidly in many other parts of the world.
He believes that taking advantage of the African demographic dividend in a renewed season of new global geopolitics effectively means that the countries of the continent “must build national and regional strategies to leverage the energy, innovative acumen, and futuristic vision of its young people in order to ensure that as a new world order takes shape, we are positioned to be joint rule makers”.
According to him, the import of all the foregoing is simple. “Although there is no doubt that up we are in the throes of rapid, complex, multidimensional change in global affairs, it is equally important to know that the outcome of the ongoing geopolitical shifts are not necessarily destined to be at the expense of or to the detriment of our people and continent. That means that we must be ready to harness our abundant human and natural resources to leapfrog our development in order to achieve the structural transformation that has eluded us for too long.
“It also means that we cannot afford to sit on the sidelines while the rules of a new world order are being written; we have the opportunity to insist on being joint rule makers so that the new global order that is being forged reflects our values and aspirations for a fairer, more inclusive, and equitable world.
“In this, we must ensure that our youth bulge is turned into an advantage that puts us at the forefront of the digital economy and the innovations underpinning it,” he added.
