Dr. Oby Ezekwesili, Nigeria’s former Education Minister and convener of the #BringBackOurGirls campaign will feature in the first episode of Forbes Woman Africa empowerment TV show – Against The Odds.
The show depicts the journey of some of the most influential women in West and South Africa who have achieved remarkable feats whiles defying the odds.
The highly anticipated women empowerment show, titled: “Against The Odds’’ with Peace Hyde, is set to premier on Friday June 30, on CNBC Africa Channel 410 on DSTV.
A statement by Forbes Woman Africa said that Ezekwesili “talks about her harrowing experience in fighting corruption in Nigeria from her early days as the co-founder of Transparency International to the shock and horror of finding out about the abduction of over 270 girls in Chibok, Borno State, Nigeria.’’
Ezekwesili started off in the Olusegun Obasanjo administration as the Pioneer head of the Budget Monitoring and Price Intelligence Unit (aka Due Process Unit).
It was in this position that she earned the sobriquet of “Madam Due Process” for the outstanding work she led a team of professionals to do in sanitising public procurement or contracting at the Federal level in Nigeria.
She was the architect of the Bureau for Public Procurement (BPP) legislation, the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) legislation and the new Minerals and Mining legislation during her six and a half years stint in government.
She was appointed Minister of Solid Minerals (Mines and Steel) in June 2005 during which time she led a vibrant reform program that led to Nigeria’s global recognition as a credible mining investment destination.
She was also the Chairperson of NEITI and led the first ever national implementation of the global standards and principles of transparency in the oil, gas and mining sector.
In June 2006, Ezekwesili was appointed the Federal Minister of Education, holding this post until she took up her World Bank appointment in May 2007
In March 2007, World Bank President (at the time) Paul Wolfowitz announced the appointment of Ezekwesili as Vice-President for the Africa Region starting on 1 May 2007.
As VP, she was in charge of the bank’s operations in 48 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa and supervised a lending portfolio of over $40 billion.
She was a co-founder of Transparency International and served as one of its pioneer directors.
As a senior economic advisor for Open Society, a group founded by billionaire George Soros, she advises nine reform-committed African heads of state including Paul Kagame of Rwanda and Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf of Liberia.
On 1 October 2012, one of the world’s leading telecommunications firm, Bharti Airtel, with operations in 20 countries, named Ezekwesili as a director on its board.
She is also on the boards of World Wildlife Fund (WWF), the School of Public Policy of Central European University, The Harold Hartog School of Government and Policy, New African Magazine, The Center for Global Leadership @ Tufts University.
In May 2012, Ezekwesili was awarded an honorary Doctor of Science (DSC) degree by the University of Agriculture, Abeokuta in Nigeria.
She was selected as one of the BBC’s 100 Women in 2014.
In March 2014, she delivered a keynote speech at the national summit of the All Progressives Congress (APC), the leading opposition party in Nigeria at the time.
She criticised the many migrating governors and urged the party to have “a conversation deeper than how you’re going to chase (the ruling) PDP out of power”.
In the aftermath of the nearly 300 mainly Christian girls were abducted from Chibok by the Islamist militant group Boko Haram.
Ezekwesili was instrumental to the start of the viral #BringBackOurGirls campaign on social media, which trended internationally.
She had on 23 April, at the opening ceremony for a UNESCO event honouring the city of Port Harcourt as the 2014 World Book Capital city, urged Nigerians to not just tweet but actively participate in efforts to “bring back our girls”.
In the list of five richest kings in Africa published hours ago, the Olugbo of Ugbo Kingdom, HRM Frederick Obateru Akinruntan was named the richest monarch in Nigeria and the second richest in Africa.
Moroccan Monarch, King Mohammed VI, is the richest in Africa with estimated net worth of $2 billion; second-placed Oba Akinruntan was rated to have an estimated net worth of $300 million, while the former Ooni of Ife, late Oba Sijuade is third with estimated net worth of $75 million.
Oba Akinruntan who beat the likes of the Alaafin of Oyo, the Sultan of Sokoto, the Ooni of Ife and other to emerge the wealthiest monarch, is the Olugbo (traditional King) of Ugbo land, a small oil-rich community in Ondo state, in Nigeria’s southwestern region.
Oba Akinrutan, who ascended the throne in 2009, is also the founder of Obat Oil, one of Nigeria’s largest privately-held oil trading companies.
He founded the company in 1981 with a single gas station to meet the needs of his family and neighboring community. OBAT Oil now owns more than 50 gas stations across Nigeria as well as one of the largest tank farms in Africa- a modern storage facility that has the capacity to store 65 million liters of petroleum products.
He also owns an extensive portfolio of prime commercial and residential real estate in London and Nigeria, including the landmark Febson Hotels and Mall in the Central Business District of Abuja.
Oba Akinrutan entered the history books in 2012 when he became the first black person to buy the 2014 model of Bentley which was accustomed only for Queen Elizabeth of England.
Forbes Africa has released their list of Richest African musicians. The list was put together using factors such as endorsement value, popularity, show rates, sales, awards, YouTube views, appearance in newspapers, investment, social media presence, Influence and others.
They include:
1. AKON
Akon has over 35 million albums sold worldwide. He has won numerous awards including five Grammy Award nominations and has 45 Billboard Hot 100 songs under his belt. He tops the list according to Forbes Africa.
2. BLACK COFFEE, SOUTH AFRICA
The multi-award-winning artist’s real name is Nkosinathi Maphumulo. He was born in South Africa’s house music province, KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) and raised in the Eastern Cape province, where Nelson Mandela hailed from, before moving back to KZN to study music.
3. HUGH MASEKELA, SOUTH AFRICA
Hugh was born in Witbank, east of Johannesburg. He has released more than 43 albums and performed with Marvin Gaye, Dizzy Gillespie, The Byrds, Fela Kuti, Paul Simon, Stevie Wonder and Miriam Makeba.
4. DON JAZZY, NIGERIA
Don Jazzy is ranked fourth richest in Africa and also first in Nigeria. Like many artists, his real name is Michael Collins Ajereh, and he started playing music as a child in church before moving to the UK to pursue his career.
5. TINASHE, ZIMBABWE-AMERICAN
Tinashe was a child model by the age of three. The twenty-four-year-old sang before she could talk and made her first appearance in 2000 in the film Cora Unashamed. Her voice also starred in the cartoon feature film The Polar Express alongside Oscar-winning actor, Tom Hanks.
6. JIDENNA, NIGERIAN-AMERICAN,
By the age of 10, Jidenna Theodore Mobisson knew he wanted to do music but was afraid to tell his father who wanted him to be an engineer. He is ranked sixth according to Forbes Africa.
7. WIZKID, NIGERIA
Wizkid is arguably currently the uncrowned king of African music. Grammy Award-winning artist, Alicia Keys and husband Swizz Beatz, danced to his songs Ojuelegba and Caro, with Keys posting a video on her Instagram account with the caption, “This song makes me happy”. Kylie Jenner also posted a video of herself dancing to Wizkid’s music on Snapchat.
8. DAVIDO, NIGERIA
Davido has claimed a high status in just five years. He said it was people like P-Square and D’Banj who made him believe this was possible. He became famous for his widely acclaimed 2012 debut album “Omo Baba Olowo”.
9. SARKODIE, GHANA
Michael Owusu Addo started out as an underground rapper and through the help of Duncan Williams, his former manager, his career was launched. Staying true to his identity, he is a big advocate of Azonto, a Ghanaian genre that is said to have been born out of Kpanlogo, a traditional dance.
His first single off his fourth album, Mewu, sold almost 4,000 copies on the first day of its release in Ghana. He was also the first Ghanaian to win a BET award.
10. OLIVER MTUKUDZI, ZIMBABWE
Oliver Tuku Mtukudzi has 65 albums under his belt, more than the legendary Michael Jackson and Whitney Houston. It’s a remarkable career stretching back 41 years with songs that have enlivened parties all over the world. He his ranked 10th richest musician in Africa.
Subscribe to:
Posts
(
Atom
)
