Speaker Profiles

1. Dr. Christopher Kolade CON, Pro-Chancellor, Pan-African University. Dr. Christopher Kolade CON is Nigeria’s former High Commissioner to the United Kingdom and the Pro-Chancellor of the Pan-African University, Lagos. A veteran broadcaster, he has been at different points in his career, Director General of the Nigerian Broadcasting Corporation, Chief Executive and Chairman of Cadbury Nigeria Plc, and Lecturer in Corporate Governance and Human Resources Management at the Lagos Business School. He is the Founding Patron and a Director of the Nigeria Leadership Initiative. He is a Fellow of the Institute of Personnel Management of Nigeria, Society of Nigerian Broadcasters and Institute of Directors (Nigeria). He also sits on the Board of several organisations including the Christopher Kolade Foundation (CKF); Transparency in Nigeria and the Convention on Business Integrity.
2. Mr. Donald Duke, Former Executive Governor of Cross River State. Mr. Donald Duke was the Governor of Cross River State, Nigeria from 1999 to 2007. He was at the helm of affairs of the State since the commencement of the present democratic dispensation in Nigeria. Mr. Donald Duke has been praised for his contributions to the fields of agriculture, urban development, government, environment, information & communication, investment and tourism. Through his work, Calabar is presently perceived as the cleanest city in Nigeria. During his tenure, Mr. Duke spearheaded the development of Tinapa, Africa’s Premier Business Resort and the modernisation of Obudu Mountain Resort, turning Cross River State into a tourist and investment destination in Africa.
3. Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, Former Executive Chairman of Nigeria’s Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). Mallam Nuhu Ribadu is a former Nigerian government anti-corruption official and law enforcement officer. He was the pioneer Executive Chairman of Nigeria’s Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), the government commission tasked with countering corruption and fraud, in 2003 and was reappointed in 2007.
   His achievements in the EFCC include the de-listing of Nigeria from the FATF List of Non-Cooperative Countries and Territories, admission into the prestigious Egmont Group and the withdrawal of the US Treasury FINCEN Advisory on Nigeria. The foregoing helped make the EFCC the foremost Anti-Corruption Enforcement Agency on the African continent.
4. Mr. Frank Nweke Jnr., Director General, Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG). Mr. Frank Nweke Jr. has extensive experience in Nigeria’s Federal Public Service, where he served variously, as Federal Minister of Information and Communication, Inter-Governmental Affairs, Special Duties and Youth Development. He is the current Director General of the Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG). Mr. Nweke Jr. is also on the Advisory Board of JD Capital and a Director in Stellar Constellation Group.
5. Mr. Jimi Agbaje, Founder Jaykay Pharmacy and Former Lagos State Gubernatorial Aspirant. Mr. Jimi Agbaje is a leading member of the socio-political and economic organisation, Afenifere Renewal Group and was a gubernatorial candidate for Lagos State in the 2003 election.
   Mr. Agbaje founded Jaykay Pharmacy, one of the most reputable pharmaceutical companies in Nigeria. He has been in the forefront of pharmacy reform and at various times served as the National Chairman, Nigerian Association of General Practice Pharmacists, Chairman Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria (Lagos State), among many other positions. His untiring efforts towards the promotion of the practice of pharmacy, earned him a Merit Award by the Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria (FPSN) and Fellowship of the West African Post Graduate College of Pharmacists (FPCPharm.). He was a member of the Taskforce on Fake and Adulterated Drugs, Member National Drug Formulary and Essential Drugs List Review Committee.
6. Sir Olaniwun Ajayi KJW, Elder Statesman and Afenifere Chieftain. Sir Ajayi is a distinguished elder statesman, Afenifere Chieftain and Knight of John Wesley. A Chartered Secretary and member of the English Bar, he founded Olaniwun Ajayi LP, a leading law firm in Nigeria. A politician of note, Sir Ajayi served as Commissioner for Education and later Commissioner for Health in the former Western States between 1972 and 1974. Sir Ajayi has been deeply involved in national and community service and is the author of This House of Oduduwa Must Not Fall and Nigeria: Africa’s Failed Asset. A substantial part of his adult life has been committed to the struggle of a civil, democratic, prosperous and equitable society in Nigeria.
7. Mrs. Maryam Uwais, Principal Partner, Wali-Uwais & Co. Mrs. Maryam Uwais has a Master’s degree in Law with speciality in constitutional law and other sundry qualifications. Maryam practices law with the private firm of Wali-Uwais & Co in the capital city of Abuja, Nigeria.
   She has been a member and has served on sundry Committees of the Federal Government, and on Boards of several organizations and civil society groups, including the National Human Rights Commission for 6 (six) years (also serving as Special Rapporteur on Child Rights, thereat) and The African Union Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of the Child (elected in July 2008 for a 5 year term).
   She has also served on the Technical Committee of the Constitutional Review Dialogue Mechanism and Gender and Affirmative Action, both issue-based projects of the Coalition for Change, and is a Fellow and member of the Advisory Board of the Nigeria Leadership Initiative. She was appointed onto the President of Nigeria’s Presidential Advisory Council in March 2010 and also serves on the National Committee on Job Creation in Nigeria, having been appointed to that Committee in July, 2010.
   Maryam is widely traveled and has published/delivered several seminal papers.
8. Reverend Sam Adeyemi, President, Success Power International. Reverend Adeyemi is a teacher, motivational speaker and host of a popular radio and TV programme Success Power. As President of Success Power International, Reverend Samuel Adeyemi imparts individuals with knowledge to help them discover, develop, release and maximise their potential through financial, leadership and motivational seminars. He is also the Senior Pastor of Daystar Christian Centre and President, Daystar Leadership Academy, a leadership school.
9. Prof. Yemi Osinbajo SAN , Senior Partner, SimmonsCooper Partners. Yemi Osinbajo is the senior partner at SimmonsCooper Partners, where he supervises the commercial litigation group. A Professor of law and former Attorney-General of Lagos State and Commissioner for Justice, Yemi is also a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (S.A.N.).
   Yemi was educated at the University of Lagos, Nigeria (LLB) and the London School of Economics (LLM) and has over 30 years of litigation experience including significant trial and appellate work. He has conducted very important constitutional and precedential cases before the Nigerian Supreme Court and is also involved in Statutory and Regulatory Appraisal representation before the legislature and federal and state agencies.
   He has authored several books regarding civil procedure in Nigerian Supreme Courts and Nigerian rules of evidence.
   Yemi is a member of the International Bar Association and the British Institute of International and Comparative Law. He has served in the Nigerian Body of Benchers and the Council for Legal Education of Nigeria. He is currently a director of CitiBank Nigeria and an Ethics Adviser to the Board of the Africa Development Bank. He has also served in various capacities within the United Nations. Yemi speaks frequently at several commercial litigation and justice sector reform events locally and internationally.
10. Dr. Konyinsola Ajayi SAN, Partner, Olaniwun Ajayi LP. Dr Konyinsola Ajayi SAN is a Senior Advocate of Nigeria and Managing Partner of Olaniwun Ajayi LP. He has over 25 years of legal expertise in Energy and Natural Resources, International Business Transactions, Banking, Capital Markets, Construction and Engineering, Privatisation as well as Litigation and Arbitration. Dr. Konyinsola Ajayi is a member of the International Bar Association, London, the Nigerian Bar Association and the Nigerian Economic Summit Group. He is also a Fellow of the Institute of Advanced Legal Studies and a member of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, London.
11. Mr. Asue Ighodalo, Managing Partner, Banwo & Ighodalo. Mr. Ighodalo is a strong advocate of good corporate governance and leadership and has been a resource person and lecturer in several seminars and training courses on the subject. He is also a political analyst and historian.
    In his professional career, Mr. Asue Ighodalo has provided legal counsel in landmark transactions in Nigeria in the areas of Mergers & Acquisitions, Corporate Restructuring, Corporate and Capital Market issues, Investment and Divestment transactions, Electric Power, Oil & Gas, Company Law, Banking and Project Finance. He serves as a Director of Dangote Flour Mills Plc, Member of the Board of Directors of the Nigerian Economic Summit Group and Member of the Executive Board of the Nigeria Leadership Initiative.
12. Dr. Doyin Salami , Economist and Director of Programmes, Lagos Business School. Dr. Doyin Salami is a full time member of the faculty of the Lagos Business School (LBS), Pan-African University. As Director of Programmes, he leads sessions on Economics, Business and Corporate Finance. Prior to joining the LBS, Dr. Doyin Salami was the Managing Partner of Edward Kingston Associates, a firm of Economists and Financial Consultants, where he led the team that built a macroeconomic model of the Nigerian economy.
13. Mr. Sam Graham-Felsen , Leading Emerging Media Strategist & Chief Blogger for the Obama Campaign. Sam Graham-Felsen is a pioneer in the rapidly growing field of emerging media, both as a strategic advisor and as the man responsible for much of President Barack Obama’s online strategy. Graham-Felsen is an emerging media expert, skilled in using technology to share information in new and innovative ways. As he sees it, the current trends in marketing include an explosion in digital media with the development and expansion of social networks, videos, blogs, forums, instant messaging, mobile marketing, email marketing, rich media, and paid and organic search; these new online trends extend to offline trends in discovering the power of customer engagement and word-of-mouth practices in marketing campaigns.
    As the chief blogger and “narrator-in-chief” on the 2008 presidential campaign, his most important mission was to recognize the power of ordinary people and help them organize through the power of social media. Pronounced by BBC as the “key to [Obama's] victories,” much of the campaign’s record-breaking achievements were thanks to the media team, including Graham-Felsen: they raised $500 million online; had an e-mailing list of 13 million – the largest in political history; generated 200,000 offline events created by supporters on my.BarackObama.com; and created one billion minutes of online video on YouTube. Driving home the message that the campaign was about “you” – the everyday person, the citizen, the voter – Obama’s online campaign changed the political game and cemented the incredible power of grassroots organization.
    Previously, Graham-Felsen worked for Frontline and The Nation; following his work on the Obama campaign, he worked as Director of Strategic Planning at Blue State Digital, one of America’s premier digital marketing firms. In 2010, Guardian (UK) named Graham-Felsen one of the “Top 50 US Politics Twitter Accounts to Follow.”
    A Boston native, Graham-Felsen graduated with honors from Harvard.
14. Mr. Simon Kolawole, Editor, THISDAY Newspapers. A journalist and development specialist, Mr. Simon Kolawole is the Editor of THISDAY, arguably one of Nigeria’s most influential newspapers. He holds a B.Sc in Mass Communication from the University of Lagos and an MA in Governance and Development from the Institute of Development Studies, University of Sussex, UK. Mr. Kolawole’s broad areas of interest include public communication, state and society relations and institution/state-building. In January 2009, he was named among Africa’s Next Generation of Leaders by The Banker, a publication of the Financial Times of London. His recent major work was a study of oil-producing countries on a comparative scale with Nigeria. The report, published by THISDAY in March 2009, has been commended both locally and internationally. He writes a popular editorial column every Sunday called Simon Kolawole Live!
15. Pastor Poju Oyemade, Senior Pastor, Covenant Christian Centre. Pastor Poju Oyemade is the Senior Pastor, Covenant Christian Centre Lagos. Covenant Christian Centre exists to bless the local community, city and nation. It is dedicated to the development of human potential and vision and is at the forefront of enterprise development and social revolution. Pastor Poju also hosts an annual programme tagged The Platform. The Platform seeks to pioneer social change through empowerment seminars and knowledge fora. Tens of thousands have benefited from the knowledge programme.
16. Mr. Leke Alder, Principal, Alder Consulting. Mr. Leke Alder has a background in Law. He is the Principal of Alder Consulting, an ideas and branding corporation based in Lagos and London. He has consulted on policy formulation and policy for the Federal Government of Nigeria, Federal Ministries of Information & Communication, Education, Foreign Affairs, as well as Solid Minerals Development, among others. Mr. Alder wrote the blueprint for Nigeria’s image management and was the Chief Consultant to the Federal Government on the Heart of Africa Project. He has also consulted on political strategy and communication campaigns at national and sub-national levels. He was appointed by the Federal Government as board member, the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) National Stakeholders’ Working Group and is the Chairman of the Communications Committee.