Dr. Ogho Okiti
Ogho Okiti is an economist, economics and strategy consultant, and Op-ed writer. His writings and consulting experiences cover the intersection of economics, business, strategy and political economy.
He received his Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Manchester in 2003. His postdoctoral experiences have revolved around research, public policy, public policy commentary and providing public policy advice. He spent two years at the UK Office for National Statistics (ONS) in London, where he worked on the improvements of measures of government output on social security, and adult and children's social services. He left the ONS in July 2007 to join BusinessDay Media Ltd, Nigeria's only national business daily as the Chief Economist and Chair, Editorial Board. In this role, Ogho penned over 200 articles, reports, and analysis on many areas of public policy, including on the economy, fiscal policies, jobs, poverty, unemployment and education over a four-year period.
From January 2012, he served in the Presidency as a special assistant to the Chief Economic Adviser to the President. Over three years, he developed his closest relationship with public policy making and a good section of other public policy makers, both in Nigeria and internationally. In this role, he developed the critical understanding of the dynamic and integrated nature of policy-making, implementation and evaluation in an environment that not only involves, but also brings together heterogeneous activities. In addition, he coordinated the Secretariat of Nigeria’s hosting of the World Economic Forum (WEF) on Africa in 2014.
As CEO of Time Economics, an economic consulting firm based in Abuja and focused on research, strategy and markets, he facilitates the Time Economics monthly breakfast meeting, which holds every first Wednesday at the Transcorp Hilton Hotel in Abuja. The event attracts senior government officials, top private sector participants and members of the diplomatic corps.
Ogho is also the founder of the Nigeria Economic Outlook Conference (NEOC), an annual agenda setting conference seeking to deepen discussion and narratives around business, policy, economic, and social issues in Nigeria.
Odinaka Iloh
Odinaka Iloh is an entrepreneur who trades on ideas, innovation and strategy. And as such, he has founded and created a number of organisations and worthwhile initiatives. He is the founder and the interim CEO of the Centre for Higher Education, Innovation and Development, a multi-sectoral, non-partisan non-profit organisation that serves as a nexus for academia, government and industry knowledge exchange. He is the convener of the annual National Higher Education Forum, a platform for periodic engagements of thought leaders in academia and industry with decision/policymakers in government for the purpose of seeking sustainable solutions to Nigeria’s higher education challenges and to contribute in shaping Nigeria’s higher education policy direction and national innovation ecosystem. Odinaka is the Executive Producer of the “Rethinking Nigeria’s Higher Education” documentary film series, a project he also initiated.
Odinaka’s experience traverses engineering, technology, ideas, innovation and strategy consulting, media and communications spheres, having interned and worked at different times at Shell Gas and Power, NETCO-NNPC, Enikkom Construction Nigeria Ltd, BusinessPost Media Ltd. He is the Group Chief Executive Officer of Sojourn Global Services Ltd and its affiliates. He coordinated the secretariat for the inaugural edition of Nigeria Economic Outlook Conference (NEOC) 2017.
Odinaka holds a bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka. He has published a number of articles in national dailies in Nigeria, and has made multiple radio appearances in Enugu, Owerri, and Lagos, Nigeria. Odinaka is a student of leadership.
Prof Francis Egbokhare
Francis Egbokhare is a Professor of Linguistics and lecturer at the University of Ibadan. He has spent the last thirty years as a university teacher, researcher, activist, public commentator and social critic. He is chair and member of boards of many professional organisations and institutions among which are: Chairman Proposal Implementation Committee, proposed Dominion University, Proposed West Midlands University, and Member of Boards/Councils of African Languages Technology Initiative, Centre for Growth and Development, Institute of Development Association of Nigeria, Institute of Social Work of Nigeria, West African Languages Congress. He is President, Nigerian Academy of Letters among others. He has served in various capacities as Member of Council of UI, consultant, researcher and trainer in Higher Education, former Director of Open Distance Learning, former branch secretary, Editor and resource person to ASUU.
Francis is a systems person, with a keen and analytical mind. He is fiercely courageous and independent-minded. He has demonstrated a high level of personal integrity in his life and career in addition to showing a commendable level of courage and sacrifice in the discharge of his responsibilities. He is the recipient of numerous honours and awards. Apart from his academic calling, he is a public and motivational speaker, social commentator, a cultural activist and a writer.
Chidi Koldsweat
Chidi Koldsweat is the founder and the Acting CEO, Donors for Africa, where she works to strengthen the capacity of African social innovators, non-profits and social enterprises to access funds, achieve their vision towards the SDG’s and build sustainable organizations. She is currently pursuing a leadership certificate in International Organizational Management from the University of Geneva and earned a Master’s degree in Public Administration and International Affairs from the University of Lagos, Nigeria. She has over eleven years of experience in the development space, working across sectors such as health, gender (women and girls in leadership, business, and politics), organizational management and sustainability strategy. In 2019 she was invited by the Egyptian Government to participate in the launch of the Arab African Youth Forum, in 2018 she was selected by the World Bank to attend the World Bank Youth Summit where she pitched her organizations project. In 2014, CEO Global gave Chidi an award as a Finalist, Africa’s most influential woman in management, business & public service (civil society category).
In the same year, she was nominated by the Chinese Embassy to participate in the 3 weeks cultural exchange program under The Chinese Association for International Understanding. In 2013, she became a Vital Voices Lead Fellow and was also nominated amongst the 100 unseen women changing her world. In 2011, she was selected amongst Africa’s 25 most outstanding emerging women leader under the Moremi Initiative for Leadership (MILEAD). She continues to focus on designing solutions for African social enterprises and grassroots organizations that address local development and social problems and looks forward to engaging our leaders on global platforms.
Chijioke Iwuamadi PhD
Chijioke Iwuamadi PhD is a Development and Civil Society Expert, a Social Scientist, Researcher, Data Analyst, Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) Specialist. He is currently a Research Fellow at the Institute for Development Studies, University of Nigeria, Enugu Campus, and also a Fellow at the Institute for Innovations in Development, Enugu, and Centre for Democracy and Development, Abuja, respectively. Over twelve years, he has been involved in numerous national and international conferences, think tanks, social and scientific research projects, special missions and trainings. He holds a Doctor of Philosophy , Master of Science and Bachelor of Science degrees in Political Science, as well as a Diploma in Social Works and Community Development, all from the prestigious University of Nigeria Nsukka. He is a Laureate of the Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa (CODESRIA) Methodological Institute of Qualitative Social Research in Africa.
His Research, Programme Management, Monitoring and Evaluation interests are on issues bothering on Democracy and Social Development – Governance, Corruption & Anti-Corruption, Social Development, Decentralization, Population Displacement, Humanitarian Interventions, Security, Conflict, Elections, and Civil Society. He has been deeply involved in conducting and implementing several research projects and programmes funded by international and national organisations and institutions such as, the United Nations Office for Drug and Crimes (UNDOC), the European Union (EU), DFID (Department for International Development), Oversea Development Institute (ODI), British Academy, Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD), Open Society Initiative for West Africa (OSIWA), African Governance Architecture of the African Union Commission, and GIZ (German International for Development), Ford Foundation, MacArthur Foundation, Open Society Initiative for West Africa (OSIWA), CLEEN Foundation, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Government of Japan, LITE Africa, ActionAid Nigeria, Riplington and Associates, amongst others.
Steve Nwabueze
Steve Nwabueze is a Senior Associate in the Litigation & Dispute Resolution Department of Perchstone and Graeys, a top commercial law firm in Lagos. A passionate Litigator, Steve has over the years developed competence in the Dispute Resolution. He was admitted to practice as a Barrister and Solicitor of the Supreme Court of Nigeria in 2009. He is renowned by his colleagues and peers for the depth of his knowledge of the law and has, over the course of his career, demonstrated capacity in a string of notable cases.
Over the course of his rather eventful career, Steve has been opportune to develop competence in various specialized fields, including Arbitration, Corporate Practice, Maritime, Chieftaincy, Election Petition and Intellectual Property. Having cut his legal teeth in other notable firms before pitching tent with the firm, Steve has developed an eclectic practice that makes him handle cases in all these fields. Steve’s diverse and robust legal background has seen him adopt a flexible approach towards populating the knowledge of the law by developing new practice areas in the firm. Steve is currently developing and overseeing the establishment of the Sports and Entertainment Group of the firm. Steve has developed an uncommon ability to render useful and practical advice on matters in diverse areas of law.
As a passionate advocate, Steve exhibits relentless passion in dispute resolution and continues to represent the interests of clients in our regular courts, from the High Court all the way to the Supreme Court. He has distinguished himself in a string of notable cases/transactions some of which are presented herein. He was part of (a) the Federal Government legal team briefed to recover the sum of over $350million of the Abacha loot stashed in Swiss and other foreign banks;(b) the legal team that drafted a bill to the National Assembly on criminal Assets forfeiture, seeking the automatic forfeiture of proceeds of corruption by politicians who unjustly enriched themselves; (c) the legal team that represented Senator Ajibola Ajadi at the Senatorial election petition at Kwara state and defended his mandate at the tribunal and subsequently before the Court of Appeal;(d) a team that successfully represented a bank to recover a non-operating loan granted to a recalcitrant customer of the commercial bank in Nigeria in KEYSTONE BANK LTD V ABASSA LTD for the sum of over N 5billion.
Steve obtained his LLB and BL qualifications from the University of Nigeria Nsukka, and Nigeria Law School, Abuja respectively.