PROFESSOR ISAAC OLAWALE ALBERT

CO-CHAIRMAN

Isaac Olawale Aibert is a Professor of African History, Peace and Conflict Studies at the University of Ibadan (Nigeria) where he was the Director of the institution’s Institute of African Studies from August 2010 to August 2013. He is a specialist in conflict analysis, early warning monitoring, and peace progress planning. He is a conflict management trainer and professional mediator. He is a Consultant to the Ghana Accreditation Board (GAB) in African Studies, Defense Studies and International Politics. He served at various times as a Consultant to the UNCHS (Habitat), UNEAD, World Bank’s Urban Management Programme, USAID, USAID/OTI, DFID, Oxfam, IDASA, WANEP, US-African Command, Friedrich Ebert Foundation and National Defence College (Abuja), among others.

He was a co-founder of and a Research Associate to the Centre for Research on Inequality and Human Security (RISE) at the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom in 2003. In 2007, he served as the Country Director of the Nigeria Office of the Institute for Democracy in South Africa (IDASA-Nigeria). He was a federal delegation to the 2014 National Conference in Nigeria and a Member of the Presidential Panel on the Review of Nigeria’s Defence Policy (2014/2015). In March 2015, he chaired the pre-inauguration sub-committee of the present government in Nigeria on the “Northeast” (Boko Haram) crisis. He is an Associate Member of the Finnish Folklore Fellows (Helsinki); a member of the International Network to promote the Rule of Law; a Fellow and Board Chairman of the society for Peace Studies and Practice (SPSP/Nigeria) and the current Regional Board Chairman of the West African Network for Peace building (Accra, Ghana). He has published 27 books and over 100 journal articles and chapters in books on issues relating to peace and conflict in Africa.

DR. SEGUN AINA OFR

CO-CHAIRMAN

Dr. Segun Aina has held various leadership positions at professional levels with track record of accomplishments. In banking industry, these include Executive Director-Operations and Technology of Ecobank, CEO of a technology focused bank, past President Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria, past President, West African Bankers Association (Nigeria). He was in July 2017 elected as the pioneer Chairman of the Global Council of Global Banking Education Standards Board (GBEStB) a Council made up of thirty founder members professional banking institutes from twenty-eight countries across all continents.

Dr Aina sits on the Board of various institutions in the banking, insurance, agriculture, technology sectors etc in Nigeria and Canada. His foresight and vision of the Financial Technology (FinTech) ecosystem led him to the establishment, about fifteen years ago, of Fintech Associates Ltd of which he is Chairman. Described as Nigerian Fintech Association of Nigeria and currently championing, with some others in the African continent, the creation of African FinTech Council.

Dr Aina is very passionate about education and educational development. He is Chairman of the Advancement Board of Federal University of Technology, Akure; member, Board of University of Ibadan Research Foundation and had previously served as pioneer Board member (2006-2012) of the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife Advancement Board. For his contributions to Nigeria’s development in many sectors, he received in 2010 the Nigeria National Honours of the officer of the Order of the Federal Republic (OFR) and had also been awarded honorary doctorate degrees by two Nigerian Universities in recognition of his outstanding contribution to the economy, banking, youth education and community development.

Segun Aina is a distinguished alumnus of University of Lagos, University of Ibadan-Nigeria, Harvard Business School, Boston, USA, INSEAD France, IMD Switzerland, Lagos Business School Nigeria and Fellow of London Institute of Banking and Finance, Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria, Nigerian Institute of Chartered Arbitrators, Institute of Directors, Nigerian Institute of Management, Member, Toronto Region Board of Trade, Canada and Canadian Council for Africa. He is a respected and well sought out opinion leader and speaker in many local and international Conferences and knowledge events.

PROFESSOR SULAIMAN E. BOGORO– MEMBER

(FNIAS, FNSAP, FCASN, FFPNO, FSPSP)

Sulaiman Elias Bogoro is a native of Gwarangah Bogoro LGA, Bauchi. He obtained his Bachelor’s degree in Agriculture in 1981 from the University of Maiduguri, Master’s degree in Animal Science from ABU, Zaria in 1988 and a PhD in Animal Science at the Federal University of Technology, renamed Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University (ATBU) Bauchi in 1997. He was elevated to the rank of Professor of Animal Science (specializing in Biochemistry and Ruminant Nutrition) in 2003. He was appointed as the pioneer Director of the NIMET-supported Agro-Meteorology Centre, ATBU in 2004 and was the Chairman, Governing Council of the Federal Polytechnic, Nekede-Owerri, Imo State from 2005 to 2007.

Professor Bogoro is a prolific researcher with numerous publications in international and local journals whose versatility has also been projected through his consultancy on and management of international, national and regional projects with the World Bank, UNDP, USAID, DFID, IPCR, OSIWA, NDI, FHI, NACA, and IFES, among others. He has innovated a Rumen Fermentation Model and has developed a Modified Re-entrant Rumen Cannulation Surgical Technique for better understanding and tooling of rumen metabolism for bulls and rams.

His interest in research and development (R&D) made him introduce the Department of R and D in TETFund during his tenure as the Executive Secretary of the agency (2014-2016). This department has been supporting, through the award of improved research grants, the partnership between researchers and industries for applied research and problem-solving innovations. Professor Bogoro recently became a Fellow of the Nigerian Academy of Science as an addition to his enviable Fellowship status, some of which are: Fellow, Nigerian Institute of Animal Science, FNIAS; Fellow, Nigerian Society for Animal Production, FNSAP; Fellow, College of Animal Scientists of Nigeria, FCASN; Fellow, The Federal Polytechnic, Nekede, Owerri, FFPNO; Fellow, The Society for Peace Studies and Practice, FSPSP.

DR SANJANA BHARDWAJ– MEMBER

Dr Sanjana Bhardwaj is currently the Chief of Health for UNICEF, Nigeria. Dr Bhardwaj has over 25 years of experience in the health and development sector in different capacities and roles. She has worked across 17 English speaking countries in the Caribbean and led the child survival and development portfolio for UNICEF in South Africa and also worked and contributed across difference countries, like Papau New Guinea, Barbados, Belize, Trinidad and Tobago and the USA. Dr Bhardwaj’s interests focus on health systems strengthening and the implementation of science in public health. She has led and pioneered the use of data for actionand results in several national programs and also led the design of virtual platforms and tools.

Sanjana holds an MD in Preventive and Social Medicine from Mumbai University, India; Bachelor of Medicine and Surgery from Nagpur University, India; Master’s in Public Health degree in Health Behaviour from University of Alabama, USA and was recently awarded the Fellowship of the Faculty of Public Health, UK. She has continued to participate in several international and national forums and committees with publications in peer reviewed journals book chapters, training manuals and blogs across a wide range of topics in public health.

FUNKE EGBEMODE– MEMBER

Funke Egbemode, Managing Director/Editor-in Chief of Daily Telegraph Publishing Ltd, publishers of New Telegraph Newspapers and President, Nigeria Guild of Editors (NGE), was born in Osun state. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile Ife and Post Graduate Diploma in Journalism from the Nigeria Institute of Journalism, Lagos.

Egbemode started her career as a staff writer in the defunct PRIME PEOPLE magazine. She joined The Punch Newspapers in 1993 until 2000 when she was appointed Editor of The Post Express on Saturday. Since then she has been Associate Editor, This Day, Editor, pioneer Editor of the Saturday Independent. She is the immediate past Editor of The Sunday Sun.

In 20016, she was nominated by the United States Information Service (USIS) to cover the United States of America mid-term elections.

Egbemode has also served in the public sector as Assistant Press Secretary at the Nigerian Tourism Development Corporation, NTDC, Special Adviser (Media) to the Speaker, House of Representatives, and was a member of the Board of the Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria, FRCN.

Renowned writer and columnist, Egbemode is the author of INTIMATE AFFAIRS and CONVERSATIONS WITH MY COUNTRY.

IFY MALO– MEMBER

Ify Malo is the Country Campaign Director for Power For All in Nigeria. She leads the Nigerian campaign to promote distributed renewable energy in Nigeria and is one of the country’s leading energy access experts. She helped to set up and incubate the Renewable Energy Association of Nigeria (REAN), and has advised a range of government agencies on how best to support market growth, and engaged both the national media, the faith community and donor groups and agencies in the promotion of distributed renewable energy.

She is also CEO of Clean Tech Hub and the Energy Innovation Centre, Abuja. She has held Senior Policy Adviser on Energy Policies, Regulations and Partnerships at the Ministry of Power in Nigeria, where she led a number of policy and partnership initiatives for the Nigerian power sector including cultivating and managing relationship with the world Economic Forum and World Energy Council, the Europe Energy African Partnership, The West African Power Industry Convention and the African Utilities Week (AUW). She was also responsible for building, cultivating and driving public private partnership for project delivery and implementation in the power sector. She held similar senior advisory portfolios with the Chairman/CEO of the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC). Ify’s focus area lies with Global Policy; Project Design and Strategy and Stakeholder partnership initiatives. Ify is a qualified attorney with graduate advance degrees in Law, Business and Public Policy. She is a African Leadership initiative PIA Fellow (2012); A Desmond Tutu Fellow (2013); A Crans Montana News Leaders for Tomorrow Fellow (2014); A Dwight Eisenhower Fellow (2015); Global Leadership Academy Fellow (2017).

DR SAANI ALIYU– MEMBER

Dr Sani Aliyu was appointed as the Director-General of the Nigeria National Agency for the Control of AIDS in July 2016. He graduated from Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Nigeria in 1993. He has a postgraduate diploma from the Imperial College and a Master’s with distinction in Microbiology from Queen Mary University of London. He is a fellow of the Royal College of Physicians and the Royal College of Pathologists. After completing residency training at Cambridge University Hospitals in 2007, he worked briefly as consultant microbiologist in Birmingham until 2008 when he returned to Cambridge as the first joint consultant in Infectious Diseases and Microbiology. Dr Aliyu is an associate lecturer at the University of Cambridge and until recently the chair of the U.K Infectious Diseases Specialist Certification Exam Board. Dr Aliyu was the immediate past Caldicott Guardian at Cambridge University Hospitals responsible for Information Governance.

He is a recipient of the Draper Company prize in Microbiology who has 64 peer-reviewed papers and has co-authored for book chapters on a range of topics on infectious diseases. Locally, he is a vising associate professor of Microbiology at Kaduna State University and a member of the NIMR Research Board. He is a co-investigator on several multi-centre clinical trials including PrEP Demonstration Study in Nigeria. His interests include HIV epidemiology, molecular diagnostics and antimicrobial resistance. As Head of the national HIV agency responsible for coordinating the world’s second largest HIV response, Dr Aliyu’s main priorities over the next couple of years are to establish the true prevalence of HIV in Nigeria, improve the uptake of PMTCT services and secure a sustainable, robust and cost-effective HIV response for the country.

PROFESSOR AYOADE M. J. ODUOLA– MEMBER

Professor Ayoade MJ Oduola is the pioneer Director of the University of Ibadan Research Foundation (www.uirf.ui.edu.ng) at the University of Ibadan. He served as Professor and Director at the Postgraduate Institute for Medical Research and Training (now IMPART), College of Medicine, University of Ibadan, Nigeria. He received a World Health Organisations Postdoctoral Training Fellowship in drug discovery at the University of North Carolina, Chapel. He also worked as a US National Research Council (NRC) Fellow as well as an investigator at the Division of Experimental Therapeutics, WRAIR, Washington DC, USA.

He retired as Coordinator for Stewardship and Capacity Building for Research at the Special Program for Research and Training on Tropical Diseases at the World Health Organisation (WHO/TDR). At WHO, he managed and led several research capacity building initiatives including: Creating Regional Training Centres for Bioinformatics in Brazil, South Africa and Thailand; establishment of South-South Initiative for Tropical Diseases Research; organization of a High Level Ministerial Forum for Research on infectious diseases of poverty in Africa; development of TropIKA.net, a web based platform for research information sharing (www.tropika.net). He led a team of over 300 contributors to produce a Global Report for Research Prioritieson Infectious Diseases of Poverty (http://www.who.int/tdr/publications/global_report/en/). He continues to devote efforts to facilitating strategic partnerships between endemic countries and international partners on research and public health initiatives. He has been honoured with many awards. His publications can be accessed at (over 100 listed in PubMed).