The national structure of Junior Chamber International, has elected Chika Ibobo as the 2023 National Vice President of the organisation.
Her election was announced at the national convention of the organisation in Ibadan, Oyo State, Nigeria recently.
Chika is presently the Country Head, Fox Capital Group, – a Nigerian leading real estate investment and advisory firm.
Prior to being elected as the National Vice President, she has served as the 2022 Southwest Director of Growth and Retention; Immediate Past President, JCI Festac; 2021 President, JCI Festac and 2020 Executive Vice President at JCI Festac
In 2019, she was the Director of Skills Development, Director of Membership Growth and Retention at JCI FESTAC; 2018 Chairperson, World Menstrual Day, JCI FESTAC; 2017 Collegiate Director of Training, Collegiate Council; 2016 Director of Awards and Documentation, Director of Sponsorship.
In her new office as National Vice President, Chika will work with over fifty Local Organisations and Collegiate Presidents in different states of the country to execute projects and also serve in advisory roles for them.
JCI Nigeria, which is an affiliate of the international body of the organisation, engages young and active citizens devoted to taking action and creating an impact in their various communities.
It helps young people across the 36 states of the federation to develop skills, knowledge and understanding needed to make informed decisions and take action.
Other national officers elected at the national convention include four executive vice-presidents and eight national vice-presidents.
Nigeria’s climate change advocate, Olumide Idowu, has been awarded the sum of $20,797 in grant to continue with his climate education in helping Nigerian youths find their voice in climate change.
The grant was awarded by the United States government’s Exchange Alumni Engagement Innovation Fund (AEIF) projects.
The fund will further Idowu’s cause in teaching 600 young Nigeria’s southwestern states about climate change and give them the information they need to make good decisions.
In addition, the team working on the project will record a documentary about the two-day workshops in order to demonstrate their development, according to Environment News Nigeria.
AEIF projects, sponsored by alumni of U.S. government exchange programmes and funded by the U.S. Department of State, increase regional and global collaboration between Exchange Alumni, support U.S. foreign policy objectives, and benefit local communities. U.S. Embassies and Consulates worldwide worked with Exchange Alumni to submit their proposals.
Idowu is a co-founder of the International Climate Change Development Initiative (ICCDI) – a Non-governmental Organisation (NGO) that aims to produce climate-smart generations in the African continent while also tackling development disparities.
He also serves as the UNDP Small Grants Programme’s Youth Focal Point in Nigeria, as well as the Youth Lead Author of the Global Environmental Outlook (GEO6) and the Executive Coordinator of the African Youth Initiative on Climate Change.
He is a former Atlas Corps Fellow and an alumnus of the International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP) in the United States.
This year’s projects range from empowering students in vulnerable communities to equipping farmers with climate smart agricultural practices, creating pathways to employment for young mothers, and enhancing young people’s digital and financial literacy in financial technology (fintech) and its application, and much more.
Since its inception in 2011, AEIF has funded over 600 Exchange Alumni-led projects around the world.
Mr Olawoyin says his new role will further help him to contribute his quota towards the development of the nation.
The management of PREMIUM TIMES, Nigeria’s foremost investigative news outfit, has announced the appointment of Olawoyin Oladeinde as the Business and Economy Editor of the newspaper.
Mr Olawoyin succeeds Ini Ekott, a pioneer member of staff, who exited the organisation at the end of 2022, after 11 years of meritorious service.
“Oladeinde is an exceptional journalist and writer,” Managing Editor Idris Akinbajo said of the appointment. “We trust in his ability to carry on excellently well from where Mr Ini Ekott stopped and to ultimately take our business reporting to a new level.
“In the years he has been here, he has demonstrated the capacity to break barriers and set new standards. We are confident he will bring these to bear on this new assignment.”
Reacting to his appointment, Mr Olawoyin said, “‘Nigeria is at a major crossroads in its efforts to engender growth, pull people out of poverty and deepen socio-economic development.
“The media, therefore, has an important role to play in ensuring that the nation realises its potentials. I am quite confident that the new role would help me contribute my quota towards the development of the nation.”
THE MAN OLADEINDE OLAWOYIN
Mr Olawoyin’s work at PREMIUM TIMES focuses on issues around oil and gas, business, finance, agriculture, economy, power, maritime, and development. He is a multiple award-winning journalist, who has been nominated for and won several awards and fellowships.
Oladeinde Oladeinde
He bagged his National Diploma and Higher National Diploma certificates in Mass Communication from The Polytechnic Ibadan in 2008 and 2011, respectively. He also graduated with First Class from the Department of Mass Communication at the University of Ilorin, where he finished as the department’s best-graduating student.
In 2017, he was nominated in the journalism category of The Future Awards Africa, held in Lagos. In 2018, he was a recipient of the West Africa Media Excellence Awards (WAMECA), held in Ghana, as well as the Nigerian Breweries Golden Pen Awards, held in Lagos.
In December 2018, alongside other young journalists across Africa, he was named “Global Goalkeeper” by the Gates Foundation at an elaborate ceremony in South Africa, in recognition of his reporting of the global goals.
In October 2019, Mr Olawoyin was among 12 finalists from around the world shortlisted for the 2019 Thomson Foundation Young Journalist Award. He also clinched the big prize as the 2019 Capital Market Reporter of the Year at the PwC Awards for Excellence in Financial Journalism. In December 2019, he was also among three winners of the African Media Development Foundation (AMDF) Awards, held in Kaduna.
In 2020, he was among finalists selected from across Africa at the Sanlam Award for Excellence in Financial Journalism ceremony, held in South Africa.
Mr Olawoyin has attended courses on finance, economy, oil and gas and capital market reporting in Nigeria, Ghana, South Africa, the United Kingdom, and other parts of the world.
He is a 2018 recipient of the Wole Soyinka Award for Investigative Reporting (WSAIR), a 2018 fellow of the Natural Resource Governance Institute (NRGI), a 2019 fellow of the African Science Literacy Network (ASLN), a 2020 recipient of the Climate Tracker’s Journalism Fellowship, a 2021 Fellow of the International Centre for Journalists (ICFJ) ‘In The Name of Religion’ fellowship, among others.
Last October, Mr Olawoyin emerged as the Business Reporter of the Year at the West African Media Excellence Awards (WAMECA), held in Accra, Ghana. Mr Olawoyin was also a finalist in the 2022 editions of the DAME and PwC awards held in Lagos.
Founded in 2011, PREMIUM TIMES has grown to become one of the most respected and reliable news media in the world.
In addition to a Pulitzer Prize (which its reporters share with ICIJ colleagues who worked on the Panama Papers), its journalists have also clinched the Global Shining Light Award, the One World Award and numerous other local, national, and international awards in the platform’s 12-year history.
The Legislative Initiative for Sustainable Development (LISDEL), in collaboration with the UHC 2023 Forum, Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) Lagos State chapter, Civil Society Organisations (CSOs), and media organizations is to hold a forum to discuss health and health security in Lagos state.
The forum which will hold on Wednesday, January 11, 2023, at Marriot Hotel, Ikeja GRA, will focus on “Putting health and health security on the political front burner in Lagos State”.
According to a statement signed by the Project Director, of LISDEL Prevent Epidemics Project, Dr. Gafar Alawode, the objective of the forum is to raise awareness among political leaders and other stakeholders on health security and encourage candidates to prioritize health and health security in their development agenda.
The forum is also to obtain commitments from political players to prioritize health and health security in government spending and develop plans to engender accountability for the fulfillment of candidates’ commitments.
LISDEL stated it is set to collaborate with the Lagos State Civil Society Partnership to utilize its experience and network in stakeholder engagement to achieve the objectives of the forum.
The Board of Trustees of the Tony Elumelu Foundation, the leading philanthropy empowering young African entrepreneurs from all 54 African countries, has announced the appointment of Somachi Chris-Asoluka as Chief Executive Officer, following the retirement of current CEO, Ifeyinwa Ugochukwu.
DNNigeria reports that the appointment takes effect from March 01, 2023.
Since the launch of the TEF Entrepreneurship Programme in 2015, the Foundation has trained over 1.5 million young Africans on its digital hub, TEFConnect, and disbursed nearly USD$100 million in direct funding to 18,000 African women and men, who have collectively created over 400,000 direct and indirect jobs. The Foundation’s mission is rooted in Africapitalism, which positions the private sector, and most importantly entrepreneurs, as the catalyst for the social and economic development of the African continent.
The Foundation’s ability to fund, train, mentor, and network young African entrepreneurs, has created a unique platform for catalysing growth across the African continent. The robust ability of the Foundation to reach entrepreneurs across geographies and sectors has enabled it to conduct innovative partnerships with the European Union, the United Nations Development Programme, the International Committee of the Red Cross, the United States Government via the United States African Development Foundation (USADF), The Organisation of African, Caribbean and Pacific States (OACPS), The French Development Agency (AFD), The German Development Finance Institution (DEG), The German Agency for International Cooperation (GIZ), The African Development Bank (AfDB), and Google, with bespoke programmes including targeting female empowerment and growth in fragile states.
Somachi, who joined the Foundation in 2014, has served as the Foundation’s Head of Research, Head of Policy and External Relations, and most recently as the Director of Partnerships and Communications. In her new role as CEO, Somachi will leverage her expertise, experience and network to provide strategic leadership in consolidating and deepening the Foundation’s work of transforming Africa through entrepreneurship.
Speaking on the appointment, Tony O. Elumelu, CFR stated: “This is an important time for the Foundation and Africa. Our work is ever more important, and our platform is demonstrating our ability to truly catalyse change. We are increasingly working with partners, to magnify our impact. Somachi’s experience in partnership development will be particularly relevant. Somachi, as Director of Partnerships & Communications, has demonstrated strong leadership, commitment, and strategic thinking, in delivering the Foundation’s mission to transform Africa. She is the perfect candidate to build on Ifeyinwa Ugochukwu’s impactful contribution.
“On behalf of the Board, I also thank Ifeyinwa, for her considerable achievements, significant sacrifice and commitment to building and empowering the next generation of African business leaders. The Foundation, since its inception, has been led by a succession of dynamic and diverse CEOs, who have each brought passion, commitment, and innovation. As the tenure of Ifeyinwa draws to a close, I look back on the last five years and pay tribute to the impact she has made, first as Director of Partnerships, and later as the Chief Executive Officer.”
In response, Ifeyinwa said: “Over the last five years, the Tony Elumelu Foundation has significantly expanded its mission to empower African Entrepreneurs across all 54 African Countries. In particular, the Foundation has grown its partnership capability, opening its platform and process to third parties, who share in our commitment to growing the African entrepreneurial ecosystem, and transforming Africa by empowering entrepreneurs. As CEO, it has been my profound joy to lead the dynamic team to empower the next generation of young people whose ideas are transforming Africa.”
Accepting her appointment, Somachi said: “I am honoured to be appointed to lead the Foundation, particularly at a time when we will be launching a new Coalition for African Entrepreneurship. This Coalition will bring together global and African partners to significantly increase the impact created by TEF’s unique platform for identifying, mentoring, training and funding young African entrepreneurs. I look forward to working with the team, our partners, and all stakeholders to achieve our common goal of a strong, confident, self-reliant Africa. I am honoured to build on Ifeyinwa’s legacy and launch the Tony Elumelu Foundation into its next phase of impact.”
Somachi graduated Summa Cum Laude from Saint Mary’s College of California with a BSc. in Economics and a minor in Mathematics and received the “Adam Smith” award given to the highest performing graduating student in Economics. She also has a Master’s Degree in International and Development Economics from Yale University. She is a Deputy Champion of the World Economic Forum (WEF) EDISON Alliance.
Applications for the 2023 Tony Foundation Entrepreneurship Programme are now open. Apply now on tefconnect.net.
