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All set for Realnews 12th yearly parley in Lagos, as foreign eggheads arrive
With the arrival in Lagos of Karim El Aynaoui, Executive President of the Policy Center for the New South, in Rabat, Morocco, who is the keynote speaker, eggheads in various areas of the Nigerian polity will be putting heads together in a few hours to find solutions to the challenges buffeting the country and beyond.
It will be at the 2024 of the yearly parley, put together by Realnews, one of Nigeria’s leading online news platforms, which has consistently brought leaders from all parts of the globe to brainstorm on giving answers to some of the critical problems facing Nigeria and Africa in general.
The 12th edition in the yearly ritual, tagged: RealNews Anniversary Lecture, this year’s event, which is scheduled for Tuesday at the Sheraton Hotels in Lagos, has a lineup of resource persons from Nigeria and beyond.
Maureen Chigbo, Publisher of RealNews and host of the event, in a statement, on Monday announced the arrival of El Aynaoui to Lagos, aboard Air Maroc on Monday, November 18, 2024, accompanied by Abdelhak Bassou, senior fellow at the Policy Center for the New South, Rabat, Morocco.
The lead speaker, who is also the Executive Vice-President of Mohammed VI Polytechnic University and Dean of its Humanities, Economics and Social Sciences Cluster, was received by a team of the magazine’s top staff led b Chigbo, at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport.
The statement, read: “The Realnews Lecture, which has held consecutively for 11 years beginning from 2014 will centre on “Africa in world shifting geopolitics, matters arising on democracy, technology, artificial intelligence, natural resources” and will be held at the Sheraton Hotel, Lagos, on Tuesday, November 19, 2024.
“El Aynaoui’s contributions at the Policy Center for the New South, pcns, a Moroccan Think Tank that works to improve social and economic public policies in Africa and the Global South makes him a perfect fit for this year’s theme.
“He is an economist. From 2005 to 2012, he worked at the Central Bank of Morocco where he held the position of director of economics, statistics, and international relations.
“At the Central Bank of Morocco, he was in charge of the research department and equally a member of the governor’s cabinet. Previously, he worked for eight years at the World Bank as an economist for its regional units of the Middle East and North Africa and Africa.
“El Aynaoui has published books and journal articles on macroeconomic issues in developing countries. His recent research has been focused on growth and the labour market in Morocco, as well as on reforming international development economy.
“EL Aynaoui holds scientific and advisory positions at various institutions. He is currently a member of the Malabo Montpellier Panel, the scientific committee of the Italian Institute for International Political Studies, the scientific council of the Moroccan Capital Market Authority, the International Board of Leonardo Medor Foundation, the advisory council of the School of Global Affairs and Public Policy of the American University of Cairo, Morocco’s Chapter of the Confrérie des Compagnons de Gutenberg. He serves as advisor to the CEO and Chairman of OCP Group and is a board member of OCP Foundation.
“He holds a Phd in economics from the University of Bordeaux in France where he taught courses in statistics and economics for three years and he is also a Commendatore of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic.
“Realnews, a general interest magazine, is an online publication that thrives on investigative journalism. We have expertise in reporting the oil and gas sector with its attendant environmental challenges. We aim to unearth exclusive stories about real people and the challenges they face in their day-to-day activities. We do this bearing in mind that government can only act to influence the lives of people positively if they are aware of their true situation. Hence, our objective is to use our investigative skills to ferret out information in the sectors we focus on and produce an unbiased report that will influence the government and decision-makers to take actions that will make society better.
“Realnews is populated by seasoned journalists who believe strongly in the tenets and ethics of the profession. The online publication believes that journalism as the fourth estate of the realm can contribute its quota towards building a fair and just society where fundamental human rights are respected and citizens have the freedom to pursue their interests anywhere in the world without hindrance. Its editors have a combined experience of several decades in active journalism practice and are highly dedicated to serving humanity. Hence its motto: “for god and humanity.”
“Realnews anniversary lecture series was established to commemorate the best minds in our society and to tap from them to enrich the discourse in our national development.
“The 11th anniversary lecture in 2023 on the threats of illicit funds flow to the African economy was delivered by Dr. Edwin w. Harris jr., Director-General, ECOWAS Inter-Governmental Action Group Against Money Laundering in West Africa (GIABA).
The 10th anniversary lecture in 2022 on “Drug Abuse among Youths in Africa: Implication for Nigerian Economy and 2023 Elections” was delivered by Brig- General Buba Marwa, Chairman, and Chief Executive Officer of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA; 9th Anniversary Lecture of Realnews in 2021 was delivered by Engr. Simbi Kesiye Wabote, Executive Secretary of the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board on “Nigeria in the Unfolding Integration of the African Market: the oil and gas perspective”; 2020 Eighth Anniversary Lecture of Realnews was delivered by Boss Mustapha, Secretary to the Government of the Federation and Chairman of the Presidential Taskforce on Covid-19 on Managing Covid-19 Pandemic in Africa: the Nigeria Experience; Former President John Dramani Mahama of Ghana gave the 2019 Lecture on Beyond Politics: an Economic Narrative for West Africa while Prof. Mahmood Yakubu spoke on Political transitions and Africa’s Economic Development: Preparations for Nigeria’s 2019 General Elections at the 2018 Lecture. The 2017 Fifth Anniversary Lecture on African Leadership in a Turbulent era was delivered by Dr. Oby Ezekwesili, former Minister of Education and former World Bank Vice President. The 2016 Fourth Anniversary Lecture on Security and National Development in Plural Democratic Society was delivered by Dr. Mohamed ibn Chambas, former United Nations Secretary General’s Special Representative to West Africa and the Sahel; the 2015 Realnews Third Anniversary Lecture was delivered by Professor Chukwuma Charles Soludo, former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on November 19, 2015, under the theme: It’s the Nigerian Economy Stupid? The Second Realnews Anniversary Lecture On Nigerian Democracy: Getting It Right In 2014 was delivered by Professor Maurice Iwu, former Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC.”
The echoes of the drums rolled out to celebrate the rescue of the 44 teachers and students, kidnapped from some schools in Oyo State, after 56 days in the bush, would surely be disrupted abruptly, with the divergent echoes of a fresh abduction, this time coming from Kogi State.
Reports indicate that the gunmen, struck on Tuesday at the Government Secondary School, Odo-Ekina, in Dekina Local Government Area of the state, abducting four students, the school principal and a National Examinations Council (NECO) ad hoc staff member.
Authorities of the Kogi State Police Command, who immediately unleashed their operatives in hot pursuit of the abductors, said the attack occurred at about 5:25 p.m. while the students were writing their NECO examination.
Saliu Oyiza Afusat, an Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) and spokesman of the command, said a combined team of police personnel and other security agencies has launched a search-and-rescue operation following the incident.
Informing that one of the students was actually rescued immediately, she said efforts were ongoing to secure the release of the remaining victims and apprehend the attackers, adding that Naziru Bello Kankarofi, the state Commissioner of Police, alongside the Brigade Commander and the State Security Adviser to the Governor, Commodore Jerry Omodara (Rtd), were already on the way to the scene for an on-the-spot assessment.
Oil prices are expected to go down now with the announcement of Donald Trump, US President that he will no longer impose a 20 percent “safe passage” fee on ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz.
The POTUS, hinged his reversal of the decision on the intervention from some Gulf countries, who pleaded with him not to toe the line due to the massive economic impact the decision would make on the region.
Indeed, oil prices had shot up immediately Trump announced the new levy on Monday while declaring the US ‘the guardians of the Hormuz strait,’ a measure which he said was to pay for the cost of guarding the volatile area in order keep supply of oil flowing.
Reports said that Gulf allies of the US worked frantically to get Trump on the phone in time to talk him out of the idea altogether, while a flurry of appeals came from Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Qatar.
In response, the POTUS, posting on his Truth Social platform, wrote: “Based on highly productive conversations with Middle East leadership, I have decided to replace the 20% United States Reimbursement Fee with Trade and Investment Deals that the various Gulf States will be making into the United States.”
Trump, who said the investments would be “MASSIVE but, at the same time, extraordinarily good for them, and their future,” added that the deals would see factories, plants, and equipment pour into the US at “Historic levels.”
The Gulf nations have committed to invest trillions of dollars in the US, though it remains unclear how much of that they will actually spend over the next several years.
Meanwhile, the US continues to bomb Iran in what appears to be a resumption of active conflict between both countries, despite an ongoing roadmap to end the conflict.
Reports say operatives of the Osun State Police Command, and those of the Department of State Services (DSS) had tracking the trail of Adeniyi Adeyemi, controversial Director General of the Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council (PFIPC), for weeks, before he was eventually pulled out of his hole on Tuesday.
However, the duo, were said to have pulled back after failing to track him through his mobile phones, which he had reportedly switched off for about two days, making it difficult to locate him, leaving the stage for the members of the Police Intelligence Response Team (PI-RT) led by Moses Lohor, a Chief Superintendent of Police (CSP).
Lohor, said to have previously served as the Commander of the Anti-Kidnapping Squad of Osun State, and reported to have been involved in high-profile security operations and controversies, after taken over fielded his men to pick up signals from their well-oiled signal networks.
Regarded by many Osun residents as one of the key security officers who contributed significantly to the peace and stability enjoyed in Ilesa and other parts of the state during his tenure, he was said to have relied on his contacts before his transfer out of the state, said to have raised concerns from the public about the security situation he would be leaving behind.
His exit from the state was said to be hinged on an incident in 2024, in which he allegedly shot one Iyanda Alowonle, then Chairman of Osun State Motor Transport System, in the stomach at the police station in the state prompting an order for his arrest by then Inspector General of Police (IGP).
His effort was said to have paid off when he successfully tracked down the controversial PFIPC, boss, who was seen on Tuesday evening, in a shot video on social media undergoing interrogation, and eventually handed him over to Ibrahim Gotan, Commissioner of Police in the state.
The PUNCH quoted one of the sources as saying: “The arrest (of Adeyemi) took place on Tuesday morning by the IRT squad, who immediately moved him to Abuja. After he was arrested, he was taken to Ibadan and from there to Abuja.”
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