Other guests and participants expected at the colloquium will include senior government officials, members of the diplomatic corps, policymakers, social and community leaders, development experts, leaders in business and finance, and the media.
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According to the organizers, the colloquium, scheduled to hold in Abuja Tuesday, September 11th, 2018 may reopen debate on Bill Gates’ advice to President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration.
The public lecture being organized to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the monthly magazine, has as its theme: “Nigeria’s Sustainable Development Agenda.”
Gates, the world second richest man who was in Nigeria a few months ago, had said that President Buhari-led government agenda for development in Nigeria was wrongly focused almost entirely on physical infrastructure development, with little focus on citizens wellbeing.
For the global philanthropist of note, government had rather directed a strong focus on human capital development with increased investment in education and the health sector development.
However, government’s response to Bill Gates’ instructive advise tended to water down the critical issues the great American had thrown up in genuine concern for the development of Africa’s most populous nation.
Going by the profile of two keynote speakers expected at its public lecture holding at the Shehu Musa Yar’Adua Centre, Abuja, the Financial Nigeria magazine, Africa’s premier development and finance journal, may reopen the debate.
Briefing newsmen in Lagos, Akintude who is the managing director of the magazine, disclosed that keynote addresses on the theme of the colloquium will be delivered by Dr. Muhammad Ali Pate, a global health expert and former Nigerian Minister of State for Health; and Mr. Arshad Rab, a renowned development thinker and CEO of the European Organisation for Sustainable Development.
“We expect cogent policy prescriptions to come out of the dialogue,” said Akachi Ngwu, Chairman of the organizing committee for the colloquium. Mr Ngwu, a media consultant and member of the Editorial Board of Financial Nigeria, added that “individual and corporate Nigeria need to join the government in proffering solutions to the development challenges of the country. These challenges include rising poverty, unemployment, infrastructural deficit and inadequate manpower development”.
“What is the corporate policy priority that this administration and subsequent ones should have as sustainable development goal? We should form our national priority? So we have brought two keynote speakers having divergent backgrounds,” Jide Akintude asked.
Following the keynote addresses, a high-level panel will discuss the strategies for trade, fiscal sustainability, human development, external relations and financing in setting appropriate development goals for the country.
The panellists include Stuart Symington, U.S. Ambassador to Nigeria; Victor Muruako, Executive Chairman, Fiscal Responsibility Commission; Kole Shettima, Director for Africa Office, MacArthur Foundation; Femi Aribisala, International relations scholar; and Herbert Wigwe, GMD/CEO, Access Bank Plc.
“This colloquium is an opportunity to serve the wider Nigerian public with the quality debates and cutting-edge ideas that Financial Nigeria provides its readers on a monthly basis,” said Martins Hile, Executive Editor of Financial Nigeria magazine. “Therefore, the anniversary lecture will offer admission for free, upon prior registration, and will be broadcast on television and streamed live on social media”.
The colloquium is being organised by Nigeria Development and Finance Forum (NDFF), which is the conference arm of Financial Nigeria International Limited, publisher of Financial Nigeria magazine. NDFF has held international conferences on Nigeria in London, Washington DC and New York, to brief global investors and Nigerians in diaspora on Nigeria’s investment climate and facilitate inward investments into the country.
The organizets disclosed that registration is currently ongoing atwww.financialnigeria.com for reservation of the limited number of seats available.
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