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Kenyatta, Weah, Sultan, others to attend Goodluck Jonathan Annual Democracy Dialogue
Former African Presidents Uhuru Kenyatta of Kenya and George Weah of Liberia as well as the Sultan of Sokoto, Muhammad Abubakar Sa’ad 111, are among the many prominent personalities expected to attend the 2024 Goodluck Jonathan Foundation (GJF) Annual Democracy Dialogue taking place in Benin, Edo State on June 13.
Other dignitaries attending the event include former Vice President of Zambia Dr. Nevers Mumba and as the head of the UNDP Sub-Regional Hub for West and Central Africa Njoya Tikum
This year’s Dialogue, the third in the series, will be hosted by GJF founder and former Nigerian President Dr Goodluck Ebele Jonathan and co-hosted by the Governor of Edo State Godwin Obaseki. With the theme “Functional Education, Effective Political Leadership as Panacea to Africa’s Growth and Development.”
A statement by Wealth Dickson Ominabo Communications Officer, GEJ, said the 2024 Dialogue is designed to bring together a cross-section of key political leaders, policymakers, and experts from across the continent who will be examining the critical role of education and effective political leadership recruitment in the actualisation of the development aspirations of African nations.
The keynote speaker, Prof. Olubayi Olubayi, a seasoned educationist who is the Chief Academic Officer at Maarifa Education, a Kenya based Pan-African company that owns private universities across Africa and former Vice Chancellor of the International University of East Africa (IUEA) in Uganda said he is excited to take on this critical topic and is willing to rub minds with others on the need to rethink the African education system.
While expressing his pleasure with the fact that the event is holding in his state, Governor Obaseki stated that the theme of the dialogue is in tandem with the goals of his administration towards “advancing education and treating it as the pivot for development and the bedrock of societal progress.”
GJF Executive Director, Ms Ann Iyonu said in a statement announcing the event that the “Foundation is hopeful that as always, participants in the dialogue will be solution-oriented in their presentations”, adding that the outcomes of the conference would be compiled and disseminated as input to the collective quest by Africans to advance democratic governance and socio-economic development.
She explained that this year’s Dialogue follows the 2023 edition which explored the interface between democracy and development with the theme “Breaking New Grounds in the Democracy-Development Nexus in Africa”. P.L.O. Lumumba, a dynamic and vocal Kenyan Professor of law and former director of the Kenya Anti-Corruption Commission was the keynote speaker at the event held in Bayelsa State, Nigeria in September 2023.
Two Nigerian-born scientists—Adesola Adegoke, a researcher at Arizona State University (ASU), and Seunnla Adelusi, a PhD candidate at the Université de Sherbrooke, Canada—have been named among the 20 global winners of the Digital GreenTalents Award 2025.
These two Nigerians were announced among the winners during a virtual ceremony held on 25 November. In a statement following the virtual announcement ceremony, the organisers said the 20 awardees for this year joined from different time zones, including “very early morning in Canada and evening hours in the Philippines.”
The digital Green Talent Award is an annual initiative of the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) that recognises outstanding young researchers whose work advances sustainability through digital innovation.
Each year, 20 scientists are selected from a competitive global pool for their cutting-edge ideas at the intersection of digitalisation and environmental sustainability.
Alex Otti, the Abia State Governor, on Sunday paid a visit to the detained leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu, at the Sokoto Correctional Centre.
The governor was accompanied by officials of the Sokoto State Government during the closed-door visit.
Nnamdi Kanu was recently moved to Sokoto after he was convicted on terrorism-related charges and handed a life sentence by a Federal High Court in Abuja.
Governor Otti had earlier promised to pursue every lawful and political avenue to ensure that Kanu gets justice. Sunday’s visit is seen as part of ongoing efforts by the Abia State Government regarding his case.
Details of the meeting were not made public as of the time of this report.
Armed terrorists have abducted a bride-to-be, her bridesmaid, and eight other residents from Chacho village in Wurno Local Government Area of Sokoto State
The Sokoto abduction occurred around 1:30 a.m., according to residents, when the attackers stormed the village. Most of the victims were women, with only one man also taken.
One resident sustained injuries and is receiving medical treatment. Villagers told reporters that the bride was preparing for her wedding scheduled for later that morning when the raid struck, plunging the community into shock and mourning.
A community member described the attack as “tragic,” noting the delay in security response. “Security operatives were alerted immediately, but they only arrived about an hour after the bandits had fled,” he said, expressing frustration.
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