IBUKUNOLU ALAO BABAJIDE

IBUKUNOLU ALAO BABAJIDE is an international lawyer and political activist of over 32 years experience. He is a member of the Nigerian Bar and a Solicitor of the Supreme Court of Nigeria. In addition he is called to the Bar of England and Wales and a member of Lincoln's Inn. Qualified to practice law in Nigeria and England he has also been the Legal Advisor, of BSI - British Standards Institution, a prosecutor of genocide and war crimes at the ICTR - International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda and currently he is the Senior Legal Adviser of UNMISS - the United Nations Mission in South Sudan.

A lawyer with a social conscience with a passion for the social and economic development of rural Africa. All development starts from the mind, and until the African mind is charged and schooled in self-love and patriotic love of hamlet, village, town, city, country, continent, and world in that order, development will continue to elude Africa especially where it is most needed in the rural and remote places where children and women need it most.

In conclusion, without peace, there will never be development. Conflicts are as old as humanity but in history social and economic progress is only the preserve of societies that have mastered the art of conflict resolution. Social and economic development and resolving all conflicts that may derail progress is what I commit my extant existence to.

PIUS ADESANMI

PIUS ADESANMI is a Professor of English and African Studies at Carleton University, Ottawa, Canada. He is the internationally-acclaimed winner of the inaugural Penguin Prize for African Writing (2010) in the non-fiction category with his book, You’re not a Country, Africa. A widely-cited commentator on African affairs, he has lectured widely in Universities in Africa, Europe, and North America.

Among his numerous lecture and keynote credits, Adesanmi has notably addressed audiences on African issues on such prestigious platforms as the Obafemi Awolowo Foundation's annual lecture series, the Stanford Forum for African Studies lecture series, the Vanderbilt History Series, the International Leadership Platform of the university of Johannesburg, the lecture series of the Thabo Mbeki African Leadership Institute, the lecture series of the Africa Institute of South Africa, and the lecture series of the Academy of Science of South Africa.

Adesanmi served on the Diaspora Consultation series of the African Union's Agenda 2063 and has consulted for several universities across Africa on institutional capacity building. He is the author of Naija No Dey Carry Last, a book of political satires on Nigeria. He writes a nationally-syndicated weekly column for Premium Times and Sahara Reporters and can be followed on Twitter: @pius_adesanmi

BAMIDELE ADEMOLA-OLATEJU

BAMIDELE ADEMOLA-OLATEJU is the Convener - Circle of Hands. She is a serial entrepreneur and a spirited modern essayist actively involved in public intellection. She had her graduate studies in Business Administration and later Computer Information Systems. She worked in software development, software engineering, project management and quality management in two top Fortune 500 companies before establishing herself as a farmer.

Her interests are in civic leadership, civic engagement, youth development and advocacy. Her latest venture is Enterxect.com (Naija Matchmakers), a bold new initiative in helping Nigerians the world over find love. Bamidele is a member of Premium Times Editorial Board and maintains a weekly column on Politics and Socioeconomic issues every Tuesday. Follow her on Twitter @olufunmilayo

TOPE FASUA

TOPE FASUA is an Economist by training and also a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN) and a Member of the Institute of Directors (MIoD). He also possesses a Masters Degree with Distinction, in Financial Markets and Derivatives from London Metropolitan University. He also worked in the Nigerian Banking Industry where he rose to become a Regional Director of a local bank before quitting in 2005. Tope presently runs Global Analytics Consulting Ltd, Nigeria, a company of Management and Financial Consultants. He is also a columnist for the Abuja-based Sunday Trust, apart from his monthly contributions to Abu-Dhabi-based Capital Business Magazine, Inside Watch Africa Magazines, Skytrends Online Journal, and African Development Magazines.

Tope also contributes articles to ModernGhana online newspaper, apart from being a prolific blogger on economic, financial and social issues. Tope has written four books, CRUSHED (Navigating Africa's Tortuous Quest for Economic Development- Myths and Realities) - 2009, THINGS TO DO BEFORE YOUR CAREER DISAPPEARS (How Globalisation, Computerisation etc affects careers) - 2013 and recently THE RACE FOR CAPITAL (2015) and CHANGE IS GOING TO COME (2015).

All his books deal with contemporary issues surrounding the Nigerian and African economies and our policy responses to them and are internationally available on amazon.co.uk. Recently, he was appointed as the Secretary to the Board of Economists at Media Trust Group, one of the fastest-growing media conglomerates in Africa.

Tope has also been on executive programs on Leadership and Strategy, at Harvard Business School and London Business School, among other trainings, seminars and workshops that he has attended and delivered. He recently commenced a Doctoral program with Walden University, US, on Public Policy and Administration (Public Management and Leadership).