TheCable

Eleven Nigerians have become fellows of the Africa Leadership Initiative – West Africa (ALIWA).

The initiative, which is in partnership with the Aspen Global Leadership Network (AGLN), recently announced the graduation of her 5th class in ten years.

The programme is one aimed at raising a new breed of community spirited leaders who have achieved notable success in their fields – to tackle the core developmental needs of their countries.

The fellows, who were nominated through a selection process based on records of their achievements, participated in a two-year long class comprising of four residential seminars.

During this time, each of them had to commit to carrying out a high-impact leadership venture of their own choosing — vetted and approved by their peers.

Of the initial 25 Ghanaians and Nigerians that registered at the beginning of the 2015-2017 session, 17 fellows graduated.

The class was named ‘Karfi Kuo’ meaning ‘Group of Strength’ which originated from the Hausa (Nigeria) and the Twi (Ghana) dialects.

The graduation of the ‘Karfi Kuo’ class took place at the Aburi region in Ghana.

The Nigerian fellows are:

• Ayisha Osori; consultant, founder of Advocates for Change & Social Justice, and former chief executive officer of the Nigerian Women’s Trust Fund
• Ayodeji Adewunmi; chief executive officer of Jobberman
• Clare Omatseye; founder and managing director of JNC International Nigeria Ltd
• Kelechi Ohiri; chief executive officer, Health Strategy and Delivery Foundation (HSDF)
• Mohammed Abu Ibrahim; chief executive officer, Environmental Management & Dev. Systems
• Muhammad Sani Abdullahi; commissioner, Budget and Planning, Kaduna state
• Olaniyi Yusuf; managing director of Accenture Nigeria
• Sanyade Okoli; chief executive officer, Alpha African Advisory Limited
• Tokunboh George-Taylor; managing director, Hill+Knowlton Strategies Nigeria
• Waziri Adio; executive secretary, Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI).
• Amina Oyagbola, alumni member and chair of the board of directors, encouraged the new fellows to play their societal roles with accountability (pictured).

Ken Ofori Attach, ALIWA founder, shared how he felt it was time for Africans to start taking responsibility for their various countries while building opportunities for Africans.

“We will ensure we continue to strengthen the fellowship and make it what we want it to be. We owe equal responsibility and accountability to prove that Africa can indeed rise and take her proper place on the world stage,” he said.

ALIWA has successfully graduated 87 Fellows from West Africa, 39 of whom are Nigerians who have passed through the fellowship program over a period of ten years.