Governing Council
Professor Amb. Joy U. Ogwu
Chairperson Emeritus
A Professor of Political Science and International Relations, with over 40 years of public service.
Former Director General of Nigerian Institute of International Affairs.
Former Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
Former Ambassador of Nigeria to the United Nations.
She is a widely sought after speaker on Leadership, Development and Foreign Affairs.
She is widely published, particularly in the fields of foreign policy, security and disarmament, and geopolitics.
Ambassador Aminu A. Wisdom
President/Principal Consultant
Former Nigerian Principal Representative to ECOWAS.
Former Special Assistant to the Minister of Information.
Former Special Assistant to the Hon. Minister, Federal Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Nigeria.
Head of Telegraphic Department, Nigeria Telecommunications Limited and Gazette Department, Federal Government Press.
He is a top consultant on Government Affairs and Negotiator per excellent having consulted for several Heads of States in Africa and highly placed Individuals.
Professor CHUKWU, Lucian Obinna
Professor CHUKWU, Lucian Obinna is currently the Deputy Vice Chancellor (Management Services) immediate past Director Academic Planning Unit (Office of the Vice Chancellor), and has at various times served as Director, Quality Assurance and SERVICOM Unit (Office of the Vice Chancellor), Member, Governing Council, Dean, School of Postgraduate Studies and Head, Department of Marine Sciences, University of Lagos, Akoka, Yaba, Lagos Nigeria. He has been teaching at the University of Lagos for over thirty years and has supervised 14 Ph.D’s among whom two are now Professors.
He has participated and served as resource person in several national and international conferences, workshops and training programmes in Europe, North America, Middle East, Africa, Asia and Australia. He belongs to several professional associations and is a Fellow of Nigerian Environmental Society (FNES) and Fellow of West African Society of Toxicology (FWASOT). He is happily married with children.
Dr. Emmanuel Ikazoboh
Emmanuel Ikazaboh (FCA, MBA, DBA) has more than 25 years’ experience in Senior Management roles in Nigeria, Côte d’Ivoire, Cameroon and South Africa. Previously, he was the Managing Partner for Francophone offices in Côte d’Ivoire and Cameroon and later became the Managing Partner/CEO of Deloitte West and Central Africa, until 2009. He was appointed by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) as an Interim Administrator, to carry out capital market reforms of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) and the Central Securities Clearing System Plc. (CSCS).
Dr. Solomon E. Arase
Solomon Ehigiator Arase (NPM, fdc, Former Inspector General of Police) born June 21, 1956 is a retired Nigerian police officer who served as the 18th Inspector-General of Nigerian Police (IGP). He was appointed IGP in 2015 by President Goodluck Jonathan. Before his appointment as IGP, Arase was head of the topmost intelligence gathering unit of the Nigerian police, the Criminal Intelligence and Investigation Bureau.
Chief Dr. Jubril John Aku
Chairman Marathon Group Lagos, Nigeria.
• Vice Chairman of FMDQ Group PLC – A Securities Exchange Group
• Former Chairman SunTrust Nigeria Limited Lagos, Nigeria.
• Former group head – STRATEGY MANAGEMENT Ecobank Transnational Incorporated Lome, Togo.
• Former MANAGING DIRECTOR/CEO Ecobank Nigeria Limited Lagos, Nigeria.
• Former EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR (TREASURY & FINANCIAL Inst, Ecobank Nigeria PLC Lagos, Nigeria.
• Former Vice President and HEAD OF TREASURY March 1996 – May 2003 Nigeria International Bank Limited (Citibank).
• Former Executive Director of Afribank PLC now Polaris Bank Limited.
Dr. Ejike Eze
Dr. Ejike Eze is a Linguistics scholar, community leader and social activist who has studied and taught at various higher institutions across the globe. His academic accomplishments include a first-class honors degree and a master’s degree from University of Lagos, a Master of Philosophy degree from the University of Cambridge, England, and a doctoral degree from the University of Ottawa, Canada.
After a brief stint as a university professor, Dr. Eze ventured into corporate America, where he has held several leadership positions at such corporations as KPMG, Bearingpoint and Arbella Insurance Group. He currently serves as CEO of Emerald Consulting Group, a Boston-based management consulting firm. He also sits on the board of numerous religious, academic, and community organizations.
Ambassador Adamu Emozozo
Former Ambassador, Embassy of Nigeria, Brasília Area, Brazil
Former Director of Multilateral Economic
Affairs , Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Nigeria.
Former Head of Research & Planning Ministry of Foreign Affair, Nigeria.
Former Minister, Permanent Mission of Nigeria to the United Nations, New York, Greater New York City Area
Former Principal Desk Officer on AU and NEPAD Matters, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Nigeria, African Affairs Dept. (AU & NEPAD Division) – Nigeria
Former Head of Chancery, Embassy of Nigeria.
Former First Secretary, Consulate General of Nigeria, Location Jeddah, KSA
Director of the African Union, ECOWAS, United Nations Department.
Eric De Groot
Eric De Groot is a graduate of the University of Toronto with an Honours BA in History, Political Science and African Studies. He spent the third year of his university studies as an exchange student at the University of Lagos Nigeria. After graduation he moved to Japan to further his international experience and ended up remaining in the country for over 25 years. Based in Toronto Canada, he is currently Director of Business Development for Kleen-Tex Japan K.K., Principal/Owner of De Groot Trade Associates, and is a former Chair of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce in Japan.
Obi Ajuga
A Senior Commercial Finance Director / Manager, who is dynamic, entrepreneurial, and commercially astute, with over 25 years of experience working for leading U.K. enterprises including BT, Vodafone, and London Underground.
CIMA qualified with extensive commercial and project finance experience, who leverages unique insights to expose strategic opportunities and maximise shareholder value, reducing business risk and financial exposure.
Executive director experience, growing a start-up telematics provider into a £Multimillion operation, and leads, manages, and develops teams with an ‘open’ and inspirational style to achieve strategic objectives.
Adopting a collaborative approach to successful financial leadership, who engages with stakeholders at Board / C-Level, and with 3rd parties, shaping ‘best in class’ financial reporting, control, and governance structures.
An experienced financial business partner, who successfully underpins commercial bids and contracts with sound financial insights, presenting reports, forecasts, and statements, to ensure strategic objectives are met.
Stephane Joanis
Stephane has 10 plus years of experience as an analyst which has exposed him to multiple markets in various geographies across multiple business units. He built an architecture to improve price performance from losing $12M in price annually to experiencing continuous growth and exceeding plan by 180% with $6M in price realization. He has also provided price recommendations for the launch of over 30 NPIs across 5 business units. He completed his MBA successfully in December 2018 while taking on the responsibilities of two product lines representing over $60M in revenue: TruNarc and Safety & Security Chemical ID products represented by Gemini, FirstDefender, TruDefender and 1064Defender. At the same time, he oversaw operational price for FSI while training a pricing analyst to perform strategic pricing for the Chemical Analysis Division.
Olumuyiwa Sobo, Esq.
Olumuyiwa Sobo, Esq., is an attorney, advocate, writer, commentator, and political strategist with
almost 30 years of experience. Muyiwa holds a Juris Doctor degree and is admitted to practice as
Attorney-at-Law in the United States (Maryland, District of Columbia, and the United States
Supreme Court) and as Barrister and Solicitor of the Supreme Court of the Federal Republic of
Nigeria.
Sobo spent the initial part of his professional career dealing with urban problems as counsel in
various positions with the District of Columbia government. He started as a Legislative Assistant
to Council Chairman David Clarke (deceased) and Honorable Frank Smith at the Council of the
District of Columbia. He became the Staff Director to the Council’s Committee on Finance and
Revenue, after which he was appointed as the Chief Legislative Counsel to Honorable Carol
Schwartz.
During his employment at the Council, Sobo initiated and worked on many pieces of
legislation in the areas of urban renewal, finance and taxation, communications, public safety, and
utilities. Following his Council tenure, Sobo joined the government of Mayor Anthony Williams
to be appointed the Assistant General Counsel for the Office of Cable Television and
Telecommunications. While in that office, he negotiated the landmark multi-million-dollar cable
television franchises between the government and major cable television operators.
As a general practitioner after exiting government practice, Sobo handled several civil litigations
involving contracts, employment, wills, estate administration, and real property. At one time, he
owned and managed a title company providing real estate closing and settlement services.
FRANCOIS LUPIEN
Francois Lupien is a dynamic coach, speaker, and presenter whose experience includes working with Tony Robbins, Stephen Covey (7 Habits of Highly Effective People) and as a consultant with Bob Proctor (Movie: The Secret)
Applying theory to reality, Francois duplicated his previous year’s 12-month income in one month the following year, increasing his net worth by 150%, and has since dedicated himself to helping entrepreneurs do the same thing. Energetic, passionate and dedicated, Francois can show you how to get real results that stick – mediocrity is never an option!
Dele Adesina
Dele Adesina, SAN is the Principal Solicitor in Chambers. He graduated from University of Ife (now Obafemi Awolowo University) in 1981. He was called to the Nigerian Bar as a Solicitor and Advocate of the Supreme Court of Nigeria in July, 1982.
Dele Adesina, was elevated to the Prestigious Rank of a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) – the highest recognition of Excellency in the Legal Profession by the Legal Practitioners Privileges Committee on the 30th of October, 2007 at the Supreme Court of Nigeria. He holds a Master of Laws Degree from the University of Lagos specialising in Comparative Company Law, (Commercial and Business Law) Comparative Constitutional Law and Comparative Criminal Law and Procedure.
Mr. Adesina, SAN has practiced law for 37 years and has run the law firm for about 27 years.