13 January 2009
Lagos — Following the yearly tradition of THISDAY, global statesmen will again gather in Nigeria to rub minds on international issues at the 2009 THISDAY Awards Festival of Ideas holding at the Transcorp Hilton Hotel, Abuja, tomorrow.
Former Secretary-General of the United Nations, Kofi Annan, will arrive the country today, for the awards. Also scheduled to come into the country today are former governor of the US state of Florida , John Ellis "Jeb" Bush; former Chief of Staff to President George W. Bush, Andy Card; and former adviser to ex-US President Bill Clinton, Paul Bagela. Clinton will arrive tomorrow.
Jeb Bush will join Nigerian governors at an early Breakfast Session entitled "Idea on Governance and Infrastructure" and tackle questions on the challenges facing Nigeria as it moves to consolidate democracy, enthrone sound governance practices and seek the right framework for building infrastructure to ensure and sustain economic growth.
With Bush leading the session, the discussants are ex-Cross River Governor Donald Duke, Governor Gabrial Suswam of Benue State and Governor Bukola Saraki of Kwara State . Others are Chairman, Intekea Corp, US, Bill Mundell, and Liling Chen of the Peoples Bank of China .
Jeb, who was born February 11, 1953, was the 43rd Governor of Florida. He is a prominent member of the Bush family: the younger brother of current President Bush; the older brother of Neil Bush, Marvin Bush and Dorothy Bush Koch; and the second son of former President George H. W. Bush.
A star-studded international team will discuss the implications of the Barack Obama Presidency for Africa at the second session.
The team will lead discussions in Session II entitled "Obama is President: What Next for the World and So What for Africa ?"
Members of the team are Howard Dean, the chairman of the US Democratic Party which produced Obama; Donna Brazile, Democratic Strategist and former Campaign Manager of ex-Vice President Al Gore; Card, former White House Chief of Staff; and Karl Rove, former White House Deputy Chief of Staff and Senior Adviser to President George W. Bush.
The session will be moderated by Professor Bolaji Akinyemi, Nigeria 's former Minister of External Affairs.
Entertainment correspondent for CNN's flagship morning news programme, Lola Ogunnaike and senior strategist for the Democratic Party in the United States of America , Paul Begala, have been confirmed as hosts of the 14th edition of the Awards holding.
Ogunnaike who is based in New York will partner Bagala who was formerly co-host of Crossfire, CNN's political debate programme to receive guests from across the world who will gather to witness the recognition of Nigerians and institutions with the most impact in year 2008.
She joined CNN in May 2007 and reports on pop culture and entertainment news as part of the network's American Morning's daily news coverage.
Ogunnaike has been covering entertainment news since 1999. Prior to joining CNN, she was the top culture reporter for The New York Times and spearheaded its entertainment coverage, writing profiles of celebrities like Jennifer Lopez, Oprah Winfrey and Sting for the paper's "Arts and Leisure" section.
Begala first entered the national political scene after the consulting firm he and fellow Democratic strategist, James Carville started, Carville & Begala, helped President Bill Clinton get elected in 1992. Serving in the Clinton administration as counsellor to the president, he was a close adviser to Clinton and helped define and defend the administration's agenda. He served the extremely successful American president as a principal public spokesman.
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