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Osinbajo, Wike, Obi, Adeboye, Kukah, Oyedepo,Others Make List Of 100 Nigeria’s Foremost Thought Leaders

Published

3 years ago

September 25, 2022

Editor

Ahead of the October 1, 2022 release date, publishers of Nigeria’s premier biographical compendium on thought leaders, “Portraits of Patriots: 100 Nigeria’s Foremost Thought Leaders”, have released the names of the 100 men and women who made the prestigious list.

Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, Rivers State Governor Nyesom Wike, General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, Pastor Enoch Adejare Adeboye, the presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Governor Peter Obi, business mogul Aliko Dangote, and the Continental Overseer of RCCG, Africa 2, Pastor Ezekiel A. Odeyemi lead the pack of those profiled.

Others are Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, UN Deputy Secretary-General, Amina Mohammed; AfDB president, Dr Akinwunmi Adeshina, Prof. Bolaji Akinyemi, Bishop Oyedepo, Pastor Kumuyi, Governor Zulum, and Bishop Kukah.

Curiously, the PDP presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, and the APC presidential candidate, Bola Ahmed Tinubu did not make the list.

According to the Editors, Kammonke Abam and Tammie Edet Kammonke, the foremost consideration in determining possible listees for “Portraits of Patriots: 100 Nigeria’s Thought Leaders“ is the extent of an individual’s inspirational value. Such inspirational value is judged by their level of patriotism, nationalism, and commitment to nation-building, defined by how much they put Nigeria first.

“These are people who, by their actions, put Nigeria above personal and sectional considerations. They are committed to the greatness of the country and are working towards ensuring that the country becomes what its founding fathers envisioned it to be”, they added.

They said, “the book profiles true Nigerian heroes and heroines, who have as a collective defined a vivid portraiture of the Nigerian story through their lives”

This, according to them, is against the often disingenuous and stereotypical reportage in some sections of the western media that portrays Nigeria and indeed, Africa as a den of crime, wars, hunger and poverty.

“We have tons of Nigerians who are daily sacrificing in their corners either as thought leaders in the areas of business, public service, civil society, faith, among others towards building a united, prosperous and indivisible country”.

This prestigious listing, according to them, will be annual, as their contribution to curating the contemporary history of Nigeria.

The editors noted that the greatness of a nation is not just measured by population and natural resources but also by the zest of patriotism of its citizens, the ability to harness, and selflessly deploy that spirit of patriotism to the best advantage of the country

In the words of the editors, “tons of Nigerian leaders are quietly working day and night, sacrificially deploying their personal goodwill to ensuring the development, unity and progress of our great country, Nigeria”.

“Most of these leaders are unsung because they avoid the klieg lights that come with the media yet their contributions to the overall development of our dear country are very impactful”, the editors noted.

“It is some of these leaders we have fished out from their relatively obscure corners for the purpose of acknowledging their selfless contributions to building a virile and united country that we will all be proud of”, Abam and Kammonke said.

“We are conscious of the fact that any biographical list generates conversation energy of who should or shouldn’t be included. This is therefore not unexpected for this work”, the editors said

“We have tried within human limits to profile the best in our estimation. We want to acknowledge that ten times the number of people listed in this edition deserve to be so acknowledged. However, our listing has put a bar of 100 for the purpose of getting the best of the best. Those who are not listed in this edition are not necessarily not good enough”, they said.

The compendium will be sold on Amazon and directly by the publishers on-demand basis.

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Related Topics:#Osinbajo Adeboye Kukah Obi Wike

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Thousands Protest In Tehran Against Israel

Published

4 hours ago

June 20, 2025

Editor

Thousands of people joined a protest against Israel in the Iranian capital on Friday after weekly prayers, chanting slogans in support of their leaders, images on state television showed.

“This is the Friday of the Iranian nation’s solidarity and resistance across the country,” the news anchor said.

Footage showed protesters in Tehran holding up photographs of commanders killed since the start of the war with Israel, while others waved the flags of Iran and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah.

“I will sacrifice my life for my leader,” read a protester’s banner, a reference to supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

According to state television, protests took place in other cities around the country, including in Tabriz in northwestern Iran and Shiraz in the south.

AFP

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Over 650 Die In Iran After First Week Of Israeli Strikes

Published

4 hours ago

June 20, 2025

Editor

More than 650 people have been killed in Iran following a massive Israeli bombing campaign launched a week ago, an activist group said on Friday.

The U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) reported that 657 people have died and 2,037 have been injured in the nationwide airstrikes.

The Iranian government does not publish daily figures on casualties.

HRANA relies on a broad network of informants and publicly available sources.

The group said the dead include at least 263 civilians and 164 members of the military.

Another 230 fatalities remain unidentified.

The network also reported damage to civilian infrastructure, including a projectile striking a children’s hospital in Tehran, which did not result in any injuries.

In the western province of Ilam, a fire station was damaged, HRANA said, while an Israeli attack on a car factory in western Iran triggered a large fire.

Israel maintains its objective is to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons, which it considers an existential threat.

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UK Joins Other Nations In Pulling Embassy Staff From Iran

Published

5 hours ago

June 20, 2025

Editor

Britain on Friday withdrew its embassy staff from Iran, following in the footsteps of other European nations as well as Australia and New Zealand amid the conflict with Israel.

“Due to the current security situation, we have taken the precautionary measure to temporarily withdraw our UK staff from Iran,” the foreign ministry said in a statement.

“Our embassy continues to operate remotely,” it added.

On the eighth day of the war between Iran and Israel, the British ministry said it continued to call for de-escalation between the two sides.

But the statement added: “We take the protection of our staff and British nationals extremely seriously and we have long advised against all travel to Iran.”

Earlier Friday, Australia also shuttered its Tehran embassy and ordered officials to leave the country, Sydney said, citing a “deteriorating security situation”.

Both countries join a string of nations closing diplomatic missions in Iran since Israel launched air strikes a week ago, claiming its arch enemy was on the verge of developing a nuclear weapon.

Australia has directed all its officials and their dependents to leave Iran, and suspended its Tehran embassy operations, Foreign Minister Penny Wong told a news conference in Adelaide.

“This is not a decision taken lightly. It is a decision based on the deteriorating security environment in Iran,” she said.

Wong said there were about 2,000 Australians and family members registered in Iran who wanted to depart, and another 1,200 in Israel.

Other nations that have suspended Tehran embassy operations include Bulgaria, Czech Republic, New Zealand, Portugal, and Switzerland.

Switzerland said it was temporarily closing its diplomatic mission in the Iranian capital, but would continue to fulfil is role in representing US interests in Iran.

“In view of the intensity of military operations in Iran and the highly unstable situation on the ground, the FDFA has decided to temporarily close the Swiss embassy in Tehran,” the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs said.

European powers meanwhile met with Iranian officials in Geneva on Friday, and hoped to offer “a diplomatic solution”, according to French President Emmanuel Macron.

Britain’s Foreign Secretary David Lammy said “a window now exists within the next two weeks to achieve a diplomatic solution”, while agreeing with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio that “Iran can never develop or acquire a nuclear weapon”.

AFP