Press Statement
Former Deputy Governor of Lagos State, His Excellency Otunba Femi Pedro, will be speaking at the biggest TEDx Event in Nigeria, TEDxBodija. The event which holds on Sunday, 6th December, 2015 at Le Chateau, Ibadan, has other speakers such as Chude Jideonwo (Red Media Africa, Lagos), Munyaradzi Gwatidzo (Astro Mobile Africa, Zimbabwe), Edmund Obilo (Splash FM, Ibadan), Timi Olagunju (2015 Mandela Washington Fellow), Sola Adewumi (Contagious128, Lagos), Adebola Olomo (Deefrent, Lagos), David Ashaolu (Velma Solicitors, Abuja) and Neal Piper (Presidential Precinct, US).
Also confirmed to speak is Neal Piper, the Managing Director of Presidential Precinct, Virginia, United States.
The Presidential Precinct is a non-profit organization dedicated to empowering the next generation of influential leaders through education, collaboration, and global networking. The Precinct links emerging leaders and proponents of democracy with two prestigious universities and three U.S. presidencies based in Virginia and provides a physical and virtual destination for young leaders from around the world to engage in dialogue, critical thinking, and collaborative problem solving.
Neal Piper helps develop and oversee a wide variety of high-impact programs that bring innovative approaches to global problem solving including the Mandela Washington Fellowship for Young African Leaders program (YALI). The Presidential Precinct hosts 25 of the total 500 YALI Fellows each summer for a week program on civic leadership. Timi Olagunju is one of several Nigerian YALI Fellows who have benefited from the Precinct’s YALI Program. In November, His Excellency, Goodluck Jonathan, Former President of Nigeria, visited the Presidential Precinct for five days to talk about his post presidential vision and the creation of his Foundation, both of which aim to promote democracy and economic growth across Africa.
Femi Pedro was elected as Deputy Governor of Lagos State in April 2003, and was sworn-in alongside Governor Bola Ahmed Tinubu. He was recruited primarily due to his Economic background; and he turned out to be one of the bedrocks of the economic revolution which Lagos enjoys today. He led the successful revenue drive which increased Lagos State’s Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) from 300 Million Naira per month to a staggering 7 Billion Naira per month in the space of eighteen months. He was popularly referred to as ‘Mr. Pedronomics’, primarily due to his affinity towards micro and macro-economic policies.
Besides politics, Otunba Femi Pedro is a Banker, Investor and Mentor of youths. In the private sector, he has held positions such as Head of Corporate planning at First City Monument Bank (FCMB); the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Comet Merchant Bank (now FinBank); and Chairman of the First Atlantic Online Limited. He is one of the founding investors of Guaranty Trust Bank (GTB) and was subsequently responsible for opening a multitude of its branches across the Southern and Northern parts of Nigeria. He is an associate of the prestigious Chartered Institute of Bankers, London, United Kingdom and fellow of Chartered institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN).
As part of her focus on getting start-ups quality mentoring, TEDxBodija will be bringing Otunba Femi Pedro to Ibadan, not only as a speaker, but also to lead a plenary session, where road map for start-up success will be discussed. Attendees will be able to ask questions during the session. The session will also have other contributors such as Munyaradzi Gwatidzo of Astro Mobile (Zimbabwe), Opeoluwa Aiyegbusi of Swap Naija (mobile app) and Tomi Walker of Orbi (social media app). In the same vein, the organizers of the event recently launched TEDxBodija Innovation Contest – aimed at celebrating and giving a platform to start-ups and ideas created by young, passionate and innovative Nigerians. Winners of the contest will be given opportunity to present their projects and ideas at the event.
TEDxBodija 2015 is themed INNOVATION – THINKING UPSIDE DOWN, with the aim of unveiling counter-intuitive thinking which births innovations, disruptions and developments. The event is therefore set to challenge everything, from textbooks to facebook; from science to arts; and from the rules of boardroom to the rules of bedroom. TEDxBodija 2015 recognizes, celebrates, and showcases the quantum thoughts of men and women who have challenged intuition, theories and power. Registration for the event is free and it is open via www.tedxbodija.com. Also organizers can be reached for exhibition opportunities via +2348036292636.
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