Former President, Chief
Olusegun Obasanjo will lead a cast of prominent Nigerians in the private
and public sectors to theAirtel Night of Influence, a high
profile gathering of Nigeria’s best and the brightest, which will be
headlined by famous CNN anchor, Dr Fareed Zakariaon Sunday, November
18, 2012 in Lagos.
Coordinating Minister for the
Economy and Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonko-Iweala and the
immediate past Vice President of World Bank for Africa and director of
Bharti Airtel Group Mrs. Kathryn Obiageli Ezekwesili are among some pre-eminent
Nigerians who have confirmed their attendance of the event.
No fewer than six governors
are expected at the event that would feature leading captains of industry and
key players in governance, business, entertainment, education and other sectors
of the economy.
The Airtel Night of
Influence is a high-octane networking platform provided by the leading
telecommunications services provider for interaction and discourse on issues in
the Nigerian and African political economy. It will hold on Sunday,
November 18th, 2012 at the prestigious Eko Hotel & Suites in
Victoria Island, Lagos.
Zakaria, anchor of the
political economy programme on CNN, GPS, has confirmed to speak on
the theme: Africa’s Political Economy: The Challenge of Leadership. He will
bring on hand rich insights into the continent’s economy and its interactions
with the global socio-economic and political landscape.
About 500 influential men and women drawn from both the private
and public sectors within and outside Nigeria as well as top politicians and
government officials will be attending the event.
Fareed Rafiq Zakaria is an Indian-American journalist and
author. From 2000 to 2010, he was a columnist for Newsweek and
editor of Newsweek International. In 2010, he became
editor-at-large of Time Magazine. He is the host of CNN's Fareed
Zakaria GPS. He is also a frequent commentator and author on issues related
to international relations, trade and American foreign policy.
Zakaria attended the Cathedral and John Connon School in Mumbai.
He received a Bachelor of Arts from Yale University, where he was president of
the Yale Political Union, editor-in-chief of the Yale Political Monthly,
a member of the Scroll and Key society, and a member of the Party of the Right.
He later earned a Doctor of Philosophy in political science from Harvard
University in 1993, where he studied under Samuel P. Huntington and Stanley
Hoffmann, as well as international relations theorist Robert Keohane