Renewed Hope Conference praises Gbajabiamila, Bagudu, Idris, others for gracing dialogue
BY STEPHEN GBADAMOSI
The Renewed Hope Global Virtual Conference has expressed gratitude to the Statistician-General of the Federation, Prince Adeyemi Adeniran, for delivering the conference’s first lecture in the new year and educating Nigerians on the importance of statistical data to good governance.
The Conference also has words of praise for the dignitaries that graced the virtual meet, including the Chief of Staff (CoS) to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Right Honourable Femi Gbajabiamila; Minister of Budget and Economic Planning who is supervising minister of the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), Senator Atiku Bagudu; Minister of Information and National Orientation, Alhaji Mohammed Idris; Director General, National Institute for Cultural Orientation (NICO), Otunba Biodun Ajiboye; the DG/CEO Energy Commission of Nigeria, Dr. Mustapha Abdullahi; and the CEO of BEN Television, UK, Ambassador Alistar Soyode..
The Virtual Conference, in a statement made available to journalists on Sunday by its Chairman/Chief Host, Ambassador Joseph Kolawole Adebola, said the closest the organisation had to Saturday event was by the previous special guest edition in October 2024, where the Technical Adviser to President Tinubu on Economic and Financial Inclusion, Dr. Nurudeen Zauro, spoke.
“Prince Adeyemi Adeniran, our special guest yesterday (Saturday), proved his mettle as the Statistician-General of the Federation and Chief Executive Officer of the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).
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“He spent one solid hour reeling out statistical data about our population, the rate of unemployment, etc. in Nigeria, which had everyone enthralled, including yours truly, so much so that I had to confess he took Nigerians back to school with his out-of-this-world presentation with tonnes of PowerPoint slides of various data, one of which confirmed that our population is between 216 to 220 million and 4.3 million unemployed, etc.
“The presentation yesterday by our special guest fits perfectly into the objectives of the virtual conference which is to inform, educate and enlighten Nigerians and disabuse their minds regarding the warped narratives being bandied daily all over the social media space by enemies of the state, and finally put to bed the perception of some people based on the narratives alluded to above,” he said.
Ambassador Adebola said the conference expressed happiness at the turnout of key government functionaries at the event.
“Another important highlights of the virtual conference was the array of VVIPs that attended from the Presidency and government, starting with the Chief of Staff to the President, Rt. Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila; Senator Abubakar Atiku Bagudu, CON, Alhaji Mohammed Idris, Otunba Biodun Ajiboye,Dr. Mustapha Abdullahi and Ambassador Alistar Soyode.
“The poignancy of the VVIPs’ attendance is the appearance of Senator Bagudu, Alhaji Idris and Otunba Ajiboye who appeared at our past conferences on June 22nd, and August 31st, 2024, respectively.
“Another very important highlight is the grand attendance of our Grand Patron, Honourable Babatunde Ogala, SAN, Senior Legal Counsel to President Tinubu, who gave a short speech eulogising our special guest for his laudable strides at NBS and especially for his brilliant presentation at the conference which he too admitted ‘sent him to school.’
“He also lauded the team behind the weekly conference for providing a veritable platform for direct engagement between our leaders and Nigerians across the globe as well as countering the malicious and false narratives about Nigeria on social media.
“He advised us not to relent in our quest of adding value to the Renewed Hope administration and Nigeria as a country,” he said.
Adebola expressed hope that activities of the conference in 2025 would surpass it’s achievements in the outcome year.
“I wish to reiterate my usual plea to Nigerians at home and abroad to continue to support this administration, believing that the innovative reforms being implemented by this government, even though it comes with temporary hardship, are reforms necessary to lead the country to greatness soon. We are nearer to the promised land than ever before.
“What we need are the 4 Ps, (Patience, Perseverance, Patriotism and Prayers for our leaders), as all indices point to a country on the right trajectory leading to a time of refreshing.
“Your much-loved virtual conference will be taking a short break next week and will be back a week after with another VVIP whose details will be revealed in due course. Watch out for the details and kindly help share the e-flyer to family, friends, and acquaintances once it is posted online,” he appealed.
