Rear Admiral Christian Odogwu Robert Ezekobe was born in Frankfurt Germany on 10 June 1967. He is a native of Awka-Etiti in Anambra State. Christian attended St John’s Primary School in Ikorodu Road and Hope Children’s School Apapa in Lagos. He attended the Command Secondary Schools Jos and Kaduna for his secondary education, following which he was admitted into the Nigerian Defence Academy (NDA) in September 1984 as a member of the 36th Regular Course. He graduated from NDA in 1988 with a BSc (Hons) in Economics and was commissioned Sub-Lieutenant in 1989. Since commissioning, he has held several appointments both onboard and ashore. He has also undergone several professional, staff and academic courses.

He attended the Sub Technical Course and Officers Long Course at NNS QUORRA, Apapa and specialized in Under Water Warfare. He attended the Armed Forces Command and Staff College Jaji for his junior and senior Staff Courses. Rear Admiral Ezekobe has undergone the Nigerian Navy Young Officers ’ Course in intelligence and the Defence Intelligence Officers ’ Course as well as the United Nations Staff Officers’ Course in Sweden. He also attended the International Intelligence Directors Course and Senior Strategic Leadership Management Course both in the United Kingdom. For his Higher Level Defence Management Course he attended the National Defence College (NDC) Abuja, where he won the Commandant’s Award, Chief of Naval Staff Award and Minister of Defence Award. Christian holds a Master’s Degree in International Relations and Strategic Studies (MIRSS) from the Lagos State University as well as a Master’s in International Law and Diplomacy from the University of Lagos. He also holds a third Master’s Degree in Strategic Studies from the University of Ibadan. He is presently a PhD student in Strategic and Security Studies at the Nasarawa State University, Keffi.

Rear Admiral Ezekobe has held various appointments which include Watchkeeping Officer onboard NNS AMBE and NNS EKUN while for ECOMOG duties in Liberia. He also served on various other naval ships which include NNS LANA, NNS BARAMA, NNS DAMISA and NNS EKPE among others. Some of the appointments he has held include Assistant Director Security at the Defence Intelligence Agency, Senior Military Observer in Sudan, and Command Intelligence Officer at the Western Naval Command. He also served as the Commander of Forward Operations Base ESCRAVOS as well as Deputy Director of Defence Affairs at the Office of the National Security Adviser. Rear Admiral Ezekobe later served as the Commander of the Nigerian Navy Premier Base NNS BEECROFT as well as a Directing Staff at the NDC after which he was appointed Director of Curriculum and Programme Development. He was then appointed Director of Information at the Naval Headquarters and thereafter Director of Project Monitoring at the Defence Headquarters following which he was appointed Chief Staff Officer at the Naval Training Command, Lagos. Thereafter, he was appointed Director of Plans at the Naval Headquarters, Abuja. A position he held until he was elevated to the position of Chief of Naval Transformation and later appointed the Chief of Policy and Plans, an appointment which he held until his disengagement from Service in January 2022.

Rear Admiral Ezekobe is happily married to Mrs Ifechi Ezekobe (Nee Okudo) and is blessed with 4 lovely children (Ebuka, Ada, Ekene and Chimaobi). His hobbies include watching documentaries, reading, swimming and horse riding.

Lynda Saint-Nwafor is the Chief Enterprise Business Officer at MTN Nigeria, the leading and largest telecommunications company in Africa. With twenty five years’ experience in the telecommunications and ICT sector, she has acquired extensive skills in strategy development and execution; Business Transformation and Organizational Design; Talent Management and Leadership capacity development.

Lynda holds a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science and Engineering from the Enugu State University of Science and Technology. She is an Alumnus of the Harvard Business School and has also acquired executive education from the Columbia Business School, New York, USA, and Duke Corporate Education, China.

Lynda is a recipient of the MTN Group President’s Special Achievement award and Women in IT Global Leader award. She has served on key advisory positions such as the committee for developing policy guidelines and operating framework for the deregulation of the Nigerian telecoms sector, the Presidential Committee on Broadband Strategy of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and Board of Directors of MTN Guinea Bissau.
As MTN Nigeria’s Chief Technical Officer from 2011 to 2016, Lynda led and delivered very complex but transformational programmes, including but not limited to the Network Managed services initiative and sale of MTN Nigeria’s vast tower assets, driving significant improvement in overall business performance.

In her current role as Chief Enterprise Business Officer at MTN Nigeria, she is leading the execution of growth strategies for the Enterprise Business Unit, leveraging technology to close economic and social gaps, and helping businesses to achieve their objectives. Lynda believes that superior possibilities are unleashed with a fusion of the right capabilities, platforms and technologies.

Ben Llewellyn-Jones is the British Deputy High Commissioner (DHC) in Lagos, Nigeria. Ben Llewellyn-Jones, is an experienced diplomat who has worked in different parts of the world including Nigeria earlier in his career. He will be supporting all UK priorities in Nigeria but in particular economic development, trade and investment.

Previously he worked at the British High Commission in Abuja in the role of Political Counsellor from July 2014 to July 2017. He was most recently Deputy High Commissioner to South Africa from August 2017 to August 2020. He also worked as the British High Commissioner to Rwanda and non-resident Ambassador to Burundi from 2011 – 2014.

In London Ben Llewellyn-Jones has held a range of responsibilities including as the lead on the UK’s policy and programmes on climate change, business and investment, and policing and organised crime. He has also served as the Deputy Head, Climate Change and Energy Group, UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (London) from January 2009 to November, 2010; the Head of Third Country Relations Team, UK Home Office (London, March 2006 to December 2006).

Ben Llewellyn-Jones has also held policy roles in Police and Organised Crime policy, UK Permanent Representation (embassy) to the EU amongst other roles. He is looking forward to using this wealth of experience across several fields to advance the UK-Nigeria relationship. He was awarded Order of the British Empire (OBE) by HM the Queen in 2009 for his service to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (now Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office).

Ben is married to Laura Llewellyn-Jones and together they have two children. He enjoys sport (rugby, boxing) and walking.

Lola is an Organisation Design specialist, whose professional background spans, media and advocacy, strategic human resources management and management consulting from different sectors in Mexico, Switzerland, United Kingdom and Nigeria.

She holds a Master’s degree in International Management from Queen Mary, University, London, a first degree in Communication and Language Arts from the University of Ibadan as the MCIPM, PRINCE2 and GPHR Certifications.

In the course of her career, she has worked extensively in the areas of organisation design and development, culture and change management, Human Resources planning, psychometric and managerial proficiency assessments, compensation and benefits planning for a wide array of clients within the public and private sectors.

Lola started her formal career as a media officer in the World Health Organisation, Switzerland. She has also previously worked within the HR consulting practices of a Big 4 firm, Phillips Consulting Limited including a stint as Head, Human Capital of Cornerstone Insurance Plc.

Today, Lola practices her trade as the Partner, in charge of the Workforce Advisory Services Practice of Ernst & Young (EY) West Africa.

Managing Director at Azura Power West Africa Ltd

Edu is the Managing Director of the Group’s flagship asset, the 461MW Azura-Edo IPP. A seasoned director and manager with 25 years experience in heavy, capital-intensive industries, Edu started his career with Guinness Breweries in 1995 in its Engineering division.

He then joined Schlumberger in 1996 as a field engineer in its Drilling & Measurements division. During this time, he completed assignments in Nigeria, USA, UK, Vietnam and Pakistan. Edu then became the Power Generation Products Sales Director for sub-Saharan Africa for GE Power & Water, after previously holding the position of West Africa Region Manager for GE’s Energy Business. Prior to GE, Edu worked with Lafarge Cement where he served as Strategy Manager for the South African operations as well as Commercial Director for the Nigeria WAPCO unit.

With over 15 years’ experience across various roles in major organisations such as LaFarge, Schlumberger Oilfield Services, and Guinness Nigeria Plc., he has garnered broad international experience in blue chip companies. He participated in the Canary Wharf Jog in aid of the British Heart Foundation and is also a Former Member of the Alumni Advisory Board, Imperial College Business School, London, UK.

He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Electronic Engineering and an MBA from the University of Nigeria Nsukka and Imperial College Business School respectively. He has attended other Executive programmes and trainings at Stanford University, Gordon Institute of Business, and Georgia Institute of Technology.

Dr Olayemi O. Dawodu is an Anatomic and Molecular Pathologist who holds an M.B.B.S from the College of Medicine, University of Lagos, as well as fellowships in Pathology (Anatomic and Molecular Pathology) and Laboratory Medicine of the National Postgraduate Medical College of Nigeria and West African College of Physicians respectively, which makes her eligible to practice in Nigeria and the West African region.

She has over 16years experience in clinical and administrative role in the healthcare space with training at the Department of Pathology, Indianapolis University and Purdue University, Indiana, USA. She practices as Consultant Anatomic Pathology with special interests in Gynecologic pathology, endocrine Pathology with emphasis on the thyroid gland and environmental Pathology.

Dr Olayemi Dawodu is the MD/ CEO Clina-Lancet Laboratories a household name in the healthcare space and a part of the Cerba-Lancet Healthcare group, she started her career with the organization in 2015 as the country Histopathologist where she built the trust of fellow consultants and effectively managed the histopathology unit before being promoted to her current position in 2016. She is a Board member of Clina- Lancet Laboratories, Nigeria.

In her role as the CEO, she was positioned at the forefront of the business where she provides strategic leadership, manages daily business operations and oversees the overall growth and development of the organization.

She is passionate about contributing to the healthcare sector through dedicated delivery of excellent Pathology services, administrative expertise and leadership. As an avid researcher, she has publications in local and international journals. She is a reviewer of peer academic articles for the foremost national pathology journal and a lecturer in Anatomic Pathology at the College of Medicine, University of Lagos. She serves as a member of the Accreditation Advisory Committee for Nigerian National Accreditation System and she works with a diverse population in the healthcare sector providing a global perceptive in the delivery of healthcare solutions both in the clinical and administrative roles. She is a sitting member of the “Health as a Business” Committee of the Nigeria Economic Summit Group and also a member of the Institute of Directors of Nigeria.

Dr Olayemi Dawodu has received notable awards such as; “Medical Personality Leadership Prize Winner 2016” organized by the African Prize for Leadership Excellence Awards” in conjunction with the African Union and ECOWAS, ‘Best Female CEO in the West African Region’ an Honorary Award at the 2017 ECOWAS Quality Awards organized by ECOWAS, European Union and UNIDO as recognition of the implementation of a successful Quality Management System in the Organization.

She fosters a team-based and capacity building approach to achieving organizational goals. She is keen on the provision of excellent quality pathology and diagnostic services to Nigeria and Africa. In her spare time, Dr Olayemi Dawodu enjoys reading a variety of books which has helped her to remain focused and dedicated. She believes that people should always put their best foot forward.