The Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of Economy, Wale Edun, is among the eminent personalities who will discuss the various reforms being carried out by the current administration of President Bola Tinubu at this year’s Daily Confidence Dialogue, which will be held on Thursday in Abuja. .
Mr Edun is one of three guest speakers selected for this year’s Dialogue, which has as its theme Tinubu’s Economic Reforms: Winners and Losers. The other two guest speakers are the President of the Nigerian Labor Congress (NLC), Comrade Joseph Ajaero, and the former Director General of the Abuja Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ACCI), Victoria Akai.
Apart from these three, several other economists, industrialists, businessmen and women, as well as eminent citizens, are participating in this year’s Daily Trust Dialogue, which is the 21st in the series. They include Professor of Economics at Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria, Muttaka Usman; the Special Advisor to the President on Economic Affairs in the Office of the Vice President, Tope Fasua; the CEO of L&Z Integrated Dairy Farms Limited, Muhammad Abubakar, and the Operations Manager of the World Bank Country Office in Nigeria, Taimur Samad.
Mohammed Bago, banker, politician and member of the 9th House of Representatives, current Governor of Niger State, is one of the confirmed special guests at the event. Other expected special guests include the Chairman of the Northern Governors Forum and Governor of Gombe State, Muhammadu Yahaya; Anambra State Governor Chukwuma Soludo; Nasarawa State Governor Abdullahi Sule; Jigawa State Governor Umar Namadi; the Minister of Information and National Guidance, Mohammed Idris; and the High Commissioner of South Africa to Nigeria, Thami Mseleko.
Other dignitaries expected at the 2024 Dialogue include former state governors, serving and former legislators, presidents and members of market associations, as well as small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) from across the country, members of civil society organizations, partners for development and diplomats.
A statement signed by Ag. Group CEO of Media Trust Group, owner of Daily Trust and Trust Television, Ahmed Shekarau, said this year’s Dialogue will be combined with the presentation of the winner of the Daily Trust African of the Year 2023 award. The South African humanist Imtiaz Sooliman was the winner of the 2023 award after a rigorous process carried out by the award’s selection panel, chaired by the former president of Botswana, Festus Mogae.
The statement also revealed that the event, which will be held at the NAF Conference Center & Suites, Abuja, will be telecast live on Trust Television, which is on StarTimes Channel 164; Free TV by NigComSat; Moreplex 715; ArabicSat Badr Sat7; AVO TV; LIMEX World TV, YouTube, as well as on Trust Radio, which broadcasts online.
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The annual Daily Trust Dialogue is part of the Media Trust Group’s contributions to stimulating discussions between Nigerians and fellow Africans with a view to enhancing national and indeed African integration and cohesion, which are crucial for sustainable socio-political growth and economic development of Nigeria, and the African continent in general.
Since 2002, Media Trust has organized the annual public lecture series to discuss current issues on various aspects of governance. The series of dialogues was attended by former Heads of Government, leaders of the National Assembly and leaders of commerce and industry, as well as members of the diplomatic corps.
The Daily Trust Dialogue had also been feted at different times by eminent personalities from all over Africa. They include the late former President of Ghana, Jerry Rawlings; and Salim Salim, former Prime Minister of Tanzania. Others are the late Winnie Mandela of the fight against apartheid in South Africa; Mo Ibrahim, founder of the Mo Ibrahim Foundation; and Samia Nkrumah, daughter of the late Kwame Nkrumah. Over the years, several sitting and former Presidents of the Nigerian Senate and Speakers of the House of Representatives, Governors and Deputy Governors also participated in the event.
Ahmed I. Shekarau, Ag. Group CEO, MEDIA TRUST GROUP.