The Sultan of Sokoto, His Eminence, Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar III has been named chairman of Board of Trustees (BoT) of the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies’ Endowment Fund and the institution’s Academic Advisory Committee.

Gbom Gwom Jos, Chief Jacob Buba Gyang and the Olu of Warri, Ogiame Atuwatse III from Plateau and Delta States respectively alongside Prof. Adeolu Akande — Chairman of Nigeria Communication Commission have also been named as members of the Committee.

Legal luminary, Yusuf Alli, SAN; Chairman of Overt Energy, Chief Marc Wabara; UNESCO Ambassador, Prof. Hilary Inyang and Mrs Sarah Jibril are also members of the Committee, which was inaugurated by the Vice President of Nigeria, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo.

Other members of the board, Oba of Lagos, Oba Rilwan Akiola; Prince Julius Adelusi Adeluyi, and Dr Kalu Idika Kalu, were absent at the inauguration of the intellectual Think-Tank, saddled with the responsibility of tackling the hydra-headed challenges at national and global levels, such as poverty, inequality, and global warming.

Laolu Akande, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, office of the Vice President disclosed this in a statement on Thursday.

He explained that the Academic Advisory Committee is chaired by Ambassador (Dr.) Martin Uhomoibhi, Prof. John Laah; Prof. Yemisi Fawole; Dr. Fatima Akilu; Prof. Abiodun Alao; Maj Gen I. M Idris (rtd) and Prof. Ike Nwachukwu, attended the inauguration.

Recall that the Director-General of the NIPSS, Prof. Ayo Omotayo, introduced members of the Board, and Academic Advisory Committee before the Vice President performed the inauguration.

He the Osinbajo had suggested the formation of the Endowment Fund for a while but the realization of the idea had been constrained up until now partly by COVID-19 pandemic.

Speaking during the inauguration at the Villa, Prof. Osinbajo, charged the inductees to brace up for the challenges ahead in a world that is increasingly defined by technology, which according to him require profound thinking and planning.

“In the coming years, NIPSS will be called upon to interpret, predict and plan for a world literarily on technology steroids, challenged by poverty and inequality and in a mortal battle with disastrous warming.

“This is the hydra nature of the challenge,” the VP declared at the event submitting that NIPSS therefore should not be constrained by resources.

“n the coming years, it (NIPSS) will become perhaps even more challenged to do much more. The coming years for many of us who are watching and studying,

“I think it is very evident that what we see and the challenges (not just local but global) that we will face will be of the order that will require great introspection and thinking and a lot of planning.

“So, I believe that NIPSS and what we are trying to constitute today is one that will have to plan, predict and interpret the trends of the coming years.

“And those trends will be many. One will be the various challenges that the world will face aside from food security, is the huge problems of poverty on a scale that appears to be increasing all across the world and I speak not just in our own region but globally.”

“And at the same time this is a world that is moving very quickly on technology, as a matter of fact, the world is moving literarily on technology steroids, it is moving so quickly that it is possible, if we are not at the cutting edge, to be left behind.

“There will be problems (as we are seeing already) of Climate Change and all the implications for the future of our planet and the socio-economic circumstances of the world, and in particular, developing countries and of course, Nigeria,” Osinbajo said.

In his part, the Sultan of Sokoto, His Eminence, Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar III who responded on behalf of others, lauded the commitment of the Vice President, particularly in handling national assignments.

The Sultan commended the VP and the NIPSS management for finding them worthy to serve, assuring that “we will not fail this nation in this assignment given to us, I can attest to the capability of every member of the board and I know we will put in our best.”

He pledged to support the present management of the institution to uplift its standards to the highest level comparable to the Council for Foreign Relations in the US, the UK’s Chattam House, reassuring that “we will work very hard and hit the ground running.”

The statement said Abubakar also urged authorities to put in place a framework that will guarantee continuity beyond the present management of the institution, noting that efforts of the board must be sustained for the goal of reforming the institution to be achieved.

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