Celebrating Ndi-Igbo

Ndidi Ekubia is a talented and well-read silversmith. She achieved her MA in Silversmithing at the Royal College of Arts in 1998 and has since been showcasing her beautiful and creative pieces in prestigious exhibitions. She has been growing in reputation and is well known for her imaginative style and her use of traditional techniques where she beats sheet metal over wooden and steel forms. Using traditional silversmithing techniques that require the beating of sheet metal over steel and wooden forms, Ndidi produces a range of exquisite vessels, including wine goblets and ice buckets. For The New Craftsmen she has produced a new addition to her work – a limited number of classic household candle snuffers. Ndidi’s inspirations stem from the patterns of everyday life; from the cityscape of London through to organic natural forms.  In turn, her artistic landscape has been determined by the bold Africa shapes, textiles, food and passionate family conversation of her childhood....

Dr Akudo Anyanwu Ikemba has been shortlisted as one of the 3 finalists for the Ogunte Women’s Social Leadership Awards in the category: Leader Charitable Organisations and Campaigns 2013. Akudo founded Friends Africa  as an African voice in support of the Global Fund and the fight against AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. Friends Africa mobilizes and builds the capacity of the African private sector, civil society and government to improve Africa’s health and is the recipient of the 2012 Stevie Award for Non-profit of the year and finalist for the 2012 ONE Africa Award. She serves on a number of boards including Roll Back Malaria, the Global Health Council and the Nigerian arm of the AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF). Through her leadership, Friends Africa has been able mobilize over $560 million USD to countries in Africa for the purpose of integrating family planning and HIV services. Dr Anyanwu Ikemba is a World Economic Forum 2012 Young Global Leader, Stevie Award Female...

Uche Orji is the Managing Director/CEO of the Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA). Mr. Orji joined the NSIA as CEO on October 2nd 2012 from UBS Securities, where he was Managing Director in the New York branch of its Equities division. Prior to his experience at UBS, Mr. Orji was a Managing Director in J.P. Morgan’s Equities division in London. Prior to JP Morgan, Mr. Orji was at Goldman Sachs Asset Management, London, as analyst/portfolio manager. Mr. Orji holds a BEng in Chemical Engineering from the University of Port Harcourt, Nigeria and an MBA from Harvard Business School. Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA) was set up by an Act of Nigeria’s National Assembly (the NSIA Act) in 2011. The objective of the NSIA is to promote fiscal stability, build a savings base for future generations of Nigerians.

In 2012 The U.S. Department of State selected Grace Ihejiamaizu as September’s State Alumni Member of the Month in recognition of her dedication to developing Nigeria’s next generation of leaders. Ihejiamaizu participated in the 2010 Study of the United States Institute for Student Leaders (SUSI) Program on the theme of Social Entrepreneurship. She has since applied these entrepreneurial concepts in Nigeria by founding an after-school youth program. Ihejiamaizu’s SUSI experience allowed her to examine how business techniques and entrepreneurial skills can be used to address social issues. Motivated by this knowledge and following her passion to help young people, Ihejiamaizu returned to Nigeria and launched Raising Young and Productive Entrepreneurs (RYPE). This after-school youth development program offers skills trainings, internship placements, volunteer activities, and a peer mentoring club to educate, engage, and empower Nigerian youth to become leaders and entrepreneurs. Si...

One to watch Winnie Ogbeyalu Awa recently launched an online platform for contemporary art and artists from Nigeria called Ulimuseum.com (@ulimuseum), with the aim of bringing global exposure to talented artists and providing comprehensive content to budding collectors. A budding collector herself, she is believes in the importance of preserving the arts and culture of the continent, encouraging artist development and building the new generation of collectors to have a positive impact on the African Art Market. Winnie, who currently works as a Strategic Programme Manager at a top tier Luxury eCommerce company, started her career as a Management consultant at Ernst & Young. She graduated with a first class honours degree in Management & Information Technology at University of Manchester. She is also a co-founder of a registered charity, With Love From Friends which has raised over £16,000 for education in Nigeria, since its inception in 2008. For more information...

Emeka Afigbo is the Google Outreach Program Manager for Sub-Saharan Africa. He leads Google's efforts to discover, inspire, mobilise and support tech entrepreneurs and software developers across Africa. He is also focused on growing the internet ecosystem and enhancing locally relevant content across the region through local developers. Emeka studied Electronic Engineering at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka. He has a Masters Degree in Technology Innovation Management from Carleton University, Canada. Emeka worked for Socket Works, SW Global and Parkway before joining Google in 2011. Sources: otekbits, TedX

One to Watch MIT graduate student Chidube Ezeozue is a first class electrical engineering graduate of the University of Nigeria, Nsukka. He is currently pursuing dual master’s degrees in MIT’s Technology and Policy Program and in electrical engineering and computer science. Frustrated by his nation’s erratic electrical grid, Chidube created an app, with his brother, that crowdsources information about Nigerian power outages. With the app, called NepaSituation, people living in Nigeria can report outages. This data, when merged into an algorithm developed by Ezeozue, can help Nigerians predict when power outages may strike their neighborhoods, and how long those outages might last. After graduating from MIT in June, Ezeozue will remain in Cambridge, working as a software engineer for Google. Read More: MITNews - Power to the people BellaNaija - BN Trailblazers & Tastemakers (Full Interview) Sources: Massachusetts Institute Of Technology, Bella Naija