About the speakers

H.E. Babajide Olusola Sanwo-Olu, Governor of Lagos State

Mr. Babajide Olusola Sanwo-Olu was elected the 15th Governor of Lagos State on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC). He was declared winner of the March 9, 2019 gubernatorial elections by the Independent Electoral Commission (INEC) on Sunday, March 10, 2019 after defeating 44 other candidates who represented different parties at the election.

A product of resounding victory, His Excellency, Mr. Sanwo-Olu polled 75.6% of the total valid votes cast in the election to substantiate his legitimacy, which was further affirmed by a 72.12% vote difference between him and the next contestant.

Some of his notable contributions include setting-up and serving as the pioneer Chairman the Lagos State Security Trust Fund Board, tracking and intelligent analysis of Internally Generated Revenues (IGR) by the various government agencies and parastatals, including the Board of Internal Revenue (BIR), for executive consideration and policy making; as well as preparation and publication of the Lagos State Economic Empowerment and Development Strategy (LASEEDS). It is also to Sanwo-Olu’s credit that the Lagos Asset Management Limited (LAGBUS) was established to ease the public transportation problem by complementing the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system in Lagos State. He also worked on the Control & Command Centre in Alausa, which significantly improved the capacity of the security agencies to respond to distress calls in a swift and timely manner.

His Excellency, Mr. Sanwo-Olu was appointed the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Lagos State Property Development Corporation (LSPDC) in 2016, and in just 2 years, the visionary administrator had returned the hitherto struggling organisation to the path of efficiency and profitability. He also refocused the organisation to effectively tackle housing deficit in the state, which again validated his credentials as a resourceful leader and problem solver. His valuable experience garnered from executive-level roles in the private and public sectors has not only distinguished him, but also made him a valuable resource to some notable organisations on whose boards he has served.

Professor ’Funmi Olonisakin, Vice President (International, Engagement and Service) at King’s College London

Professor ’Funmi Olonisakin is Vice President, International, Engagement and Service (IES) at King’s College London. She is also Professor of Security, Leadership and Development at the African Leadership Centre in the School of Global Affairs at King’s. In her role as Vice President IES, Professor Olonisakin seeks to facilitate the deployment of King’s assets (including knowledge, scholarship and talent in service of society) locally, nationally and internationally, to enable transformative and lasting impact. She is committed to building inter-disciplinary and intersectoral collaboration, and sustaining equitable partnerships to realise positive and lasting impact within and beyond King’s.

Producing knowledge that influences change beyond the academy has been at the heart of Professor Olonisakin’s research work and life as an academic. She has positioned her work to serve as a bridge between academia and the worlds of policy and practice. Her research has been shaped by her interest in deepening understanding of why civil wars relapse, and the drivers of youth vulnerability and exclusion in the developing world. More recently, she has sought to explore the interface between leadership, peace, and security as a basis to unpack and understand the big transnational problems that confront the world today. She has led a number of major research projects including most recently on “future peace, society and the state in Africa”, supported by the Carnegie Corporation of New York.

Professor Olonisakin founded the African Leadership Centre (ALC) both at King’s and in Kenya, as a collaboration between King’s and the University of Nairobi in 2010. The ALC aims to develop a new community of leaders generating cutting edge-knowledge for peace, security and development in Africa. Professor Olonisakin has focused on inclusive postgraduate research training at the ALC, combining field-building with community-building while working with inter-generational research teams to translate knowledge generated into multiple forms of collaborative engagement regionally in Africa, and globally.

Previously, Professor Olonisakin worked in the United Nations Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General in New York, between 1999 and 2003. From 2003 until 2013, she was Director of the Conflict Security and Development Group at King’s College London.

In January 2015, United Nations Secretary-General, Ban Ki Moon, appointed Professor Olonisakin as one of seven members of the Advisory Group of Experts (AGE) on the Review of the UN Peacebuilding Architecture; and in 2016, as a member of the Advisory Group of Experts for the United Nations Progress Study on Youth, Peace, and Security. In 2018, she was appointed to the Council of the United Nations University, on which she currently serves as Chair. She was awarded the Fellowship of King’s College in 2020.

Ambassador Manoah Esipisu, Visiting Professor at the African Leadership Centre

H.E. Manoah Esipisu EBS was the High Commissioner Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Kenya to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and Permanent Representative to the International Maritime Organization. He is also Kenya's chief diplomat to the Commonwealth intergovernmental family of the Commonwealth Secretariat, Commonwealth Foundation and the Commonwealth of Learning. Prior to his current role Amb. Esipisu served as Head of Communications and Spokesperson to the President, leading a team of nearly 100 professionals responsible for Presidency and government communications. Amb. Esipisu, one of Kenya’s best known media public figures, has had a long and distinguished career first as a journalist, journalism trainer and mentor, before growing into an astute Communications and Public Affairs personality and diplomat as an international public servant. He also served as special Assistant to the President of the African Development Bank.