JAMB Boss, Hadiza, Uwaleke Others To Speak At GOCOP 2023 Conference

The Chief Executive Officer, Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), Prof. Ishaq Oloyede has been affirmed to preside over the forthcoming Guild of Corporate Online Publishers (GOCOP), scheduled for October 5, 2023.

The event is set to be held at the Abuja Continental Hotel (Old Sheraton Hotel), Abuja.

The Special Adviser to the President (Policy Coordination), Hadiza Bala-Usman and the Secretary-General, of the Committee of Vice-Chancellors of Nigerian Universities (CVCNU), Yakubu Ochefu are on the lineup of seasoned professionals to speak as panellists at the 2023 annual conference.

Others include the chairman of the GOCOP 7th Conference Planning Committee and deputy president, Danlami Nmodu and Chief Executive Officer, of Cowry Assets Management Ltd, Johnson Chukwu.

A statement issued by the GOCOP Publicity Secretary, Remmy Nweke, revealed that the first Nigerian professor of Capital markets, Prof. Uchenna Joseph Uwaleke is a keynote speaker at the conference.

Speaking about the conference, Nmodu disclosed the theme of the event as “Nigeria: Roadmap for Socio-Economic Recovery and Sustainability”.

Nmodu said the crux of the conference followed the current socio-political and economic realities facing the country, post-2023 general elections.

Ochefu is an academic, university administrator and entrepreneur who holds a B.A and PhD degrees in History and Economic History from the University of Calabar. He also holds an M.A. in Political Economy from the University of Birmingham.

Ochefu began his academic career in 1985 at the University of Calabar and later transferred to the Benue State University Makurdi in 1993. In 2003, he was promoted to the rank of Professor of Economic History and Development Studies.

At the Benue State University, he held various positions such as Head of the Department of History, Dean of Students Affairs, Deputy Vice-Chancellor, and Director of Consultancy Services. From 2012 to 2017, he was Vice-Chancellor of Kwararafa University, Wukari in Taraba State.

In 2019, he was appointed Secretary-General of the Committee of Vice-Chancellors of Nigerian Universities and Committee of Pro-Chancellors of Nigerian Federal Universities.

Also, Bala-Usman, a Nigerian politician served as managing director of the Nigerian Ports Authority from 2016 to 2021. Previously, she had served as the chief of staff to the governor of Kaduna State from 2015 to 2016 and was appointed special adviser on policy coordination to President Bola Tinubu in June 2023.

In 2000, she graduated with a bachelor’s degree in business administration from the Ahmadu Bello University in Zaria and later received a master’s degree in development studies from the University of Leeds in 2009. She has been one of the co-founders of the Bring Back Our Girls campaign since 2014.

On his part, Johnson Chukwu is the chairman and founder, of Cowry Assets Management Ltd. Prior to the establishment of Cowry Asset Management Limited, he has been actively involved in the Nigerian capital market.

His involvement in the capital market became instrumental to the establishment of the capital market operator, as the pioneer General Manager/Chief Executive Officer of Guardian Express Trust Limited (now Spring Capital) – a subsidiary of Guardian Express Bank Plc (now Spring Bank Plc).

Before joining Cowry Asset Management Limited on a full-time basis in October 2007, Chukwu was the Deputy General Manager and Group Executive of operations of Spring Bank Plc, between February 2006 and September 2007.

Chukwu has a Bachelor of Science (B.Sc.) second-class upper degree in Accounting and a University of Lagos Scholar. He also holds an MBA from Lagos Business School (Pan African University).

GOCOP was established to ensure that online publishers uphold the tenets of journalism while executing their responsibility of social justice and government accountability.

The Guild membership is a constellation of Editors and senior journalists who have distinguished themselves in their various fields including print, broadcast and online publishing sites.

Currently, the Guild has over 90 corporate publishers as members.