Theme: Fitting into The Normative Situations

This year's theme is centered around exploiting our personal strengths and exploring our niches. The event will host speakers for diverse fields of practices and endeavors.
Fitting into the Normative situations will open the eyes of our northern residents to take charge of human and physical capitals which they have.

ABU Businss School Auditorium
Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria
Samaru, Zaria, Kaduna, 810221
Nigeria

Dr. Mairo Mandara

Conferred this year with Fellowship by Distinction by the Faculty of Public Health (Royal College of Physicians UK), Mairo is an Obstetrician/Gynecologist with extensive knowledge and experience in strategic planning and implementation of health and social transformation initiatives in Reproductive and maternal child health. Possesses strong experience and expertise in Family Planning at National and Community levels. Mairo also has good network of African Women working on Gender and equal opportunity for Women and Girls on the continent. Dr Mairo Mandara at TEDxAHmaduBelloUniversity sparked up a thought provoking session by making emphasis on the need for reflections. She highlighted the fact that the recent age youths as much creative are quite impulsive and are almost always in a rush to go forward without first reflecting. She explained how important it is to reflect and how that drives the vision and orientation of all of us.

Hadiza Isma El-Rufai

CEO/Founder Yasmin El Rufai Foundation

holds BSc (Architecture), MSc (Architecture) and MBA degrees from Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria. She also has an MA in Creative Writing from Bath Spa University, Bath, UK. Hadiza is the founder of Yasmin El-Rufai Foundation, a non-governmental, non-profit and non-political organization, which is committed to supporting and encouraging creativity in children, and enhancing the literacy skills of women in northern Nigeria. She is also a writer. Her debut novel, An Abundance of Scorpions, was published in November 2017 by Ouida Books. She is currently working on her second novel.

Hamza Olobo

Documentary Photographer||| Travel Blogger

Shaibu Hamza Olobo (@officialolobo) is from the igala tribe of Igalamela/Odolu LGA, Kogi state. A graduate of computer science Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria with a passion for film, photography and travel. He works as a freelance documentary photographer, travel blogger, and content creator for his personal blog and website at www.olobo.ng His most recent project being the "travel with Olobo" series which is a travel project across the 36 states of Nigeria in search of rare stories of extraordinary Nigerians that could help provide a new perspective to life in Nigeria away from the violence and unfortunate corruption that has stolen all of the headlines. His photograph "Ruins of the Old Kebbi Kingdom" waa recently added to the photo gallery of the United States Embassy in Nigeria.

Hamzat Lawal

CEO CODE|| Campaigner|| Activist

Hamzat Lawal is an activist who has successfully led grassroots campaigns in over 40 African countries with over nine years experience he specializes in practical issues associated with Climate Change, Open Data, advocacy campaigns and development policies. Hamzy! is also the Co-Founder of Follow The Money, a Pan-African grassroots data-driven movement promoting accountability as it affects utilization of public funds. He is currently the CEO of Connected Development (CODE), Hamzy! seats on the Executive Board of the largest Youth Movement in Africa: African Youth Initiative on Climate Change advising on communications strategies and has joined his voice on different platforms and policy influencing coalitions across Africa such as the Not Too Young To Run movement which drives youth political inclusion. . He was an Executive with the International Centre For Energy, Environment & Development working on high level advocacy for Nigeria’s energy needs and climate actions

Hauwa Liman

Entrepreneur||| Women ans Youths Activist

Hauwa Liman is a Senior Inspector with the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), She is the creative director of the Afrocentric Modesty Fashion Brand-AFRIK ABAYA.She is a 2015 Tony Elumelu Foundation entrepreneur; a 2016 Mandela Washington fellow and a 2017 British Council Future Leaders Connect Winner also a Youth Delegate to the UN General Assembly Youth Dialogue on Employment Education and the Prevention of radicalization leading violent extremism at the UN Headquarters in New York

MC Tagwaye

Comedian||| Activist||| Philanthropist

@McTagwaye is a Nigerian comedian born and bred in Katsina and is known widely for mimicking the president; Muhammadu Buhari perfectly. He is the CEO of Tagwaye Entertainment LTD and the founder of The Tagwaye Charity Foundation. Tagged as the President's Doppleganger, McTagwaye has achored a host of events. He performed in front of the president at the Katsina State Economic Summit and quite recently at the APC national covention 2018. He is also a youth activist, a philanthropist and a seasoned teacher.

Muhammad Sani Dattijo

Policy Maker|| Economist

Muhammad is the Commissioner for Budget and Planning in Kaduna State. Prior to his appointment, he was a Policy Adviser in the Executive Office of United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon in New York. He has also served in the past as an Economist and Deputy National Program Manager in Nigeria’s Presidency. He was subsequently appointed Economic Adviser of the Nigeria Governor’s Forum. He holds an MSc in Development ECons and Policy from the University of Manchester, a second Masters in International Affairs and Diplomacy from ABU Zaria and has studied Public Finance at the London School of Economics, Sustainable Development with Columbia University in New York and Advanced Project Management at Oxford University in the United Kingdom. He is a UK Chevening Scholar, member of the University of Oxford Business Alumni Network, Fellow of the Archbishop Tutu Leadership Institute and a fellow of the Aspen Institute Africa Leadership program- ALIWA

Yusuf Bashir

Technologist and Designer

Yusuf Bashir is the Co-founder and CEO of KADICT Hub, Kaduna, Useourintel, Agrival, AfreComm. He has a Masters Degree from the Temple University in Philadelphia. He is a technologist with in depth experience and abilities in engineering and product development and with proven track record of delivering new products from concept through development and launch. He was Part of the team that designed and developed the first end to end wireless building automation network using ZigBee, Wrote the deployment guide for the Zigbee wireless building automation network Part of the team that designed and built a Bluetooth device for commissioning building control systems Developed and built a test lab for 802.11n and 802.15.4 interference analysis Read More about Yusuf Bashir on our instagram Handle @TEDxAbu and follow on Twitter @TEDxAbu

Zainab Haruna

Strategy Consultant||| Project Manager |||Youth Development Advocate

Zainab Haruna is a strategy consultant, project manager and youth development advocate. She currently leads the Innovations and Research Unit in a private firm where she fashions strategies for optimum product performance and market penetration. She is a One Young World Ambassador, an Alumnus of the Firoz Lalji Program for African Leadership and a Standard Bank Derek Cooper Scholar. A graduate of the London School of Economics and Political Science, Zainab studied African Development and her research interests were channelled towards issues of African political economy, the informal economy, youth development and the politics of youth engagement. She is an advisory mentor for the 2018 Queen's Young Leaders as well as a YALI regional centre mentor. Zainab is the founder of Decipher Solutions, a youth-led social enterprise in her home country, Nigeria which designs interventions focused on building entrepreneurs, sustainable enterprises and improving quality of education.