President-elect AfDB, Dr. Akin Adesina |
After 50 years of the existence of
African Development Bank, Nigeria won the exalted position of the Presidency of
the continental organization. Dr. Akinwumi Adesina had a landslide victory
after a very tough contest with other 7 contestants from across Africa. The
rule is that a winner must score 50.1% and above of the regional votes.
Having
attended for the first time, i could see that the election of the position of the African
Development Bank cannot be regarded as a child’s play in any sense. The election,
usually witnessed and conducted by member countries as well as non member
community, including France, United States, Japan and China took place in
SOFITEL Hotel, Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire.
The week-long event culminated in a series of vote, alignment and
realignment, intrigues, power play and political manoeuvrings; which saw Akin
Adesina emerged as the winner at about 4.30pm, 28th May 2015, having scored 60.50% regional
vote and 58.10 of the total votes.
With the support of God, Adesina did his home work quite well to make
him stand out in all the preliminary interviews and presentations to the group;
he is equally well qualified for the job. Let’s once again
look at his background:
Dr. Akinwumi Adesina has intimidating credentials and enviable track records of outstanding achievements within and outside Africa. He had contributed in so many ways to improve agriculture and food security in some African countries. Mr. Adesina has over 20 years of experience in African agriculture, development policy and rural development
Adesina's election score Board |
Dr. Akinwumi Adesina has intimidating credentials and enviable track records of outstanding achievements within and outside Africa. He had contributed in so many ways to improve agriculture and food security in some African countries. Mr. Adesina has over 20 years of experience in African agriculture, development policy and rural development