The Ooni of Ife, His Imperial Majesty (H.I.M) Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi, Ojaja II, has appointed Bello Bala Shagari as the Managing Director of Royal African Young Leadership Forum (RAYLF-AFRICA).

This was contained in an appointment letter to Bello Bala Shagari, which was signed by Dr. Ayobami O. Oyedare (PhD), Chief Executive Officer, Global Outreach of His Imperial Majesty of Ife.

Until his appointment, Bala was the former president of the National Youth Council of Nigeria (NYCN).

Bala is a grandson of Shehu Usman Aliyu Shagari GCFR, first democratically elected President of Nigeria, after the transfer of power by military head of state General Olusegun Obasanjo in 1979 giving rise to the Second Nigerian Republic.

The letter reads in part: ”His Imperial Majesty (H.I.M) admires your well-defined, dynamic, matchless, intellectual and rich historical campaigns for the reconstruction and transformational leadership in Africa through the precious knowledge and unbreakable ambition of its young populations.

”Following our philosophical alignment on the ethos and culture of the Royal African Young Leadership Forum (RAYLF), the mutual thoughts that we shared, and the need to redefine the culture of governance, leadership, entrepreneurial inventiveness and innovative ingenuity of Africa’s brilliant young populations which has been one of the core mission of the Throne of Oduduwa, the Stool of His Imperial Majesty (H.I.M), Ooni of Ife.

”I hereby write to officially confirm your appointment as the Managing Director for Africa-The Royal African Young Leadership Forum (RAYLF).”

His appointment takes effect from the 1st of September 2020 and it subjects to review after two years of operation.

”As the Progenitor of Oduduwa, His Imperial Majesty (H.I.M), Ooni of Ife, who is the co-chair, the National Council of Traditional Rulers of Nigeria, NCTRN and the spiritual leader to over 500 million Yoruba subjects globally has been working assiduously with strategic stakeholders and excellent partners towards rebuilding, repositioning and unleashing the assets and fascinating narratives of young populations of Africa.”

“Africa young populations remain the major catalysts in boosting the whole of continent economic growth.”

”Africa is regarded as the next economic frontier in globalization and the sheer size, young population explosion, innovation development, sophisticated creative culture and the continent diversity distinctiveness are true potentials that are attracting global attention into the continent.

”Well renowned global institutions statistics posit that almost 60% of Africa’s population in 2019 is under the age of 25, making Africa the world’s youngest continent.

“According to the UN’s demographic projections, the reality of Africa rapid population expansion is expected to reach 2.8 billion by 2060 with 65% of these counted as young, an energetic and innovative driven demography.”