Pioneer Secretary General of the Conference of Speakers and Presidents of African Union Legislatures (CoSPAL), Mr. Dapo Oyewole has said that receiving the esteemed Richard von Weizsäcker Fellowship Award at the Robert Bosch Academy in Berlin, Germany will motivate him to interrogate models and approaches for creating an institutional framework for strengthening legislative leadership and enhancing parliamentary diplomacy in Africa.
In a remarkable achievement, the Nigerian policy analyst has become the first man from the country to receive the Richard von Weizsäcker Fellowship Award.
Oyewole who was elected the CoSPAL in October 2024 expressed his gratitude and honor at being chosen for this remarkable program.
“I am incredibly privileged and deeply honoured to be the first Nigerian man to receive the prestigious Richard von Weizsäcker Fellowship Award at the Robert Bosch Academy in Berlin,” He said.
The Richard von Weizsäcker Fellowship Award is an invitation-only program established in honour of the former German President.
The award promotes multilateral exchange and interdisciplinary cooperation on the global issues of the contemporary time, enriching socio-political discourse with a wide range of perspectives.
As a fellow, Oyewole who is also a member of the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations (NIPR) will have the opportunity to engage in solution-oriented dialogue and cooperation with other international decision-makers, opinion leaders, and experts.
The fellowship program also provides logistical support, intellectual as well as physical space to pursue individual projects on future-oriented topics in an international context.
For his fellowship project, Oyewole aims to strengthen democracy and address emerging global challenges.
He said: “I will interrogate models and approaches for creating an institutional framework for strengthening legislative leadership and enhancing parliamentary diplomacy in Africa, especially drawing on German and European parliamentary experiences and global best practices”.
The CoSPAL Sec-Gen is joined by four other exceptional leaders in the fellowship cohort including the former Prime Minister of Moldavia, His Excellency, Natalia Gavrilița, who is now Co-founder and Director of Partnerships at ‘New Economy’, a new economic policy think-tank focused on Moldova’s EU integration.
Other members of the cohort include Sir Mark Lowcock, former United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, former UN Emergency Relief Coordinator, and also previously the Permanent Secretary of the UK Department for International Development (DFID).
The former Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands, former Special Envoy of the World Bank on fragile states, President of the Dutch Advisory Council on International Affairs, and currently, Chair in Peace, Security, and Law at Leiden University, His Excellency, Bert Koenders is also part of the cohort.
Dr. Robert Muggah, a researcher, entrepreneur, and practitioner who specializes in physical, digital, and climate security, and works extensively on issues related to urban planning, forced migration, climate, and nature solutions, with an impactful professional footprint spanning management consulting firms like McKinsey and multilateral institutions like the UN, World Bank, amongst several others, completes the cohort.
Oyewole added that he is looking forward to an extraordinary time ‘fellowshiping’ with these extraordinary Fellows, thinking, debating, and being inspired by the lessons-learnt, engaging interactions, and insightful exchanges with top leaders in government, academia, civil society, the RvW Fellows Community, and the exceptionally talented leadership and staff at the RBA.
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