Calvin’s Spring 2023 Commencement ceremony is scheduled for
2 p.m. Saturday, April 29, at Van Noord Arena, located at 3195 Knight Way, just
off the East Beltline.
Adesina has served as president of the African Development
Bank Group since 2015, leading the regional finance institution in its work
promoting the economic development and social progress of more than 80 African
countries in its membership.
He also previously served as Nigeria’s minister of
agriculture and in 2017 was awarded the World Food Prize, also known as the
“Nobel Prize for Agriculture,” according to a Calvin University news release.
Calvin President Wiebe Boer said Adesina was chosen to
deliver the spring commencement address because of his “visionary leadership
and passion for Africa’s transformation,” which Boer hopes will inspire Calvin
graduates to make a change in their global community, Calvin announced in the
release.
“Dr. Adesina has been used as an instrument of change in
multiple countries and contexts throughout his life,” Boer said in a statement.
“While Adesina’s impact is monumental, it is also representative of the work
our graduates have been equipped for during their time here — to be Christ’s
agents of renewal in the world.
“I hope his address will further inspire our graduates to
see how their lives can create real change in the world, wherever they are
called, in whatever context they find themselves. He has been a mentor to me,
and I cannot think of anyone in global leadership who better exemplifies our
2022-2023 theme verse of Proverbs 3:27.”
Last week the streamer announced its first South African
original, “LOL: Last One Laughing,” a local adaptation of the hit unscripted
comedy series, hosted by Trevor Noah, which will launch in early 2024. Next up
for Prime Video in Nigeria is a West African spin on that wide-traveling
format, “LOL: Last One Laughing Naija,” as well as the feature film “Breath of
Life,” which will be the first pic from Amazon’s three-picture deal with
Lagos-based Nemsia Films. Both projects are expected to drop later this year.
Though the details of other projects are being kept under
wraps, Mitchell said the company is “working with a really interesting
assortment of creators who really feel very passionate about what can be done”
across a range of genres and formats. “We will push the boundaries,” added
Mba-Uzoukwu. “Nigerians are quite sophisticated in their needs for content.
Nigerians want it all.”
Adesina will deliver the commencement address to 700 Calvin
students representing 28 countries, according to the Calvin news release.
Adesina said the private university has a “compelling mission that attracts
students from all over the world.”
“The formative education students receive here equips them
to go out into the world and to live out the call of Proverbs 3:27, ‘to not
withhold good from those who deserve it, when it is in your power to act,’”
Adesina said. “I hope that students will see that call as both a responsibility
and a great joy as they go about their life’s work.”
Under Adesina’s leadership, the African Development Bank
Group achieved the highest capital increase since its establishment in 1964,
with shareholders from 80 member countries raising the general capital from $93
billion to a historic $208 billion in 2019, the release said.
Prior to his current role, Adesina served as Nigeria’s
minister of agriculture, where he was credited with turning the agriculture and
agro-processing sector of the country around within four years, the release
said.
Adesina earned his bachelor’s degree in Agricultural
Economics from the University of Ife (now Obafemi Awolowo University) and his
master’s and PhD in Agricultural Economics from Purdue University, according to
his biography on the African Development Bank Group website.
He has also received honorary doctorates from the Federal
University of Technology in Nigeria, Duke University, and Addis Ababa
University, among many others.
In 2017, Adesina was bestowed with the prestigious “Order of
the Griffin,” one of Purdue University’s most esteemed honors, reserved for a
select few alumni in the last century, among them AmeriIcan astronaut Neil
Armstrong, the first person to walk on the Moon, the Calvin release said.
.jpeg)
.jpeg)
0 comments:
Post a Comment