WITNEY SCHNEIDMAN: Is an author and businessman who has traveled to more than thirty countries in Africa over the course of five decades.

In his work, he has encountered individuals as diverse as Nelson Mandela, General Antonio de Spinola, the Portuguese General who led the coup that ended Portugal’s colonial rule in Africa, and Idi Amin. With a master’s degree from the University of Dar es Salaam, Schneidman also served as Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for African affairs under President Clinton where he played an active role in the passage of the African Growth and Opportunity Act.   

A Senior Advisor for Africa at Covington & Burling LLP, Schneidman is also a Non-resident Fellow at the Brookings Institution.

ONYEKA ONWUNU: Is a renowned Nigerian singer/songwriter, actress, human right activist, social activist, journalist, politician, and former X Factor series judge.^[2] Dubbed the “Elegant Stallion” by the Nigerian press, she is a former chairperson of the Imo State Council for Arts and Culture. In 2013 she was appointed the Executive Director/Chief Executive Officer of the National Centre for Women Development.^[5]

Onwenu possess a BA in International Relations and Communication from Wellesley College, Massachusetts, and an MA in Media Studies from The New School for Social Research, New York.^[10] She worked for the United Nations as a tour guide before returning to Nigeria in 1980 to complete her mandatory one-year national service with the NTA. 

In 1984, she wrote and presented the internationally acclaimed BBC/NTA documentary called “Nigeria, A Squandering of Riches”. It became the definitive film about corruption in Nigeria as well as the intractable Niger Delta agitation for resource control and campaign against environmental degradation in the oil rich region of Nigeria.

In 1981, Onwenu took her first and mighty step towards music, with the release of her first album “Endless Life”, produced by Sunny Okosun. It was an instant success. She followed it up with “For the Love of You”, In the Morning Light, One Love, Dancing in the Sun, Greatest Love, My Everything God and most recently, “The Legend”. Also called the Queen of African Pop, Onwenu stands out as the only musician to have crossed Pop with Juju music and Highlife, seamlessly combining English and local languages to deliver “developmental” songs of great social value. In her “Dancing in the Sun” album is a duet with King Sunny Ade which was hailed for its innovativeness and freshness of idea. The reaction to “ Madawolohun (let them say)” was tremendous, her fan demanded for more. She responded with two more duets “wait for me” and “Choices”, written by Onwenu and produced by Lemmy Jackson. Unlike Let them Say which was a love song, Wait for me and Choices carry strong social messages. READ MORE

CHIKE NWAKA: a writer, poet, artist, cartoonist and former newspaper columnist. He was the immediate past Chairman of the Society of Nigerian Artists, SNA, Enugu State, Nigeria. 

He was a Principal Lecturer in Fine/Applied Arts, and Art History at the famous Art School of IMT Enugu, where he earlier did his undergraduate studies. He had his High School education at the elitist Government Secondary School, Afikpo. For his Post-Graduate studies, he went to Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka and the University of Benin.  A man of many parts, after his academic lecturing role, he enlisted into the Federal Road Safety Corps, where he served for several years and retired from, as an Assistant Corps Marshal/Regional Commander.  He plays the guitar, and composes songs as a hobby.   

His first published book is the Comical Satire, CHEEKY CHYKE Meets the President. He is the author of The Wheel of Safety, and Eze Chima: an ancient Aro epic, published by Amazon.