Updates

Africa’s biggest football icon, soccer Legend and retired Super Eagles player, Kanu Nwankwo has visited Billionaire Businessman, politician and Philanthropist, Hon. Ned Nwoko at his mansion in Abuja yesterday. According to our sources, their discussion was premised on the 2020-2021 proposed “Stars University”, Africa’s first sport university, which Hon. Ned Nwoko is presently establishing in Delta State, Nigeria.

Hon. Nwoko received the celebrity soccer legend to an amazing and warm reception, during which the duo discussed emphatically on collaborative efforts in enhancing the sports sector and grassroot football talents in Nigeria and Africa. They stressed that with an institution of such specialization, the sport sector in Nigeria and Africa would record impressive improvement.

They also slided into deliberations on the recently flagged off Malaria Eradication Project in Africa. An epoch project of Prince Ned Nwoko Foundation. Kanu Nwankwo assured Hon. Prince Ned Nwoko, the Chairman and founder of Prince Ned Nwoko Foundation of his undaunted commitment and support for the Malaria Project in Africa and especially Nigeria.

Hon. Ned Nwoko had just returned from his Antarctica Expedition to create awareness and garner substantial research findings in collaboration with scientists from across the world on prospective road maps towards malaria eradication in Africa. His foundation is also funding five universities across Africa on researches to discover vaccines for the malaria scourge in Africa. 

Also the foundation is presently working with international agencies and government institutions on the environmental sanitation through fumigation as an eminent step required to support eradication of the deadly parasite in Nigeria.

Prince Ned Nwoko just returned from a historic expedition to the world’s coldest continent, Antarctica where he went to formally flag off his ambitious project to eradicate malaria from Africa. Late last year, the Chairman of Ned Nwoko Foundation, Prince Ned Nwoko, embarked on the massive project of eradicating malaria from Africa. Before then, for two years between 2017 and 2019, Prince Nwoko boldly succeeded in securing the Paris Club refund for his country, Nigeria. The refund was a relief hugely beneficial to the three tiers of government in Nigeria particularly, for payment of workers’ salaries, provision of welfare and some critical social infrastructure.

Just like the Paris Club refund which he single-handedly secured for Nigeria, Prince Ned Nwoko’s malaria-free Africa project comes as a timely intervention which would certainly save millions of lives in Africa. The lifeline came at a time when the nation was on the throes of recession and severe economic downturn. It also helped the country’s governments particularly the states and local governments to regain their fiscal balance. The huge amount of the Paris club fund came in tranches of billions of dollar. A man of many parts who is well known for his patriotic and philanthropic instincts and a notable pan-Africanist, Prince Ned Nwoko is unpretentious about his love for his country and continent.

In the case of the Paris Club refund, it took the eagle eye of Prince Ned Nwoko to detect that his country had been shortchanged by the foreign creditors and local accomplices through over deductions running into billions of dollars. It was in the process of servicing and repaying the loans, that Nigeria was cheated by those superintending the affairs of the international debt handling club. Prince Ned Nwoko courageously took up the challenge of pursuing the creditor-countries to refund the excess deductions creamed off Nigeria in the process of repayment of the loans and other allied matters.

For several years, he pursued and battled the powerful creditor club from diverse fronts at great personal risk, filing many legal proceedings in different countries. At the end he triumphed over them and the dividend was the Paris Club refund earnings which saved his fatherland from what would have been its worst economic recession. Prince Ned Nwoko’s heroics in successfully tracking the Paris Club for years and securing the life saving refund illustrate extraordinary commitment to national duty. He certainly feels a sense of patriotic accomplishment over what he had done for his beloved country. To him, to carry out a patriotic duty and accomplish the task comes with a unique feeling of a sense of national fulfillment. And presently, Prince Ned Nwoko has embarked on another altruistic project of ridding Nigeria and the African continent of the scourge of malaria which has been afflicting humanity and Africans in particular for thousands of years.

The Prince Ned Nwoko Foundation, which champions this cause, has set short and long term targets for the project aimed at achieving a malaria-free Africa before 2030. The short-term delivery plan shall be through national mobilization for the fumigation of Nigeria and other African countries to rid them of mosquitoes. To achieve performance, community members will be made stakeholders of their environments while community town hall meetings shall similarly be held to appoint sanitation ambassadors and officers. The foundation’s long-term plan in delivering the project is investing in development of anti-malaria vaccine. In furtherance of this, Prince Ned Nwoko Foundation would establish academic research grants for malaria vaccine in five top grade universities spread across the African continent. The foundation shall further sponsor bills at the National Assembly of Nigeria and those of other African countries for National Fumigation weeks to wipe out the deadly vector from Africa. Apart from that, there would be massive public enlightenment to achieve the goals of the foundation and bring this to the attention of the world.

The enlightenment drive would be targeted at nudging persons and organizations to improve on health education and environmental sanitation in neighborhoods and communities in order to deny mosquitoes breeding and hiding places. The enlightenment and mobilization would be undertaken in collaboration with relevant civil society groups, governments, agencies, companies, international community, grassroots organizations and individuals on environmental health promotion with particular emphasis on elimination of mosquitoes and eradication of malaria. For all his selfless efforts for a healthier and economically stronger Nigeria and Africa, it will not be out of place for people with genuine intentions and love for their country and continent, like Prince Ned Nwoko should be appreciated and honoured.  Prince Ned Nwoko truly stands out as a rare African.

Written by Nosike Ogbuenyi

Hon. Prince Ned Nwoko and his Team have arrived from Cape Town in South Africa from the Antarctica Expedition to create awareness on the Malaria Eradication Project in Africa. He was received today in at the Cape Town Airport by his family, development partners and representatives of Prince Ned Nwoko Foundation, the frontliners of the project in Africa.

On his arrival, Prince Ned Nwoko expressed concise felicitations to the Armed forces as they celebrate the Armed Forces Remembrance day coinciding with the World war II veterans in the British Commonwealth of Nations. He also assured Africans that the Antarctica expedition has created viable channels and blueprints in the war against the scourge of malaria in Africa.
He further noted that it was a great moment interacting with like minds on how to take the malaria challenge in Africa. In his words, he says, “I returned from my trip to Antarctica, where I visited South Pole, to create awareness on the eradication of Malaria in Africa. It was indeed a great moment interacting with people of like minds, on how to tackle the deadly scourge of Malaria.”

While expressing optimism on the prospects of his trip to the Antarctica, the Nigerian Politician is hopeful that in a short while Malaria will become history in Africa. As a humanitarian and the founder of Prince Ned Nwoko Foundation, he has continued to reinforce commitments to improving humanity, especially with the recent Malaria Eradication Project In Africa.

Recently, Prince Ned Nwoko Foundation partnered with the Nigeria Defence Headquarters to support the armed forces. He actually made significant contribution to the success of the “Tribute to our Troops, The Unsung Heroes Concert”, which was organized by the Nigeria Defense Headquarters and 360 Degree Entertainment. He also donated his private Jet for personnel and celebrities who visited Maiduguri to entertain the Nigeria military troop who are at the forefront of the deadly war against insurgency in Nigeria

Frontline philanthropist, entrepreneur and Chairman of Ned Nwoko Foundation, Prince [Dr] Ned Nwoko on Wednesday January 8, 2020 morning landed in the Antarctica for the symbolic flag-off his multi-billion naira malaria eradication in Africa project. He goes down in history as the first Nigerian to explore the Antarctica continent.

The former member of House of Representatives had earlier departed Abuja enroute Cape Town, South Africa on Sunday 5th January, 2020 for the historic expedition. He was accompanied in the epoch-making expedition by a team of top scientists from Russia, India, China, USA and UK.

The highly anticipated expedition to Antarctica reputed to be the first by any Nigerian began at exactly at 12:09am as the specially equipped jet carrying the founder of Stars University, Idumuje-Ugboko, Delta State, Nigeria and his co-explorers took off from Cape Town. Prince Ned Nwoko, a renowned educationist, public health advocate and environmentalist is championing malaria eradication in Africa through his foundation.

Ned Nwoko who is also a notable patron of sports, culture and tourism will use the expedition to draw global attention to the scourge of malaria in Africa and his two-pronged approach to end the scourge which are fumigation of Africa and funding research endowments for malaria vaccine in five universities across Africa to the tune of $750,000.

As they boarded the jet, Prince Ned Nwoko introduced himself to the Americans who are going to the South Pole as well for the first time and followed up with a question jokingly. He said, “Are you Republican or Democrat? Answer so that I will know what to say in the plane“. The poser elicited hilarious laughter for a while before the co-explorer responded to the jocular question with an assurance that Prince Ned Nwoko is in good hands.

Multi-media agency reports monitored by correspondents indicated that preparatory to take off from the southernmost tip of Africa for the expedition, Dr. Ned Nwoko underwent safety briefing on the daring trip out of the earth’s surface to the ice-filled Antarctica. After the briefing, the billionaire was spotted with Captain Hamish Harding and teenage record breaker, Giles Harding who is set to make history as the youngest human ever to visit the Antarctica.

The Delta-born former federal parliamentarian stated in Cape Town just before takeoff, “Malaria is majorly African problem. If you understand that, then you will comprehend why there is no concerted effort to find a permanent cure to it. If you look around, you will discover that most of the companies producing malaria medications are foreign based. Could it be that if there is a vaccine those companies would face imminent closure? Late last year, the Egyptian airline resident manager died of malaria in Abuja. There is no family that has been spared. No family that has not lost some loved relatives.”

The fact that it is often forgotten by many that malaria is the biggest killer disease in Africa, irks the mind of the eminent philanthropist who has vowed to awaken the continent and the world as a whole on the dangers posed by the pandemic. It is the need to draw global attention to the monumental health challenge and the imperative of finding a permanent solution to it that nudged him to courageously embark on the risky audacious expedition to the Antarctica to formally launch the malaria eradication campaign.

To him, the journey towards a malaria-free Nigeria and Africa is not just worthwhile but realistic. In the gargantuan project, the Ned Nwoko Foundation will work with national and multilateral organizations to realize its goal of ridding Africa of mosquito and malaria. “We will equally collaborate with governments, private organizations and civil society towards achieving our core objective of extending malaria intervention programmes beyond the threshold of control and palliatives. We have our eyes fixed on permanent solution to the age-long scourge,” he vowed as he left the African shores for the Antarctica about midnight on Tuesday.

Recent statistics shows that the six highest malaria burden countries in the WHO African region (in order of estimated number of malaria cases) are Nigeria, Democratic Republic of the Congo, United Republic of Tanzania, Uganda, Mozambique and Cote d’Ivoire. These six African countries account for nearly 50% of malaria cases worldwide according to recent World malaria reports by WHO. The reports show that children are the most vulnerable group affected by malaria. For centuries, apart from malaria, mosquitoes have been the cause of several other ailments ravaging Africa such as Yellow fever, Dengue fever, Filariasis and Zika.

Prince Ned Nwoko said that each time he meditates over the debilitating effects of the scourge of malaria in Nigeria and Africa, certain questions come to his mind including the following: Must Africa continue to reel under the burden of malaria scourge in perpetuity? Beyond the current treatment and control measures, can’t more efforts be put on researching for reliable vaccines against the disease? Since mosquito is the vector that transmits malaria infection, what can we do to eliminate or drastically depopulate the vector on the African continent?

The search for answers to these posers inspired him to embark on the malaria eradication project. And he is very confident that he can succeed in the challenging task given the people’s collective resolve and commitment. To him since malaria is basically an African problem, no people are better positioned than Africans themselves to take the front seat in seeking a permanent solution to Africa’s most formidable health challenge – malaria.

Prince Ned has set short and long term objectives for the Ned Nwoko Foundation in this project. The short-term delivery plan shall be National mobilization for the fumigation of Nigeria and other African countries. To achieve sustainable success, community members will be made stakeholders of their environments in the mosquito elimination campaign. Community town hall meetings shall be held to appoint Sanitation Ambassadors and Officers.

The Ned Nwoko Foundation’s long-term plan in delivering this project is investing in development of anti-malaria vaccine. The Foundation plans to establish Academic Research Grants for Malaria Vaccine in universities spread across the African continent. The grants shall be available to be accessed by scientific scholars in Africa. There shall be a proper selection process and body of judges for the most qualified students and researchers to access the grants.

By our reporter

A high-level delegation from the Nigerian Armed Forces led by Rear Admiral OH Ngalabak- Chief of Defence Civil Military corporation and Rear Admiral N.J Bala paid a courtesy visit to Prince Ned Nwoko to promote Civilian-Military partnerships in their bid to eradicate malaria and upcoming projects which include the Unsung Heroes Concert scheduled for 11th January 2020 and the visit to military base at Maiduguri.

The Military personnel noted that forest is a breeding ground for mosquitoes so they are not only fighting the insurgents but also fighting against the scourge of malaria in the forest and on this note they decided to partner with Prince Ned Nwoko foundation to make Nigeria and Africa as a whole free from Malaria.

Prince Ned pledged his support to the military activities and also shared the Malaria Eradication Project with them. Prince Ned a former parliamentarian noted that the two approaches of the foundation which are funding a research for malaria vaccine to the tune of $750,000 in five universities across Africa and partnership with relevant government agencies to declare a national day or week of fumigation which will make it easier to fumigate the entire nation simultaneously are sacrosanct in eradicating malaria in Nigeria and the continent of Africa. Prince Ned will embark on Antarctica expedition with members of his team.

Billionaire businessman and politician, Ned Nwoko, has bagged another award from ‘Afrima Community Impact Award’ to appreciate his support to the entertainment community in Africa.

Recall that Ned Nwoko a Prince of Idumuje-Ugboko kingdom in Aniocha North Local Government Area of Delta State is reputed for his charity activities through multi-million naira scholarship awards to students in secondary and tertiary schools as well as empowerment schemes for thousands of people in the informal sector.
Also note that recently, Alsegon, Prime Magazine and Edo Union of Journalists honored him as Grand Patron, Man of the Year and Supporter of Nigeria Union of Journalists.

Recently, he flagged off a malaria eradication program to overcome the recurring tragedy of hundreds of thousands of avoidable health complications and deaths as a result of the deadly disease.

According to him, ‘’Most health challenges suffered by Africans including death, organ damage and other physical and mental impairments are directly or indirectly traceable to malaria.

“Today, my foundation formally begins an audacious journey towards a malaria-free Nigeria and Africa. In this project, we will work with national and multilateral organizations.”

Written by Emmanuel Okogba

The pledge was made on the 20th of December, 2019 during the “Roundtable for the Implementation of a Regional Project on Promoting the Values of Sports through Education, Health and the Governance of Sport Federation” organised by UNESCO in collaboration with the International Center of Sports Security (ICSS).

The prince spoke on the STARS university project, the progress so far and the school’s focus on Sports, Technology, Arts, Research and Sciences. He added that the university was open to admitting students from across the entire African continent and was handicap friendly. The prince extended an invitation to the grand opening of the university which is scheduled to hold on the 5th of August, 2020.

“Africans solving African problems” was one of the factors emphasised at the conference. Prince Ned was commended for being one of the few providing practical solutions to Africa’s problems. His establishment of the first sports university in Africa and his recent strides in combating the scourge of malaria were pointed as factors to his immense support for the general well being of the continent.

The conference lead by UNESCO Regional Director for West Africa, Dr Ydo Yao and was Hosted by Bukinafaso Minister of Sports and Leisure, Daouda Azoupiou took place in Ouagadougou, the country’s capital. Several Representatives from countries across Africa were also present and methods to further sports development were extensively discussed. Prince Ned Nwoko was accompanied by his Nollywood wife Regina Daniels Nwoko and members of his team on Eradication of Malaria in Africa project.

By Precious Nkem Ogbuenyi