The International Economic Alliance (IEA) has postponed its luncheon during which the former Special Adviser to the President on Niger Delta and Chairman, Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP), Hon. Kingsley Kuku, would have been inducted as a member of the acclaimed body.
The event, which was slated for June 24 at the Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, will now hold at the IEA’s 8th Global Investment Symposium during the 2015 United Nations General Assembly meeting in New York, which takes place in September.
Each year, the body hosts its marquee event with Heads of State, CEOs and members for a private gathering to learn and be inspired to help advance business and jobs.
In a letter conveying the shift in date, the Founding Director, Van McCormick, stated that the last-minute postponement was unfortunate and explained however that it was not an award ceremony as was wrongly portrayed in some media reports.
Besides, he said even though the IEA was conceived by Harvard University, it has been an independent organisation separate and apart from the university since 2004, and that only the university can issue awards.
He further stated: “Generally, the IEA extends invitations to address our members to active Heads of State or Ministers, (but) however made an exception in this case because of the importance of your work in making peace and reconciliation to keep the Nigerian economy growing while making its citizens lives safe and creating jobs.”
It said it looked forward to learning more about the very important work that was done to contribute to peace, stability and reconciliation in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria.
IEA is a non-partisan, independent non-profit organisation conceived at Harvard University in 2004 and is dedicated to furthering global trade, development, investment and advancing business relations among nations. It also serves as an important source of knowledge, facilitator of relationships, and a catalyst for new business opportunities around the world.
IEA had invited Kuku to do a presentation on global peace initiatives and to share his personal experience working on such initiatives as a senior presidential advisor and as the former head of Nigeria’s Federal Government Amnesty Programme.
He will also be presented with an official letter of induction into the distinguished IEA membership.
