Yintab Strategy Consults

Return to Addis on A Special Assignment

Babafemi A. Badejo, Ph.D

I returned to Addis Ababa yesterday November 6, 2019 to join a meeting of the Specialised Technical Committee (STC) on Migration, Refugees and Internally Displaced Persons 4-8 November 2019. I could not join at the beginning as I had a commitment in Lagos on November 5, 2019.

Being back to Addis Ababa is no longer a story. After all, I was here from October 26-30, 2019, to attend an AU meeting that I was duly invited for and arrived only to be told a day after my arrival that it would likely be cancelled and indeed even before I could go through getting a temporary pass, friends told a few Ambassadors who had been in the hall that the meeting had been adjourned sine die.

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Return to Addis on a Special Assignment 

Participation in Oslo Peace Forum

Babafemi A. Badejo, Ph.D.

When Norway is mentioned, many people automatically think about peace. So, on landing in Oslo and picked up by Armir Sheikh, (President Foundation Dialogue for Peace), for the long drive to the city, I felt a lot of peaceful relief as I took in the greenery of the environment and chatted with Aamir who wasted no time in sharing information about his adopted country dotted with lamentations about the country he left as a kid. Bonding with Aamir was very easy as I informed him I had written my PhD dissertation on his country of origin, Pakistan. We agreed our two countries could benefit from peace that accompanies development. I knew his Foundation had joined with the Oslo Centre, headed by former Norwegian Prime Minister, Kjell Magne Bondevik to put on a seminar on Peaceful Coexistence, Religious tolerance and human trafficking. The President of the Office of His Royal Highness, Prince Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa, the Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Bahrain also provided support for the Seminar.

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Participation in Oslo Peace Forum

 Seven Days in Slovenia

Babafemi A. Badejo, Ph.D.

Seven days in the Republic of Slovenia was a great eye opener. I knew that the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (SFRY) disintegrated at the beginning of the last decade of the 20th century but did not pay attention to the details in spite of the bitter wars that cost many lives. Those were days in which wars were equally raging in many parts of Africa and I got sucked into efforts towards peacekeeping in Somalia after Butros Ghali as UN Secretary-General pricked the conscience of the world by pointing out the relative abandonment of the world with respect to the poor man’s war in Somalia.

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Seven Days in Slovenia

Consultative Meeting on AFCFTA in Dakar

Babafemi A. Badejo, Ph.D

With a temporary exit from Addis Ababa on June 23, 2019, a day after the reported coup attempt in that country, I arrived in Dakar late afternoon on the same day. The last time I was in Dakar was on May 14, 2014 as I took my leave from West Africa to return to East Africa, specifically Darfur from where I retired in the quest for peace under the flag of the African Union coupling with that of the United Nations in the only joint operation (mainly in name only) by the two organizations. Being back in the land of la Teranga was nostalgic. From late 2009 to 2014, when I served the United Nations as Chief of Staff of a complex peace operation, I had to transit Dakar to travel home and in fact to most places. This was aside from meetings associated with the UN office for West Africa.

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Consultative meeting on AFCFTA in Dakar

Consultative Meeting on AfCFTA Held in Ethiopia

Babafemi A. Badejo, Ph.D

At the end of the consultative meeting in Dakar from 24-25 June, 2019, I flew straight back to Addis Ababa on June 26, 2019, to participate at the 3rd UN ECA led consultative meeting on the Africa Continental Free Trade Area agreement. This time, the meeting was titled: Africa Regional Trade Forum 2019: Implementing the AfCFTA for a prosperous Africa, A Focus on the Pharmaceutical Industry. The two-day meeting was from 27-28 June, 2019.

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Consultative Meeting on AfCFTA Held in Ethiopia

Senior Moment on Duty Line

Babafemi A. Badejo, Ph.D

March 25, 2019 was one of those Senior moments during which one wonders if this could be it. I called my friend who exaggerated more than I did and rightly insisted that I should divert from going to the African Union compound in Addis Ababa. I listened and proceeded to the UN Clinic at the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA). Yinka Adeyemi left his desk, joined me at the Clinic as I took care of vitals, and took me straight to the Chief Medical Officer. Her immediate effort put our minds at rest and I proceeded to blood works. Of course, I feel on top of the world as I write. My other friend, Bisi Dare, concluded that 18 holes of golf with him on the previous day and his observation that I do not drink enough water was most likely responsible for my Senior moment.

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Senior Moment on Duty Line    

Snippets from 74th UN General Assembly 2019 Part II

Babafemi A. Badejo, Ph.D

There is much to write about the 74th UN General Assembly. Aside from the speeches in the big hall during which, Heads of State/Government or representatives (mainly Foreign Ministers) line up to articulate aspects of their respective foreign policies, the 74th UNGA had 2 additional Summits: first one was on climate. The second was on sustainable development.

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Snippets from the 74th UN General Assembly 2019 Part II   

Snippets from the 74th UN General Assembly 2019 Part I

Babafemi A. Badejo, Ph.D

End of January 2016, I had the opportunity of listening to late President Robert Mugabe as he gave his last address as African Union President handing over to President Idris Deby of Chad. His speech went viral, especially among Africans. He raised questions on the effectiveness of the United Nations for African nations. Questioning the rationale of having the UN HQ in NY, he wondered about why African Countries annually spend so much to attend the General Assembly without achieving much in return since ab initio, they are unequal and have been unable to realise change in the organization. I really don’t know how much Mugabe’s successor expended in order to have his day in the son. The fact, however, is that whatever he wanted to say did not interest other member States. He gave his speech to an almost empty hall.

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Snippets from the 74th UN General Assembly 2019 Part I 

Bled Strategic Forum 2019

Rules-Based International Order or the Return of Geopolitics?

This year, the14th edition, the general focus (RE) SOURCES OF (IN) STABILITY examined how resources, their availability and regional distribution are shaping strategic relations in the international system.

Organized in Panel sessions, our CEO, at Yintab Strategy Consults, Dr Babafemi Badejo was amongst 7 other experts who intervened on the subject of “Rules-Based International Order or the Return of Geopolitics?”

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As part of Yintab Strategy’s consultancy commitment to the Court of the Prime Minister of the Kingdom  of Bahrain, Dr Babafemi Badejo was at the UN Secretariat, as Bahrain Advisor at the 73rd General Assembly (GA) of the United Nations.

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