Magnus L. Kpakol

• Comment: It seems as though Mr. Kpakol is a notable person, so it's important that his article be appropriately neutral and properly sourced, so that it will not be deleted again as has happened once already. First, please do not cite Dpedia, which copied the text from the now deleted Wikipedia article; this is circular referencing. Second, the references have been written in a way that it is difficult to tell the source of the information. Each reference should have only it's actual title, not on that you have made up expressing a point of view, plus the name of the publisher and date, and the name of the journalist or other author who wrote it if available. I have fixed one for you (Business Today). Mentioning Mr. Kpakol's accomplishments is appropriate, but commenting on their importance or effectiveness is not; the article writer should hold a neutral point of view about everything in the article. When these issues have been resolved, please submit the article again. —Anne Delong (talk) 21:52, 31 July 2013 (UTC)

• Comment: This submission probably needs more sources that reference the notability of the subject. APerson (talk!) 13:41, 7 August 2013 (UTC)

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Magnus Lekara Kpakol, Ph.D. was born in B. Dere, Gokana in Rivers State of Nigeria, a native of Ogoni communities of Eleme, Gokana, Khana and Tai. His concentration on economic development and poverty reduction strategies as a career, brought him into Nigerian politics and also lecturing jobs in the United States of America.

Dr. Magnus L. Kpakol

Education

Magnus L. Kpakol attended St. Pius X Secondary School, Bodo, and Baptist High School, Port Harcourt before leaving for the United States as a teenager in the mid 1970s. He obtained a Bachelor of Science Degree from the University of Wisconsin, Superior. (1978); got a graduate study in Economics and Industrial Relations at the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis and in 1982 subsequently obtained a Master of Science Degree in Labor and Industrial Relations at the University of North Texas in Denton where he specialized in labor economics and Industrial Relations. In 1988 he obtained a Ph.D in Political Economy from the University of Texas at Dallas.

Politics

The political life of Dr. Magnus L. Kpakol spans his service as the Chief Economic Adviser to the President of Nigeria from July 2001 to May 2003. While serving as Chief Economic Adviser to President Olusegun Obasanjo, he was also the Chief Executive Officer of the National Planning Commission, and a member of cabinet in the Federal Executive Council, responsible for the nation’s economic planning, working closely with the Minister of Finance, and Governor of the Central Bank on fiscal and monetary policies.

Although Dr. Kpakol served for eight years as the Senior Special Assistant to the President, he was also the National Coordinator of the National Poverty Eradication Program (NAPEP). As the coordinator in this capacity he reported directly to the President, his primary responsibility covered coordinating, monitoring and overseeing all of the country’s poverty eradication efforts. At his service on the National Poverty Eradication Program Job, he developed a unique Conditional Cash Transfer (CCT) program in Nigeria called COPE. This program evolves around a household receiving a temporary Basic Income Guarantee (BIG) to initially reduce their poverty state. The beneficiary family then moves a step forward in the program where they would be given a Poverty Reduction Accelerator Investment (PRAI) fund to start a business and graduate from poverty and dependency.

While at NAPEP, Dr. Kpakol also created the Village Economic Development Solutions (Village Solutions) a program where market driven meso and micro credit approaches were emphasized in an anchor and capacity widening strategy to promote and stabilize a robust value-chain activities in the agriculture sector for job creation and economic development; he initiated the Promise Keepers Partnership (PKP) scheme where the government partners with well-to-do citizens through faith-based organizations for job creation using micro credit or micro-grants.

In respect of these programs he initiated, stories were published in the media about his being indicted by the Nigerian Senate, with claims of misappropriation of funds and scam, and also his refutal of such stories and also by the Senate.

Professional Experience

Dr. Kpakol is presently the Chairman, CEO and Chief Strategist at the Economic and Business Strategies (EBS), with offices in Dallas Texas, USA and Abuja, Nigeria; he is the host of Magnus Kpakol gvA . He is also the founder and Chairman of the Economic Growth and Development Center (EGDC), the initiators of SHAFRI (an educational social network for kids in Africa and around the world). The EBS has developed and is now promoting SHAFRI.

At the EBS, Dr. Kpakol leads a team of strategists in designing policies and programs for trade promotion, business competitiveness and local economic development. His team conducts international and local training for private and public sector professionals seeking to be the best in their trade and in promoting economic efficiency, increased economic participation and performance and economic development. They also specialize in poverty solutions, developing programs for job creation, economic growth and development. Building on his experience, Dr. Kpakol is proficient in research techniques and policy development and also in program coordination, monitoring and evaluation.

Before working with the government of Nigeria he was a senior economist in the Planning & Research department of JCPenney Company, a major multinational based in Plano Texas. He was also a visiting professor of economics at the University of Dallas and previous to that an adjunct professor of economics at the same university where he taught economic development, international economics, labor economics, statistics, econometrics and public economics. Dr. Kpakol also taught other courses in the Graduate School of Business at the University of Dallas . He was also an adjunct lecturer and professor at other universities and colleges, including the University of North Texas in Denton, and North Lake College in Irving, Texas. He was the Director and Principal Consultant at VIJONS, an international business and management consulting firm, based in Dallas Texas.

He once served as a consultant for the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), spoken at various conferences around the world and appeared on various radio and TV programs . He has been quoted in the Wall Street Journal and USA Today as an international economist with expertise on the US, African and the global economies.

Dr Magnus L kpakol founded MAGONI Productions, the creators of Magoni music with roots in Ogoni rhythm to promote peace, freedom, love and economic development.

Affiliation

Dr. Kpakol was a member of the Board of Trustees of John Brown University in Siloam Springs Arkansas. He is a member of the Dallas Economists’ Club, where he was chairman of the Education Committee. He is also a member of the American Economic Association, the National Association of Business Economics (NABE) and the International Roundtable of NABE.