The city of Almere in Holland was agog with people from all walks of life as they joined the management of The Voice magazine to celebrate their 20th year anniversary on the 23rd November 2019. The event took place at the main auditorium of the Royal Party Event Center, Transistorstraat 60,1322, Almere, The Netherlands.
People attended from different parts of the world; United Kingdom, Spain, Ireland, Nigeria, Ghana, The Gambia, Kenya and many Africans resident in The Netherlands.
The evening celebration started with Her Excellency, Amb. Chief Princess Mrs. Nwanne Campo (based in Spain, who also doubled as the Event State Manager and introductory personality of the night) introducing the moderator and masters of ceremony.
As part of the anniversary, a panel session was held on the theme of the celebration – “The role of the Diaspora in the revitalization of Africa”. Among those on the panel were the following persons; Dr. Angela Unufe-Kennedy – (UK), Patience Nyange – Kenya/UK, King Ken Aide – (Ireland), Victoria Mkatha – (Denmark), Dr. Jones Lukose – The Netherlands and Anthonia Smith – Nigeria/UK.
This session was moderated by Abeka Salmin Abdallah. For nearly two hours, the subject was discussed on how best the African Diaspora should be engaged in the revitalization of Africa. There were insightful contributions from the audience.
The Masters of Ceremony; Xavier‘t Zand and Jebi Love from Belgium took charge and immediately started calling the first batch of names slated for recognition. These are individuals and businesses or organizations who had in the past 20 years supported The Voice Magazine at various levels to attain the height that was being celebrated. The recognized people were excited and some were even taken unawares when their names were called.
The publisher of the Voice magazine, Pastor Amb. Elvis Iruh in his speech, thanked everyone present but most importantly, he thanked all those who had helped nurture and grow the magazine from a one-man product to a worldwide magazine received globally. He paid tributes to all his past colleagues,including those who had departed this world, for their immense contribution to making the Voice magazine what it is now. Chief Engr. Ignacio Campo, Chief Princess Mrs. Nwanne Campo and their daughters, Princesses Julia and Chelo Campo were amongst those that got certificates of appreciation from the His Excellency, Pastor Amb. Ndubisi Elvis Iruh.
Read Also:
After his remarks, he introduced the anniversary guest speaker in the person of Hon. Dr. Fatoumata Jehumpa Ceesay, former National Speaker, The Gambia National Assembly; former Deputy Speaker, ECOWAS Parliament; former President, Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA) and Founder, Family Rights Advancement & Protection (FRAP).
She spoke on the role of the African Diasporas in the growth of Africa. she also note that Africa herself has disappointed her Diaspora citizens by not properly engaging them despite the huge remittances each year back to their countries of origin.
She also used the occasion to challenge the Diaspora women to get involved in their various countries politics and let Africa produce more female politicians as they have proven to be better managers.
She was given a special Voice Heroine Award, a recognition by the publisher, Pastor Elvis Iruh. She dedicated the award to all Women in Diaspora present at the event. She later took a picture with all the women who attended the event to keep as a souvenir.
In a similar gesture, Her Excellency, Ambassador Chief Princess Mrs. Nwanne Campo presented a thank you award to the Publisher of The Voice magazine on behalf of Dr. Dawn Willis Foundation based in Kampala, Uganda, for his contribution to humanitarian activities in Uganda and other parts of the world.
There was live music supplied by East African Sound DJ Crew and Comedian Aboxan Aila from Kenya. The audience of nearly 300 guests were fully entertained, they all went home with goodie bags, courtesy of Unidex BV, a Dutch food distribution company in The Netherlands.
The Voice news magazine is the first Pan African news magazine published in The Netherlands in English language, covering Central Europe, America and Africa spread across the world. The first edition was published on 12th of August 1999.
The publication covers general news items, business engagements, interviews, coverage of social events, adverts, articles, opinions and feedback from readers.
In 2017, a new market strategy was adopted by starting the digital edition of the magazine, distributed online which is faster and cheaper for readers all over the world.
The Voice Magazine is currently distributed in 33 countries around the world.
