LEADERSHIP, Azu Bag Omoluabi Royal Icon Awards

LEADERSHIP Group Limited, alongside its senior vice chairman and editor-in-chief, Mr Azu Ishiekwene, on Thursday emerged winners of the 2025 edition of the Omoluabi Royal Icon Annual Award organised by the Yoruba Council Worldwide (Igbimo Apapo Yoruba Lagbaye).

While LEADERSHIP Group bagged the award as Ìròyìn Omolúàbí Oòduà Àgbáyé, (Most Cultured and Well-mannered Newspaper) for 2025 in recognition of its character, integrity, worth, hard work and monumental contributions to the development of Yoruba’s cultural heritage and values, Azu emerged winner of the award for the same reason.

The organisers of ORI’s annual award which has the Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi, alongside the Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Abimbola Owoade, as the royal grand patrons, also recognised The Nation and a community media outfit, Penpushing Media, for their contributions to the Yoruba’s Omoluabi cultural heritage at the event, which was held at the Cinema Hall of the June 12 Cultural Centre, Abeokuta, Ogun State.

The event witnessed a convergence of eminent Nigerians, as well as several Yoruba traditional rulers from the Republic of Benin and Togo, who joined their counterparts from Ogun, Oyo, Ondo, Ekiti, Osun, among other South Western States of Nigeria, also had the head, editorial operations of the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) and former president of the Nigeria Association of Women Journalists (NAWOJ), Hadjia Anthonia Adunni Ifeyinwa Omowole, being awarded with the title of Yeye Atayese Omolúàbí Oòduà Agbaye.

Speaking at the YCW’s Anniversary and 7th Annual World Festival Award, the council’s global president, Hassan Oladotun, said the Omoluabi Royal Icon Award, tagged; “Isokan Omoluabi 2025,” was packaged to celebrate Yoruba’s cultural heritage and recognise awardees’ contributions to national development.
According to Aare Oladotun (Esq), LEADERSHIP Group and its editor-in-chief were identified as winners for the 2025 edition because of their contributions to promoting good governance in Nigeria, as evidenced in the group’s well-organised and unbroken annual LEADERSHIP Awards.

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“Given LEADERSHIP’s history of recognising outstanding leadership, as seen in their annual conference and awards, we believe they would be a fitting recipient of the ORI Award. We look forward to recognising their contributions,” he said.

Earlier, Oladotun highlighted the core objectives towards actualising the age-long ancestral Yoruba development agenda, which he said will be in the overall benefits of the generations “and yet unborn”.
Among this agenda is the call for the repeal of the Land Use Act enacted in year 1978 by the Gen. Olusegun Obasanjo-led military administration; expansion cum increase of the 15 percent derivative allocation to the palaces of the traditional rulers in Nigeria, particularly in Yorubaland; amendment of the 1999 Constitutions in such a way that will make traditional institutions, particularly in Yoruba land to be an independent arm of government with absolute immunity and protective powers over land property in their respective domains, as well as increment in the 35 percent Allocation to educational sector in Yorubaland among others.

Oladotun maintained that Nigerians attained the desired height in the comity of nations through the Yoruba Development Agenda, which has a blueprint for education, commerce and ways of life.

In his lecture titled “Yoruba Agenda: Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow,” the guest lecturer, Aderemi Ajala, a Professor from the Department of Archeology and Anthropology, University of Ibadan, urged the federal government to devise means of adopting some of the cardinal objectives in the Yoruba Development Agenda for the nation’s development.

Other eminent awardees at the event included Dr Angel Adelaja-Kuye, Governor Dapo Abiodun’s special adviser on Agriculture and Food Security, and other well-to-do members of Nigerian society.