LEADERSHIP has announced winners of its 2022 annual awards, one of the most prestigious and sought-after prizes in the national calendar.
Three outstanding Nigerians, the President of Afrexim Bank, Prof Benedict Oramah; the chairman/CEO of National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), Brig- Gen Mohammed Buba Marwa (rtd); and world athletics champion, Oluwatobiloba Ayomide Amusan, emerged as Persons of the Year.
A statement by the Management said, “In accordance with our annual tradition, we are pleased to announce winners of this year’s awards after rigorous vetting that produced outstanding persons and institutions in different categories. It’s a list that inspires hope, in spite of our current challenges.”
In the LEADERSHIP Person of the Year category, Prof Oramah jointly won the coveted award for his numerous noble accomplishments across the world, standing him out as an extraordinary ambassador of his country, Nigeria, in his career and service to the country and the continent.
NDLEA boss, Marwa, who is currently a nightmare to drug barons in Nigeria, was also awarded Person of the Year along with Oramah for his giant strides in the war against drugs, particularly for making the biggest drug busts in the history of the country and repositioning a government agency that had been long moribund.
World athletics champion, Amusan, also made the prime honours roll for breaking Gail Devers’ 22-year-old record to defend the Diamond League 100 metres hurdle title in a winning time of 12.29secs, with her latest title, the Diamond League, adding to the plethora of records and titles she achieved in 2022.
“The defining criterion for this category is rewarding person(s) who have made extraordinarily positive impact on our lives through achievements that inspired and continue to inspire the country,” the Management statement said.
Also, for the year 2022, three state governors were jointly nominated for the award of LEADERSHIP Governor of the Year. They are Governors Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna State; Prince Dapo Abiodun of Ogun State; and Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi of Enugu State.
The governors were awarded for “programmes that significantly transformed lives in their states and for relatively transparent public records and proven interest in infrastructural development and business.”
Governor El-Rufai, who was a nominee last year, jointly won the award for his leadership, especially his effort to transform Kaduna State by delivering a strong economy, unprecedented infrastructural development and reforming the state public service and institutions into a lean but effective civil service.
Governor Abiodun also won in the Governor of the Year category for his focused and audacious efforts at infrastructural development and his strides in expanding the business profile of the state.
Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi made the Governor of the Year 2022 for putting the state on the path of economic independence and driving significant infrastructural development across the state, in spite of the security challenges in the region.
In another category, the Award for Politician of the Year 2022 went to the Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, whose political resilience and doggedness have held the country spellbound since the presidential primaries of the People’s Democratic Party in May. He was the only nominee and awardee in this category.
The LEADERSHIP Public Service Person of The Year was jointly won by chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), Muhammad Mamman Nami; director- general of the Industrial Training Fund (ITF), Joseph Ari, and Controller General of the Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS), Jere Idris.
The award, according the statement, was for “public servant(s) whose service delivery record and responsiveness made significant outcomes in the sector.”
Bank of the Year was clinched by LOTUS Bank for its innovativeness and returns on shareholder value; LEADERSHIP Social Impact Person of the Year award was jointly won by the proprietor of the Home for the Needy Foundation, Pastor Solomon Folorunsho, for his impact on the community in spite of very limited resources, and, the founder of Chess In Slums Africa, Tunde Onakoya.
According to the statement, a Borno-based renewal energy Engineer, Mustapha Abubakar Gajibo won the Environmental Impact Person of the Year Award for building an electric vehicle.
The Banker of the Year Award went to the Managing Director/CEO of Fidelity Bank Plc, Mrs. Nneka Onyealu-Ikpe, for her focused leadership and driving the bank’s outstanding commitment in supporting small businesses and under-funded sectors; while the Business Person of the Year was won by the Managing Director/CEO of Mojec International Holdings, Ms. Chantelle Abdul.
The Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) won the Government Agency of the Year 2022 for the significant strides made by the corps in the last one year.
Other winners are Company of the Year, won by Bua Foods, adjudged “the company with the best performing stock on the Exchange this year”; Brand of the Year, Coleman Cable and Wire; and Telecoms Company of the Year won by MTN Nigeria, for its outstanding value proposition, and leading edge in product and service experience.
Product of the Year was won by Mama Pride, one of the fastest-growing brands of household rice.
The CEO of the Year went to the Group Managing Director/CEO of Zenith Bank, Ebenezer Onyeagwu, for his audaciously entrepreneurial spirit and also the dominance and resilience of the bank’s brand.
LEADERSHIP Oil & Gas Local Content Champion of the Year was clinched by the Executive Secretary of the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board, Mr. Simbi Wabote; while and the E-Commerce Company of the Year, which went to Pocket Money.
This year, the Artiste of the Year award went to Afro Pop RnB hip-hop music rave of the moment and Buga crooner, Kiss Daniel.
The LEADERSHIP Sports Persons of the Year award went to FIFA Under-17 female world cup team, the Flamingoes of Nigeria who recently won several medals for Nigeria in the August 5-24, 2016 Summer Olympics Games held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; while a 13-year-old primary 4 talented boy from Borno, Musa Sani, who redesigned Maiduguri flyover using mud, won the LEADERSHIP Outstanding Young Person of the Year award.
The statement said the awards would be conferred on all the recipients at the next edition of LEADERSHIP Conference and Awards ceremony billed to hold early next year on a date to be announced soon.
