By Giwa SHILE
Business magnate and Chairman of First Bank Plc., Mrs Ibukun Awosika, and renowned Fashion designer and 2000 winner, African Design by U.S.-based fashion magazine, “Vogue’’, Deola Sagoe, will grace the 2018 The Future Awards.
Others expected at the Dec. 16 “Nobel Prize for Young Africans’’ are the Managing Director of the First Bank Plc., Dr Adesola Adeduntan, and his GT Bank counterpart, Mr Segun Agbaje, the organisers said on Thursday.
The Chief Operating Officer of The Future Awards, Mrs Bola Adebakin, said in Lagos that the 2018 awards were designed to give a breath of fresh air to the negativity about Nigerians.
She added that most Nigerian youths were doing amazing things that needed to be recognised.
“The awards is a platform meant to identify purposeful youths who are doing amazing things and with the urge to continue.
“For some time now, we have been sowing negative news in this country and this Awards is like a breath of a fresh air. Every year, we go a long way to research for new Nigerians, new tribes making waves in their communities.
“What we are looking for is their ability to impact and inspire others. We have a crop of nominees from different fields, from agriculture to public service to professionals, musicians and sportsmen at various levels.
“These young people have distinguished themselves and they are key players in their fields and we are excited to have this new set of young ones because every year, we review the categories with the approval from the board of directors,’’ she said.
Adebayo said that The Future Awards were not a popularity contest, but sought to reward excellence and purposefulness in the youth and it would not go through public voting.
“The Future Awards are not a popularity contest and we believe that for someone to be nominated, it shows that such person is doing excellently well.
“We have a long list that are initially nominated but reduced through a through screening.
“All the top five standing are potential winners either they eventually win or not, they have gone through the stages before they got to the top five in the confidential judging process,’’ she said.
The Future Awards Africa has been called the “Nobel Prize for Young Africans’’, and the “most important youth awards’’ by Forbes.
It is a set of prizes given annually to celebrate and accelerate innovation, creativity and enterprise among young Africans aged 18 to 31 and has produced over 150 winners and over 1550 nominees since its first edition in 2006.
It is presented in conjunction with The Future Project, which has a mandate to build empowered citizens across Africa, through (inclusive) enterprise and (active) citizenship.
This focus on Human Capital Development is informed by our value proposition: Africa’s growth needs a generation of young people who are gainfully employed and able to demand and secure better leadership.
The projects include Aiki.ng, an employability portal presented with Microsoft; the Nigeria Symposium for Young & Emerging Leaders, #StartupsAfrica, Intern4Jobs, YMonitor.org presented with National Endowment for Democracy (NED).
The Future Enterprise Support Scheme and The Future Awards Africa, described as “The Nobel Prize for Young Africans’’.
The 13th edition of the award, according to the organisers, have been increased to 20 categories to cater for more outstanding youths really recognised for their various feats in their fields.
Notable nominees for the 2018 edition are, Ace singer, Simisola Ogunlade, (Simi), Folarin Falana (Falz), Adekunle Gold, Niniola Agata and Damiri Ogulu (Burna Boy), Super Eagles Stand-in Captain, Ahmed Musa-WPS and his Leicester FC of England counterpart, Wilfred Ndidi among others.
