Okogie, Balarabe, Tejuosho, 7 Others Bag THISDAY Life-time Achievement Award

Posted by: stiphbami in News Feb 22, 2013

Ten personages, including renowned industrialist, Mr. Oba Otudeko, retired Catholic Archbishop of Lagos Diocese, Olubunmi Cardinal Okogie and Second Republic Governor of Kaduna State, Alhaji Balarabe Musa, are to be conferred with the Life-time Achievement Award at the 18th edition of the THISDAY Awards, slated for Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital, on Tuesday, February 26.

Others to be honoured at the event are a professor of music, Laz Ekwueme; former Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Ibrahim Dasuki; former Kaduna State Governor, Alhaji Lawal Kaita; Osile of Oke Ona Egba, Oba Adedapo Tejuosho; Chairman, Eleganza Industries Limited, Alhaji Razaq Okoya and Chairman, Chi Nigeria Limited, Mr. C. G. Vink.

A civil war hero, Maj.-Gen. Mohammed Shuwa, who was killed in November 2012 by gunmen in Maiduguri, the Borno State capital, will also be conferred with the a posthumous life-time achievement award.

Ekwueme, a renowned musicologist, was the coordinator of the Nigerian National Choir at the Black Arts Festival, Festac 77. He has used music to promote African culture.

Otudeko, a chartered accountant, is a renowned industrialist and corporate titan who has sat on many boards of blue chip companies, including First Bank of Nigeria Plc, Airtel Nigeria Limited, Honeywell Group and Radisson Blu Hotel. He was also the former president of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE).

Dasuki, who was deposed as the 18th Sultan of Sokoto by the Abacha regime, was a member of the 1977 Constituent Assembly. Since his deposition, he has lived a quiet private life.

Tejuosho, a medical doctor by training, made his mark as an industrialist and medical practitioner before his ascension to the throne.

Okoya, a real estate titan and industrialist, has through his companies provided jobs for hundreds of Nigerians.

Kaita, a politician, was a deputy permanent secretary in the Ministry of Works, Kaduna State, before he joined the politics of the Second Republic. He is a chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and was a director of the defunct Societe Generale Bank of Nigeria (SGBN).

Okogie, before his retirement as the Catholic Archbishop of Lagos in 2012, used the pulpit as a platform to fight for social justice in Nigeria. He remains an ardent social critic.

Musa was elected Kaduna State governor in 1979 on the platform of the Peoples Redemption Party. He was later impeached following his uncompromising stance towards the National Party of Nigeria-dominated House of Assembly. He has been vocal in championing for a better Nigeria.

Vink, a Dutch national, established Chi Nigeria Limited, a food processing company that produces the popular Chivita drinks brand, poultry, dairy and pharmaceutical products.

The awardees will be honoured in the presence of former US President, Bill Clinton, who will deliver a special keynote address at the event.

This year’s edition of THISDAY Awards will also celebrate Nigeria’s best and brightest teachers in an effort by the Editors of THISDAY to reward the unsung heroes and highlight the challenges facing the country’s troubled education sector.

In recognition of the critical role they play in human capital development and the socio-cultural and economic advancement of the country, readers of THISDAY have nominated over 750 of their favourite teachers deserving of honour and celebration from primary, secondary and university levels across Nigeria