The African Development Bank’s President, Dr. Akinwunmi Ayọdeji Adeṣina, has been named the 2023 recipient of the esteemed Ọbafẹmi Awolọwo Prize for Leadership.
The Selection Committee made the announcement following a rigorous screening procedure.
This was said in a statement made by Chief Emeka Anyaoku, the chairman of the Obarimi Awolowo Prize for Leadership Selection Committee.
Nigerian Tribune reports that, The Ọbafẹmi Awolowo Foundation was established in April 1992 with the purpose of maintaining Chief Awolọw’s intellectual and leadership legacy. One of its initiatives is the Ọbafẹmi Awolọw Prize for Leadership. It was founded as an independent, nonpartisan, non-profit organization with the goal of perpetuating Chief Obafemi Awolowo’s development-oriented and democratic values.
Over the years, the Foundation has worked to fulfill its mission through a variety of initiatives, one of which is the regular holding of dialogues that aim to analyze important national issues and offer workable alternatives for their resolution.
The institution of the Prize is a direct outcome of the Special Dialogue held in July 2011 and themed, ‘Transformational Leadership and Good Governance: Lessons from the Awolọwọ Example’. The dialogue highlighted the fact that one of the greatest challenges facing African countries is the dearth of good leadership. It therefore recommended that the Ọbafẹmi Awolọwọ Foundation should institute an Ọbafẹmi Awolọwọ Prize for Leadership to encourage, recognize, reward and celebrate excellence in leadership.
It is generally well known that Chief Obafemi Awolowo was one of Nigeria’s and indeed Africa’s foremost leaders. A Pan-African nationalist of global repute, he was the First Premier of Nigeria’s Western region and, later, Leader of Opposition in the Federal Parliament. He was also, inter alia, Nigeria’s Federal Commissioner (now known as Minister) of Finance and Vice Chairman, Federal Executive Council and played crucial roles in Nigeria’s constitutional and political development during the country’s colonial and postcolonial history.
