Former Kenyan Prime Minister Raila Odinga heads the LEADERSHIP Conference as everything is set for today’s prestigious conference and award ceremony.

The LEADERSHIP Conference and Awards announced to take place at the International Conference Centre, Abuja today, at 10am. sectors in the previous year.

According to a statement by Editor-in-Chief Mr. Azubuike Ishiekwene, this year’s conference and awards will be chaired by Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, Vice President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, while the keynote address will be delivered by former Prime Kenyan Minister Raila Amolo Odinga.

Ishiekwene also revealed that the royal father of the day is the Etsu Nupe, Alhaji Yahaya Abubakar, while FCT Minister Mohammed Bello is the main host and the Chairman of LEADERSHIP Group Limited, Ms. Zainab Nda-Isaiah, is the host.

The historic event brings together eminent personalities from around the world and prominent Nigerians, including governors, lawmakers, members of the diplomatic corps and senior statesmen.

Odinga, who is currently the leader of the opposition in Kenya, will join other commentators in deliberating on this year’s theme, “Credible Elections and the Economy in Transition.”

The selection of the award winners, as usual, followed a critical review of their various contributions to the growth and development of Nigeria, as laid out by the founding Chairman of LEADERSHIP Newspaper Group, the late Sam Nda-Isaiah.

It should be remembered that LEADERSHIP had recently presented its 2022 winners with the trio of the president of AfreximBank, Professor Benedict Oramah; National Drug Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) Chairman and CEO Brigadier General Mohammed Buba Marwa (RTD) and world champion track and field champion Oluwatobiloba Ayomide Amusan scooped up the 2019 Person of the Year award. Newspaper.

Professor Oramah jointly won the coveted award for his many noble achievements around the world, highlighting him as an ambassador extraordinaire for Nigeria, in his career and service to the country and the continent.

NDLEA chief Marwa, who is currently a nightmare for drug lords in Nigeria, was also awarded Person of the Year along with Oramah for their breakthroughs in the drug war, in particular for carrying out the drug busts. largest in the country’s history and reposition a government agency that had been moribund for a long time.

World champion track and field champion Amusan also entered the top honors list for breaking the record of 22-year-old Gail Devers to defend the Diamond League 100m hurdles title in a winning time of 12.29 seconds, with his latest title, the Diamond League, adding to the plethora of records and titles he achieved in 2022.

Rivers State Governor and arguably the most controversial Nigerian politician at the moment, Nyesom Wike, emerged as Politician of the Year while the trio of governors Nasir El-Rufai (Kaduna); Dapo Abiodun (Ogun) and Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi (Enugu) are the Governors of the Year.

Governor El-Rufai, who was nominated last year, jointly won the award for his leadership, especially for his effort to transform Kaduna State by building a strong economy, unprecedented infrastructure development, and reforming public service and state institutions to turn them into a lean but effective civil system. Service.

Governor Abiodun also won the Governor of the Year category for his bold and focused efforts in infrastructure development and his advances in expanding the state’s business profile.

Governor Ifeanyi Ugwanyi earned the 2022 Governor of the Year award for putting the state on the path of economic independence and driving significant infrastructure development across the state, despite security challenges in the region.

The LEADERSHIP Public Service Person of the Year award was jointly won by the Chairman of the Federal Internal Revenue Service (FIRS), Muhammad Mamman Nami; the director general of the Industrial Training Fund (ITF), Joseph Ari, and the Comptroller General of the Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS), Jere Idris.

LOTUS Bank won the Bank of the Year Award for Innovation and Shareholder Value Return; LEADERSHIP Social Impact Person of the Year went to the owner of the Home for the Needy Foundation, Pastor Solomon Folorunsho, for his impact on the community despite very limited resources and Tunde Onakoya.

The Banker of the Year award went to Fidelity Bank Plc Managing Director/CEO, Ms. Nneka Onyealu-Ikpe, for the bank’s outstanding commitment to supporting small businesses and underfunded sectors; while the Managing Director/CEO of Mojec International Holdings, Ms. Chantelle Abdul, won the Business Person of the Year award.

The Nigerian Security and Civil Defense Corps (NSCDC) won the 2022 Government Agency of the Year for the significant progress made by the corps in the last year.

Other winners are Company of the Year, won by BUA Foods, awarded as “the company with the best performing shares on the Stock Market this year”; Brand of the Year, Coleman Cable and Wire; and Telecommunication Company of the Year, won by MTN Nigeria, for its excellent value proposition and cutting-edge product and service expertise.

Mama Pride, one of the fastest growing domestic rice brands, won the Product of the Year award.

CEO of the Year went to Group CEO/CEO of Zenith Bank, Ebenezer Onyeagwu, for his bold entrepreneurial spirit and also for the dominance and resilience of the bank’s brand.

LEADERSHIP The Oil and Gas Local Content Champion of the Year was won by the Executive Secretary of the Nigerian Content Development and Supervisory Board, Mr. Simbi Wabote; while and the E-Commerce Company of the Year, which went to Pocket Money.

This year’s Artist of the Year award went to Afro Pop RnB hip-hop music rave of the moment and ‘Buga’ singer Kizz Daniel.

The LEADERSHIP Sportsman of the Year award went to the FIFA World Cup U-17 women’s team, the Nigerian Flamingoes, who recently won multiple medals for Nigeria at the Summer Olympic Games from August 5-24, 2016 held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; while Musa Sani, a talented 13-year-old primary school boy from Borno, who redesigned the Maiduguri flyover with mud, won the LEADERSHIP award for Outstanding Youth of the Year.