Category: Society

In 1989 at age 33, when most of his peers were busy lavishing their parent’s wealth, Rivers state born Atedo Peteside was busy working rigorously as he also founded Investment Bank and Trust Company IBTC which later metamorphosed to Stanbic IBTC Bank after a series of mergers over the years due to the Central Bank’s policy. After running the affairs of the bank for years leading it to the path of profitability and also ensuring the bank lives up to his expectation, he announced his resignation in 2017. He later channeled his strength to Anap Jets Ltd he founded in 2015. He also sits on the boards of both The Standard Bank of South Africa Limited and Standard Bank Group Limited.

Last weekend, Atedo refused to hide his joy when his first daughter Tokini Oluwatoyin, founder of Art X, walked down the aisle with her fiancee, French-born Gregoire Victor Schwebig, founder of Africa Works at a colourful wedding ceremony. Apart from Atedo’s hobby which is boating, polo, reading, and traveling, many don’t know he is a good stepper. His daughter’s wedding availed him the opportunity to unlock another part of his hobby on the dance floor when it was the father and daughter dance. Despite it being an emotional ambiance Atedo didn’t fail to show he has got the moves when Davido performed his hit songs.

When she came to Nigeria from the United Kingdom years ago with the idea of unifying all-white garment churches in Nigeria, many saw Esther Ajayi’s idea as unachievable owing to the complexity of religious beliefs and tenets churches uphold. The prayerful woman, who is fond of always saying, with God, all things are possible, has continued to chase her dreams with much gusto. After several consultations with religious heads of all the white garment churches across the country, providence granted her heart desires as her dream saw the light of the day. She held The Comforter Unification crusade where all the churches converged under one roof and prayed in unity for the very first time in history. This we gathered was the turning point in the life of the founder of the Esther Ajayi foundation who is today a celebrated woman across all nations for her love for propagating the gospel and also her charitable works.

For her contribution to fostering peace in religion, she was awarded by the International Association of World Peace Advocates IAWPA with the Most Peaceful Woman Champion Award 2022 alongside her husband Rev. Dr. Ademuyiwa Ajayi who also bagged the Man of Peace award. At the investiture and award presentation, Ajayi pledged to continually uphold peace as she was handed 400 bible verses of Peace to the United Nations of World Peace.

In the history of Nigeria’s Judiciary, Retd. Justice Mary Ukaego Peter-Odili’s name is a reoccurring decimal as a fearless woman who is a model for all women in the legal profession. She is courageous, intelligent, bold, technical, fearless, and smart. Whenever she is in the court, she connotes the mien of a lion that if you are not well grounded with the technicality and mode of the legal profession you will have her to contend with. Her poise, gait, and composure also place her in a league of her own which earned her a seat in the highest court in the land where she served meticulously before bowing out a few, months ago after attaining the age of 70 retirement age.

Many who tried to undermine her achievement will often note that her rise in the legal profession was related to her being a former first lady of Rivers and wife to former Rivers State Governor Dr. Peter Odili but her antecedence and precedence in the legal world speaks volume.

As she turns 70 on May 12, friends, family, and well-wishers converged at Our Lady of the Holy Rosary Chaplaincy, Catholic Institute of West Africa, (CIWA) in Port Harcourt to celebrate her birthday and retirement from the Supreme court. She also launched five books published in her honour namely, Judicial Journey of Hon. Justice Mary U. Peter Odili; Essays in Honour of Hon. Justice Mary Ukaego Peter Odili; Icon and On: Leading judgments on women’s rights in Nigeria in honour of Justice Mary Peter Odili; Mary Odili and the Law: Legal essays and Understanding the administration of criminal justice in Nigeria through the eyes of Hon. Justice Mary Ukaego Peter Odili.

If you trace the antecedent of Deputy Speaker Lagos House of Assembly Wasiu Eshilokun, you will know he is not a rookie in the scheme of things politically.

His background shows him as a time-tested politician who is saddled with only one responsibility, to better the lots of his people via quality representation. His approach is currently paving way for him in his next political sojourn. The lawmaker representing Lagos Island Constituency 1 was a former Local Government Chairman of Lagos Island before taking up his current challenge. Owing to his popularity among his colleagues, he was elected Deputy Speaker in 2019, a position he currently occupies.

As the Lagos Central Senatorial District seems vacant, Eshilokun has thrown his hat in the ring to represent the good people of Lagos Central at the Upper National Assembly in 2023. The first step to his dream turning into reality was when he passed his screening last weekend in Abuja. The All Progressive Congress APC cleared him fit to contest at the next primary election held before the end of the month. Eshinlokin is currently consulting with party leaders and opinion leaders in the senatorial district to support his senatorial ambition with their votes.

Ever since he ascended the throne of his forbearers, Ooni of Ife; Ooni Adeyeye Babatunde Enitan Ogunwusi has been at the forefront of developing Nigerian youths as an agent for change and also bringing the future nearer by engaging them to meet their true potential as agents of change. Apart from throwing his doors open to all sundry regardless of their class strata, religion, or tribe, he is known as an advocate for youth inclusion in governance. To create quality mentorship among Nigerian youths and also award those who have done excellently well in their various field, Ooni Adeyeye created the Royal African Awards over three years ago. The Award in its third edition was also created to induct awardees into the House of Oduduwa and also connect youth from diverse cultures for the common goal to brainstorm and foster peace for national unity. The third edition of the award will be held on May 21, at the Oduduwa Hall, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife with the theme ‘Africa of the Future: Fostering Inclusive Prosperity for the Next Generation’. Ooni Propmises top not only limited the award to Nigeria only as he plans to take the award train around Africa with a possibility of Rwanda holding the next edition.

Those who see a finished product called Bayo Omoboriowo are not aware of his struggles on his way to the top. Despite studying applied Chemistry at the University of Lagos his creative muse never left him. Instead of going in search of a white-collar job, Bayo opted to explore his creative side through photography following the footsteps of his father as a Youth Corp Member in Rivers State, where his work was featured at the Niger Delta Fototales Exhibitionin 2010. As Providence granted him luck, he was the official photographer of President Buhari in the runup to his 2015 presidential campaign elections. Those close to him disclosed that despite not being born with a silver spoon, he carved a niche for himself through resilience, hard work, and doggedness. This earned him the Guinness World record holder for his Photo Book Discover Nigeria the world’s Largest Photo Book.

The professional photographer has often donated heavily to support education via a creative workshop, donations of books, bags, school uniforms, and writing materials among other educational materials. In further to raise future giants catching them young from the University of Lagos campus that molded him to become what he is today, He has embarked on a project through his Unabashed Creative Foundation where he is currently building a creative hub called ‘Mad House’ inside the University of Lagos campus. A few days ago, He alongside Minister Of Works and Housing, H.E Babatunde Fashola, and Vice-Chancellor University of Lagos Prof. Toyin Ogundipe alongside some of his friends took a tour around the facility to see the progress made so far.

Ogun State Governor’s wife Mrs. Bamidele Abiodun is not a woman who gives in to media razzmatazz. She was quietly doing her thing not until her husband Governor Dapo Abiodun delved into the murky waters of politics. Because of that, she shelved her privacy to become a cynosure of all eyes as the first lady of Ogun State. She loathes unnecessary media attention but each time she tries to stay away, the good work she has put out keeps speaking volumes for her. If you have had the opportunity to sit with her, one thing that will get you attracted to her is her fellow feeling toward the downtrodden. She never hides the fact that she does not like anyone around her in distress; she is always ready to find a lasting solution to their problems.

Owing to her pedigree being born in a family of academics with her dad as a professor, she is not only brilliant, her composure, poise, sartorial elegance, fashion taste, and uncommon aura puts her in a league of her own. When she speaks, you would see the confidence and finesse backed with refined style. During her formative years, the Zoology graduate from the University of Ibadan has always wanted to keep touching lives via advocacy and philanthropy with a special interest in women and children. So when the opportunity came decades ago, she never ceased to key into the vision she envisaged for herself which earned her an appointment as the United Nations Sustainable Development Champion by the Civil Society Coalition on Sustainable Development (CSCSD). In her capacity as the first lady of Ogun State, she has initiated several life-touching programs with a special focus on health, women empowerment, social welfare, special needs, education, poverty reduction, and sexual and gender-based violence. In partnership with Learn Africa Plc, for her undying love for the rejuvenation of reading culture among teenagers, she donated 42,000 books to primary and secondary schools across Ogun State.

With her Ajose Foundation, partnering with the Ogun state ministry of rural development and the Ogun state rural water sanitation agency are currently working toward providing access to clean and potable water by drilling boreholes across Ogun state in other to wage war against cholera and other communicable diseases which can be caused by the consumption of bad water.

For Prince Adebiyi Adesina, the Agba Akin Majeobaje of Ibadanland and overall boss of Unique Motors, starting early as a serial entrepreneur and risk-taker has helped put him in a league of his own. The man has distinguished himself and made his life into a movie to be seen and enjoyed. A few days ago, Adesina clocked 40. Being a notable figure in Nigeria’s corporate industry, many high-profile people were happy to send their goodwill and wishes across via text messages, calls, social media mentions, and newspaper advertorials. But the birthday boy never failed to thank his creator for making his 40th birthday a reality.

In celebration of his 40th birthday, he also celebrated 11 years since he started running a business that has made him one of the leading auto dealers companies in Nigeria. Indeed, the last two years have been awesome for Adesina. It was during the COVID-19 pandemic that he first revealed a bit of the serendipity that was upon him. This was evidenced by the Agba Akin Majeobaje title that was bestowed on him after that period. Also, there was the ECOWAS ambassadorship that recognised his many achievements to mention a few.

If Dare Arigbede was to count his blessings, it would be quite impossible because it will take him another 40 years to count. As the Chief Executive Officer, Castle Mews Limited turns 40, he rolled out drums to celebrate.

At 40, Arigbede’s achievements include projects like Olive Court 1, Olive Court 2, and Olive Court 3 at Chevy View Estate, Chevron area.

The Ipoti Ekiti-born entrepreneur and graduate of Economics from Lagos State University did not only celebrate with a jamboree but also displayed his generous side by donating heavily to his alma mater; St Anthony’s secondary school in Ilorin, where he paid school fees for a hundred students. Dare restocked the school library, gave out one thousand higher education notebooks, lectured school children on personal development, and rewarded the three best teachers of his time. He also went ahead and registered the West African Examination Council (WAEC)  for 20 fatherless children free of charge. The real estate entrepreneur also visited patients at the General hospital, Marina, and Nigerian prisons. His birthday party was held at the highbrow KFA events centre in Lekki, Lagos, and witnessed a resounding turnout from top guests.