Kehinde Adewole
The Ooni of Ife, Oba Enitan Adeyeye Ogunwusi, has stressed the need for the nation to cultivate the habit of celebrating those who have made or are making the country proud by offering exemplary leadership and making sacrifices for growth and development.
Oba Ogunwusi said that celebrating such outstanding Nigerians would encourage others to play heroic roles and spur those celebrated to do more for the country.
The Ooni made the remarks while accepting to be the new Chairman of the Africa Hall of Fame Awards, (AHoF) formerly known as the Hall of Grace ( HoG) Awards.
He said: “Our heroes, past and present and those working towards becoming the future heroes must be celebrated. Heroes are rare personalities who choose to offer exemplary, selfless and sacrificial leadership roles for the benefit of our society. We have many of them in Nigeria and we should celebrate them so as to encourage and witness more of such heroic deeds on our society.”
The AHoF as an annual programme has held nine sessions in which many distinguished Nigerians were honoured for exemplary and sacrificial leadership.
According to the platform’s Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Rupert Ojenuwa, previous recipients of the awards include Alh. Atiku Abubakar, Aliko Dangote, Governor Jibrilla Bindow, Dr. Akinwunmi Adesina, Senator Musa Kwankwaso, Governor Udom Emmanuel, late Chief Moshood Kashimawo Olawale (MKO) Abiola, former Governor of Lagos and current Minister of Works and Housing, Mr. Raji Fashola, Governor Rotimi Akeredolu, Mrs. Folorunsho Alakija, Ms. Wilma Aguele, Kenny Ogungbe and Dayo Adeneye, Chika Ike, Uti Nwachukwu, Tobi Bakre, among others.
On the emergence of the Ooni as Chairman of the AHoF, Ojenuwa said: “The choice of the Ooni of Ife is premixed on the personal antecedent of the revered monarch whose pre-occupation has been that of engendering peace in our nation. The Ooni, in addition to his exalted position is one who very deeply loves the Nigerian nation. His patriotism has never been in question and you see that he is a pan-African who wants Africa and indeed Nigeria projected for all the right reasons.