Connectnigeria Articles

Babafemi Oyediran Winner, Best Use of Advocacy Babafemi graduated from the Federal University of Technology, Minna, and he is currently pursuing his Master Degree there. He is an environmentalist and runs a couple of eco-friendly programs. He has executed a number of community based and rural programs. He was nominated to participate at the World Bank Institute Global Youths Against corruption, in 2011, in Nairobi, Kenya. He has been nominated for several awards locally, and he is a member of the Nigerian Institute of Management. Twitter: @babafemioye Gidi Traffic Best Use of New Media Gidi Traffic is an online platform that provides service updates on the traffic situation in Lagos. It uses twitter and its re-tweet and hash tag features, to continuously update people on the traffic situation at routes in Lagos. People using the roads at the time, post information on Gidi traffic’s twitter mentions, or request information, and Gidi traffic posts it on it timeline to get information back or update on that particular route. Gidi traffic has grown to be one of the most reliable sources for traffic information in Lagos, even as radio station quote from it and supply information to it as well Gidi traffic has over 30,000 followers on twitter. It got a partnership deal with Nokia recently, and was nominated for Life-Saving Hero Award, at Shortys social media award, hosted in New York. He is the first African on the award. The name of the account owner is Kaptin Idoko. Twitter: @Gidi_Traffic Bayo Omoboriowo Creative Artiste of the Year Bayo is a freelance documentary photographer, born on 13 May 1987. He is a Chemistry graduate from the University of Lagos, where he is also doing his post graduate diploma program in education administration and planning. He is inspired by Jide Alakija, and admires George Oshodi and Andrew Esiebo’s passion for art. He was nominated in two categories at the 2011 Nigeria Professional Photography Awards. He was also the second-runner-up at the AAF-Etisalat Amateur Photography competition 2012. Twitter: @bayoomoboriowo Toju Foyeh Designer of the Year Toluwaloju Olowofoyeku studied law at the University of Reading and at the University of Manchester, obtaining, LLB and LLM respectively. She then, went on to Milan, for fashion studies, at Instituto Marangoni. She said her interest in fashion started after she saw magazines belonging to her mum from a very young age. Her designs have graced the runway locally, and she hopes it will grace the runway in New York, London, Paris and Milan. She gets her inspiration from Deola Sagoe, Ellie Saab, Valentino and Karl Lagerfeld. Twitter: @TojuFoyeh Hadiza Abdullahi Excellence in Service (Government) Hadiza Abdullahi graduated from Ahmadu Bello University Zaria, with a BSc in political science. She went on to work with the FCT administration. She also worked with the Niger State Government as a Director General, before working with an NGO, IECHO that assists in educating challenged persons and orphans. LinkedIn: Hadiza Abdullahi Twitter: @hadeezus Alkasim Abdulkadir Excellence in Service (Journalism) Alkasim Abdulkadir graduated with a degree in Estate Management. He is a journalist (photography, reporter & writer) and author. He has written a book, Dauda and the Cockerel. He is the erstwhile Assistant General Secretary of the Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA) In 2004, he was a fellow and Writer-in-residence at the Foundacion Valparaiso in Spain. As a photographer his pictures have been used by CNN and BBC for their news content while he has also held two joint photography exhibitions. He has also contributed reports to the BBC, CNN, Aljazeera, France 24 and Metropole Magazine. Currently, he is the foreign correspondent for CCTV Africa and News Editor at the online news aggregation website Citizens Platform. Twitter: @alkayy Ngozi Nkwoji Excellence in Service (Corporate) Ngozi Nkwoji is an alumnus of London Business School, and is currently the brand manager of Heineken, at Nigerian Breweries Plc. She has held executive positions at Nigerian Breweries before now, and she worked with McKesson Provider Technologies in the US, after school. LinkedIn: Ngozi Nkwoji Seun Onigbinde Innovator of the Year (Science and Technology) Seun Onigbinde is an innovator and an environmentalist. His project BudgIT is a platform that lets breaks the Nigerian budget, both federal and at state level, into simple understandable fractions. The project came emerge the silver winner from Tech-In-Governance series, a competition held for hopeful IT entrepreneurs in early 2011. Twitter: @seunonigbinde Otto Orondaam Innovator of the Year (Education) Otto is an active nation builder, a social entrepreneur and development advocate. His pet project Community Impact Nigeria helps children and agrarian communities, for better livelihood and education. Twitter: @orondaam Ola Orekunrin Entrepreneur of the Year (General) Ola got her medical degree from the Hull York Medical School in the UK, and was one of the youngest graduates for medicine at her time. She was raised in the UK by white foster parents, and had the dream of becoming the president of the British Medical Association. She moved to Nigeria and founded Flying Doctors, an air ambulance service, first of its kind in West Africa. She hopes to bring the highest standard of medical practice to Nigeria, with the help of partners in the UK. Twitter: @FlyingDrNigeria Tochukwu Ikpegbu Entrepreneur of the Year (Agriculture) Tochukwu runs Emmanuel farms. Uyi Omokaro Entrepreneur of the Year (Communication and Media)- Uyi is a graduate of the University of Calabar, he is a partner with DM2 Group and a representative of Dave Omokaro Foundation. Twitter: @uomokaro Michael Collins Entrepreneur of the Year (Entertainment)- Widely known as Don Jazzy, the singer, producer and record label boss, entered the Nigerian music scene about a decade ago, becoming one of the best teams in the game, with former partner D’banj. Don Jazzy studied business management at Ambrose Ali University, Ekpoma, Edo State, and moved to the UK in 2000 on invitation from an uncle. He remains one of the best producers in Nigeria, and has worked with several recording artists, both local and foreign. Twitter: @DONJAZZY Jason Njoku Entrepreneur of the Year (Technology) Jason Njoku is a graduate of chemistry from Manchester University. He said he watched over 2000 Nollywood movies over a period of 9 months, in the UK, after which he sought to get the world to see Nigerian movies through the web. He is the CEO of Iroko partners, a web company whose YouTube channel – Nollywood Love – has reached about 200 million views. He recently got married to a nollywood actress, Mary Remmy, and he continues to be one of the stars of the Nigerian tech scene. Facebook: Jason Njoku Tolu ‘Toolz’ Oniru On-Air-Personality (Radio) Tolu was a fast rising radio presenter, a few months ago, but is now one of the most famous people on radio. She studied Business and Communication at the University of Westminster. She moved back to Nigerian in April 2009, and joined Beat FM. She hosts midday shows on Beats FM on weekdays, she is also the host of Juice on Ndani TV. Twitter: @ToolzO Denrele Edun On-Air-Personality (TV) Denrele Edun is a famous video jockey in Nigeria, and now – around Africa. He started his TV appearance with Kidivision 101, on NTA, circa 1995. Denrele studied at the University of Lagos, ad worked for with Soundcity TV, for years, where he achieved his fame as a presenter. He has won 16 awards. He recently moved to Channel O, and continues his uncommon style. Twitter: @DENRELE_EDUN Wizkid Musician of the Year Ayo Balogun popularly known as Wizkid, is a sensation around Africa at the moment. He is a recording artist, young and loved by many. He has several hit songs, and local and international awards to his credits. He is on E.M.E records, owned by Banky W, and also has a deal with Akon’s Konvict Music. Twitter: @wizkidayo Tonto Dikeh Actor of the Year Tonto Dikeh is a 27 years old, Nollywood star actress. She is a graduate of petrochemical university from Rivers State University of Science and Technology. She was a contestant at the ‘Nex Movie Star Reality Show’. She has been in several movies in Nigeria, with many of the A-list stars. She dreams to feature in Hollywood movies and hopes to take classes at the New York film academy. Twitter: @Tontolet Jeremiah Shelika Producer of the Year (Music) Jeremiah ‘J. Sleek’ Shelika is a top music producer in Nigeria. He has made songs for 2face, and a couple of big artists in Nigeria. He was recently sign by D’banj, to his record label, and will have the platform for new popularity. Facebook: J-Sleek Clarence Peters Producer of the Year (Screen) Clarence is the son of former juju music star Sir Shina Peters. Clarence attended the City Varsity film and Television academy in Cape Town, South Africa, for a degree in directing and cinematography. He returned to Nigeria to become one of the coveted directors for short films. He does motion picture in high definition and standard definition. He runs a busy schedule and has been said to be the most sought after director in the industry in Nigeria. He owns Capital Dream Pictures, a multimedia content creation company. Twitter: @Capital Dreams Idris Akinbajo Young Person of the Year Idris was born on July 24 1981. He is a graduate of food science and technology, from Obafemi Awolowo University. He is a journalist who worked with Next newspapers, and was part of the team that revealed the ‘brain dead’ story of the former Nigerian President Umaru Musa Yar’adua. He also reported that the Power Holding of Nigeria Company was not offering up to 5000MW as they claimed. He also uncovered several manipulations in the petroleum industry and continued to publish exclusive pictures of insurgency going in parts of Nigeria. He won the African investigative journalist of the year and Nigerian investigative journalist of the year, best Nigerian investigative story in print, and second best investigative story online, He was a finalist for the 2012 CNN/Multichoice award. He is currently the head of investigative desk at Premium Times Nigeria. LinkedIn: Idris Akinbajo