The Hon. Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), was on Tuesday, September 30th, honoured as The Most Impactful Minister of the Year at the 2025 Nigeria’s Pride Awards which took place at Barcelona Hotel, Abuja.

Some awardees at the event

Keyamo, was honoured alongside other individuals, companies and organisations including Governor Francis Nwifuru of Ebonyi State, Dangote Group and its Group Head of Corporate Communications, Anthony Chiejina, Chief of Defence Staff General Christopher Musa, Sir Jideani Agabaidu, DG of Abuja Chamber of Commerce and Industry, veteran Nollywood personalities Tonto Dikeh, Empress Njamah, Rekiya Ibrahim Attah, Emeka Rollas, Gloria Okafor and Sandra Okunzuwa, among others.

The Nigeria’s Pride Awards was organized by First Green White Resources (FGWR), publishers of African Leadership Scorecard Magazine and Nationwide Reports; and was chaired by Gen. Paul Boroh (Rtd), former Special Adviser to the President on Niger Delta/Coordinator of Amnesty Programme while the Minister of Information and National Orientation, Alhaji Mohammed Idris was Guest Speaker with Dr. Sarah Jibrin, former Presidential Adviser on Ethics and Moral Values served as Mother of the Day.

Tunde Moshood, Special Adviser to Aviation Minster who represented Keyamo at the event, said Keyamo was committed to ensuring continuous improvement of Nigeran aviation sector and airports, safety of air travelers and compliance to global best practices by airline operators and other stakeholders in the industry.

The chairman of the occasion, Paul Boroh said Nigeria’s Pride Awards was a well-thought initiative to honour those who have served the nation well and contributed to nation-building.

Minister of Information and National Orientation who was represented by the Director, Publications, Production and Documentation, Mr. Ibidapo Okunnu said honouring citizens who have contributed to the development of the nation was a remarkable act worthy of commendation and enjoined citizens to collaborate with federal government in the task of making Nigeria a great nation.

The Founder/CEO of FGWR, Bonaventure Phillips Melah, said Nigeria’s Pride Awards was founded to identify, recognize, appreciate and celebrate citizens, other nationals and corporate citizens that distinguish themselves through selfless service, patriotism, exemplary and inspiring leadership and therefore contribute positively to the development, prosperity, peace, unity and security of Nigeria as well as overall wellbeing of humanity.

He said although Nigeria is a country in search of quality leadership, many of its citizens at home and in the Diaspora are doing well in diverse fields of human endeavour and should be celebrated as according to him, a society that does not reward good people does not deserve good people in the first place.

A citation read at the event described Festus Egwarewa Keyamo, CON, SAN, as a lawyer, writer and human rights activist who has made significant contributions towards the nation’s political development and played key roles in the struggle by opposition to reshape the country’s leadership direction.

Born on January 21st 1970, at Ughelli, Delta State, he attended Ambrose Alli University at Ekpoma, where he received a Bachelor of Law degree in 1992 and was called to the Nigerian Bar in December 1993 and began his legal career with Gani Fawehinmi’s Chambers in Lagos State.

Following a successful career in the legal profession, he served as Minister of State, Niger Delta and Minister of State, Ministry of Labour and Employment before his current position.

Keyamo was appointed Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development in September 2023 and within the last two years and some months, he has deployed his intellectual capacity, commitment and patriotism, to transform the aviation industry and make it one of the best performing sectors in the country.

Apart from standing strong on policies and taking proactive measures on safety, Keyamo has, brought together, key industry players, to identify pressing challenges and develop pragmatic solutions. In response to his strong leadership character, airline operators have taken measures to revalidate their operations in areas of plane health, safety measures, passenger treatment and others, even as he has insisted on necessary reforms and stringent policies aimed at rooting out corruption and inefficiency.