News
Why DTN@100 Heroes Awards is in segments- Council
The Organizing Council of DTN@100 Heroes Awards, has explained that the Awards would be made in segments to accommodate all the 100 individuals, governments, agencies, companies and other leaders being honoured for the outstanding contributions to Nigeria’s development in the last 100 years.
Accordingly, the Council said 30 wards would given out today, Thursday at Thisday Dome Abuja while others would follow in the coming days and months both in Abuja and Lagos at the various programmed and events being put together as part of Daily Times Centenary celebration.
The Chairman of the Times Heroes Awards Council, Bolaji Okusaga, disclosed this at a press briefing in Abuja on Wednesday.
Okusaga was in the company of Mr Bonaventure Phillips Melah, Executive Secretary of the Awards Council, and Mr Feyi Smith, Organising Secretary and veteran of the media industry.
He said that Former President of the African Development Bank (AfDB), Dr Akinwumi Adesina, Deputy Speaker, House of Representatives, Rt. Hon. Benjamin Okezie Kalu and six state governors are among the 30 that would be honoured at the event today.
He said the award cycle would culminate in a grand event in June 2027, when a total of 100 deserving Nigerians selected through the process would be recognised.
“Tomorrow, we are going to be awarding 30 awards. It is the first in the series of awards slated for the award cycle marking 100 years of the existence of Daily Times,” Okusaga said.
He explained that another award ceremony would be held in Lagos on November 13, while a subsequent event in 2027 would celebrate creativity and the ingenuity of the Nigerian spirit.
Adesina, he said, would receive the Global Impact Award in recognition of his contribution on the international stage and would also serve as the keynote speaker at the event.
“There is also the Global Impact Award, where we have sought out credible Nigerians on the global space who are making impact. One of such is Akinwumi Adesina, the former President of the African Development Bank, who will also be doubling as a keynote speaker,” he said.
Okusaga said the awards would also recognise governors, private-sector trailblazers, public servants, lawmakers and other Nigerians whose contributions had advanced national development.
He stressed that the awards were not restricted to any particular sector, saying the council would recognise deserving Nigerians across different areas of endeavour.
“For one, to make the claim about not being sector-sensitive, we are giving awards even to security agencies that are not going to be on public display for obvious security reasons,” he said.
“But the awards are not sector-sensitive. It cuts across every sector and every point of endeavour that has enriched Nigeria as a nation.”
He said the judiciary was not excluded from the awards, adding that some lawmakers would also be recognised, including Senator Wadada.
The chairman explained that the council adopted a merit-based process in selecting the awardees, involving nomination, engagement and physical verification of the achievements of nominees.
According to him, nominees were informed of their selection and the criteria for the awards before the council opened engagements with them to independently verify their claims.
“We went in to audit why they won and had internal interactions with them. They also wrote confirming their participation in this event. That was a criterion,” he said.
Okusaga added that nominees who did not satisfy the requirements for the current award cycle could still be considered for subsequent ceremonies.
He said the awards would recognise Nigerians across different generations and genders, although the council did not operate a formal quota system.
“We’re not trying to even the score, neither are we creating a quota. But there’s a healthy spread of age,” he said.
He added that there was no way of telling the complete story of Nigeria without recognising older Nigerians who had dedicated their lives to the country, young Nigerians making global impact and women contributing to national development.
The awards, he said, would form part of a broader effort to document Nigeria’s history, with the 100 recipients eventually included in the Nigeria Grand Book, which chronicles the country’s history from 1914 through independence and the post-independence period.
Speaking on the history of Daily Times, Okusaga said the newspaper came onto the newsstands on June 1, 1926, and played significant roles in Nigeria’s political and socio-economic development.
He said the newspaper contributed to the struggle for independence and later became a partner in national development.
Among its contributions, he said, was its involvement in the establishment of the Nigerian Stock Exchange, adding that the building that housed the exchange was originally owned by Daily Times.
He also noted the organisation’s investment in education through the Times Education Supplements and its creation of Evening Times to provide readers with more timely news before the advent of the internet.
“Daily Times broke the jinx around the 24-hour news cycle by creating Evening Times in order to be able to avail news on the go long before the creation of the internet,” Okusaga said.
He said the centenary celebration would therefore not only celebrate the newspaper’s legacy but also recognise the newsmakers who had shaped Nigeria over the past 100 years.
The chairman said the celebration, themed “Celebrating Legacies and Focusing on the Future,” would also examine the future of journalism and the media industry.
He said a fireside chat would examine the role of the media in shaping Nigeria’s development over the next century.
The session would be anchored by Eugenia Abu and feature media and business figures including Nduka Obaegbena, Yemi Ogundeyi and Mustafa Chike-Obi.
Okusaga said the discussion would examine the rapid transformation of news consumption and the implications of social media platforms such as TikTok, X, Instagram and Snapchat for traditional media.
“The media as we knew it, say in 2000, is not what you have now anymore. People no longer congregate the way they used to at newsstands because media has become platform agnostic,” he said.
He noted that the proliferation of smartphones and social media had made it possible for virtually anyone to become a news platform, creating both challenges and opportunities for mainstream media organisations.
“News has grown. The problem has been that news platforms have tended to stay too conservative not to notice these changes. But news hasn’t died. News, in fact, has grown,” he said.
According to him, media organisations that successfully reinvent themselves would benefit from the disruption in the industry, while those that failed to adapt could become irrelevant.
He said Daily Times itself had evolved beyond being a traditional newsstand newspaper and had become a virtual platform delivering audiovisual and graphic news content across the internet.
Okusaga said the organisation was also considering the possibility of returning to physical newspaper circulation, although distribution remained a major challenge in an era where news develops rapidly.
He said Daily Times had survived different political epochs, including the colonial, independence and military eras, by continually adapting to changing circumstances.
“Every epoch has come with its own challenge, and the platform has survived because it has learned to reinvent itself,” he said.
He added that the establishment of the Awards Council was aimed at ensuring independence and transparency in the selection process.
“The council was set up by Daily Times to give ultra-independence and transparency to the awards process and create a novel award product never before seen in Nigeria,” Okusaga said.
Dangote Cement Plc, Gboko Plant has awarded multi-million-naira scholarships to tertiary and secondary school students from its six host communities in Benue State.
The company also presented starter packs, working tools and certificates to graduates of its Youth Empowerment Programme to enable them to establish their own businesses, apply the skills acquired during the training and become financially reliant.
The Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dr. Henry Dele Alake, lauded Dangote Cement Plc for its community development interventions, calling on other private sector players to adopt similar initiatives to promote socio-economic development in their host communities.
Dr. Alake, who was represented by the Federal Mines Officer of the Federal Ministry of Solid Minerals Development in Benue State, Engr. Achi Gregory, urged the company to sustain its commitment to implementing community development programmes agreed upon with its host communities.
Speaking at the official presentation ceremony, Group Head, Social Performance, Dangote Cement Plc, Mr. Wakeel Olayiwola, said the implementation of the Community Development Agreement underscores Dangote Cement’s commitment to equipping young people with practical skills and resources to promote entrepreneurship, create employment opportunities and improve livelihoods in its host communities.
Mr. Olayiwola, who was represented by the Head of Social Performance of the Dangote Cement, Gboko Plant, Dr. Johnson Kor, said the scholarship and youth empowerment programmes came against the backdrop of several other programmes recently executed by the company, which include farmers and women empowerment programmes.
The Acting Plant Director, Dangote Cement, Gboko, Engr. Arbind Singh, said: “This annual scholarship scheme for indigent students of the host communities is an indication of our company’s commitment to its Corporate Social Responsibilities (CSR).”
Engr Singh, who was represented by the company’s General Manager, Production, Engr Tabershima Soom, said: “The Gboko Plant has already launched 150 Women Empowerment Programme and 50 Farmerss Empowerment Programme where women were provided with cash to support their businesses, and farmers were supported with farm inputs.”
The beneficiary communities for these programs are: Tse-Kucha, Quarry, Amua, Mbazembe, Mbatur, and Pass Brothers.
Speaking on behalf of the Benue State Attorney-General, the Chairman of the Mineral Resources and Environmental Management Committee (MIREMCO), Barr. Dooshima Orosaga, commended Dangote Cement Plc for its compliance with the Community Development Agreement (CDA), urging the beneficiaries and host communities to maximise the benefits of the company’s interventions.
Chairman of the Gboko Local Government, Hon Yina Elias said the government will continue to provide the support needed for the company to succeed, adding that the Dangote Cement Plc is an exemplary company in Corporate Social Responsibilities programmes.
In his remarks, the District Head of Ukpekpe, Chief Tsegba Igbarumun, commended Dangote Cement Plc’s Gboko Plant for its contributions to the community, assuring the company of the community’s continued support.
He said the community valued its mutually beneficial relationship with the company and would continue to serve as its ambassadors.
A beneficiary of the Youth Empowerment Programme, Mr Ignatius Aondohemba, expressed appreciation to Dangote Cement Plc for the support, pledging to put the skills and resources provided to good use and build a business that would enable him to become an employer of labour.
By Prof. Mike Ozekhome, CON
Happy 97th Birthday to a living legend, Aare Afe Babalola, SAN, CON, OFR, FCIArb, LL.D,D.Litt, Founder and Chancellor of Afe Babalola University, Ado-Ekiti. A great man was born today, and Nigeria is still blessed by that birth.
When a man turns 97 and is still relevant, still building, still teaching and still healing, his birthday is no longer a mere episode. It becomes a national lesson and a celebration of life.
The man Afe Babalola is resilience clothed in humility,doggedness masked in simplicity. Born today in 1929, in a humble homestead in Ado-Ekiti, without any silver or golden spoon or privilege, he walked through life laboriously as farm labourer, Grade Two teacher, court registrar and became one of Africa’s most celebrated lawyers and educatioists.His life teaches that where you started can never define where you end.
From that humble beginning, he taught himself law by private study, passed all his examinations in flying colours and rose to become a Senior Advocate of Nigeria. Today his name is synonymous with legal brilliance and integrity at the Bar for which he had shone and still shines for over six decades,and till date.
He is a builder in every sense of the word. At 80, an age many have retired from active service, baba founded Afe Babalola University, Ado-Ekiti, ABUAD. What he conceptualized and built is not just a citadel of learning, it is a city within a city — vast farms, fish ponds, factories, industries, potteries, piggeries,electricity grid,and a world-class multisystem teaching hospital that rivals any in Africa.
At ABUAD, shining star shows that education must produce, not just certificate but societal relevance. The hospital has modular theatres, CT scan, MRI, ICU, dialysis and cutting-edge equipment. It is his gift to humanity, a proof that wealth is best measured by impact,not by loads of cash in the bank. .
Today at 97, the Aare still wakes up early mornings and sleeps late at nights,thinking of what to add, not what to take or rest on. That is the first lesson for today’s youths — hard work has no retirement age when purpose drives you.
The second lesson is that education has equally has no age limit. If a man who could not afford secondary school would later become a SAN and founder of one of the world’s leading universities, then no youth has any excuse to give up learning.
The third lesson is vision that works. Youths must learn that dreams must be planted like farms, nurtured like fish ponds,and built like factories. Baba Afe Babalola did not just talk vision, he manufactured,and walked it. He did not just dreamt dreams, he actualized them.
The fourth lesson is humility. With all his glittering array of titles,honours and massive wealth, our nonagenerian ( soon a centenarian, by God’s grace) still personally phones far younger ones like me,calling me “my son”. He still opens his doors, still listens,still advises, still mentors, still helps. Greatness that intimidates is fake;true greatness lifts. The Aare has epitomized the latter.
The fifth lesson is courage to start,even if late. He started his greatest legacy at 80. To every youth who thinks time has passed, Afe at 97 born today says you are still early if you start now.
The sixth lesson is integrity as capital. His name has remained untainted till date. In a world of shortcuts, he reminds youths that a good name is still better than silver and gold.
Today, as we celebrate him at 97, we celebrate more than age.We celebrate relevance. We celebrate patriotism. We celebrate impact. To live long is grace; to remain relevant at 97 is uncommon resilience.
Joining all patriots at home and in diaspora, I wish Aare Afe Babalola,the irrepressible advocate,courtroom gladiator, mentor of a generation, teacher of teachers,and philanthropist extraordinaire,a happy 97th birthday.May his hands be strengthened,his soul lifted, his muscles oiled, and his life prolonged ( Gen 6:3 ).
Born today, celebrated for all times. Happy Birthday, Papa.
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