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The Future Award 2017: Wizkid, Njoku, Aboyeji, Osakwe, Adekunle battle For Young Person of the Year

By Chuks Nwanne
09 December 2017   |   12:33 am
The federal Palace Hotel & Casino, Victoria Island, Lagos, will come alive this evening, as young people from different walks of life will converge at the venue for The Future Award, which has been called the ‘Nobel Prize for Young Africans’, and the ‘most important youth awards’ by Forbes. Holding under the theme, Nigeria’s New…

Award Hosts: Mimi Onalaja and Adekunle Gold

The federal Palace Hotel & Casino, Victoria Island, Lagos, will come alive this evening, as young people from different walks of life will converge at the venue for The Future Award, which has been called the ‘Nobel Prize for Young Africans’, and the ‘most important youth awards’ by Forbes.

Holding under the theme, Nigeria’s New Tribe, the awards will acknowledge inspiring young Nigerians aged 18-31 making a difference through social enterprise, social good, and creativity. With 105 nominees selected over categories including Music, Beauty, Fashion & Design, Professional Service, Sports and more, 21 winners will be announced at the event, including the highly coveted Young Person of the Year.

Already, Ayo ‘Wizkid’ Balogun, Mary Njoku, Amaka Osakwe, Iyin Aboyeji and Silas Adekunle have been nominated for the Young Person of the Year award, which is most prestigious of all the categories. With the mandate to celebrate and accelerate innovation among young Nigerians, the TFAA acknowledges inspiring young people making a difference through social enterprise, social good, and creativity.

Arguably Nigeria’s most influential artiste this year, especially with his recent win at the MOBO Award 2017, where he defeated both Drake and Jay Z, Wizkid released one of the biggest albums of the year, Sounds from the other Side. He recorded One Dance with Canadian superstar, Drake and also signed a major publishing deal with international music giant Sony RCA records, while grabbing three awards at the 2017 Billboard Music Awards and a Grammy nomination.
 
On her part, Mary Remmy Njoku, an actress and movie producer, is also the CEO of ROK Studios. Launching her production company in 2013 with $25,000 seed money, it has consistently grown – producing television series and films on a platform that has successfully launched two cable channels in Europe and Africa. 

The creator of Africa-focused fashion label Maki Oh, Amaka Osakwe, has established a reputation as one of the leading designers on the continent, with her outfits worn by international superstars like Beyoncé, Rihanna, Kerry Washington and former United States First Lady, Michelle Obama.
 
With the launch of Andela, Iyin Aboyeji committed himself to the task of nation building through personal innovation. Leaving the highly successful tech incubator to start Flutterwave, the tech startup has become a global sensation and winning the Fintech Award at the 2017 Apps Africa digital innovation awards.
 
Silas Adekunle is the founder and CEO of Reach Robotics, a company developing the world’s first gaming robots. In partnership with the University of West England, Bristol, Silas managed the Prince’s Trust “Robotics in schools” program in Bristol, leading a team of engineering students into schools to develop the interest of young students in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) through robotics.

Meanwhile, the Central Working Committee of the award has announced performing artiste Adekunle Gold and TV personality, Mimi Onalaja as the hosts of this year’s event, which is presented by The Future Project and Refreshed by 7Up.

First hosted in 2006, the award is presented in conjunction with The Future Project (TFP), which has a mandate to build empowered citizens across Africa, through (inclusive) enterprise and (active) citizenship. This focus on human capital development is informed by the organisation’s value proposition: Africa’s growth needs a generation of young people who are gainfully employed and able to demand and secure better leadership.

Founded by Chude Jideonwo and Adebola Williams, TFP is supervised by a Global Board of Advisors drawn from Africa, Europe, North America and the Middle East, including the Coordinating Minister of the Nigerian Economy, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala; Senior Economic Advisor with the Open Society Foundations, Dr. Obiageli Ezekwesili; co-founder of ONE, Jamie Drummond and the Chief of Cabinet with the Africa Development Bank, Anne Kabagambe.

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