Seplat Petroleum and Ikeja Electric Plc have emerged winners of the biggest prizes in the corporate categories of the Africa Safety Award for Excellence (AfriSAFE) 2021.
While Seplat bagged the top prize in the Merit Award category, Ikeja Electric’s Chief Executive Officer, Folake Soetan emerged winner in the CEO of the Year category.
The latter also won the HSE Team of the Year category.
The announcement was made at the AfriSAFE Gala Night held at the Lagos Oriental Hotel, Victoria Island on Friday, November 12.
Femi Da-silva, chief executive officer, AfriSAFE, stated that “Seplat and Ikeja Electric won the awards for their unique initiatives that showed that they prioritized the safety of their workforce and protection of their operating environments”.
Da-silva added that he hoped that the recognition accorded the winners would spur others to pay more attention towards health and safety in their operations.
Other winners on the night in the corporate categories included Nigeria LNG Limited (NLNG) for CSR of the Year, West African Ventures Ltd (WAV) for Maritime Company of the Year, and SafetyCloud (NOSA) for Training Provider of the Year.
Others are Impala Rustenburg, South Africa for Mining Company of the Year and Cadbury Mondelez International as Best Health and Safety in Manufacturing.
Read also: Despite challenges, pharmaceuticals, cement, FBT, drive manufacturing growth in third quarter
Among individuals who carted home awards for their outstanding roles in health and safety include Lindy Scott, who won the Shining Star Award, and Samson Henshaw Onyeabor, winner of the Professional of the Year Award.
Others are: Edward Debra, Popular Choice Award (Individual); Taiwo Afolabi, Legend Award; while Helen Mithole-Cliff and Dr. Ahmed Ramadan won the Special Commendation Award.
A member of the award’s advisory board, Wale Bakare, lauded the winners of the various categories for their individual and corporate roles in health and safety in the continent of Africa.
While delivering his welcome address, he said, “In every contest, one person eventually takes the diadem but, in this case, all that have made the final shortlist are all champions.
“They have made it to this stage through a rigorous process of adjudication by our panel of judges who come from 5 different countries in 3 continents.”
Meanwhile, AfriSAFE 2021 was filled with thrilling and captivating moments that will linger in the minds of those who were present.
The award went beyond the honouring of safety professionals and safety-compliant organizations but also featured an exhibition, dance performances encouraging safety consciousness in Africa, and hilarious moments from popular comedian, Seyi Law.
Dignitaries that graced the occasion included Dr Tee Mac Omatshola Iseli, popular entertainer; Kehinde Bamigbetan, former Lagos State Commissioner for Information; and Akeem Ogunniran, Strategy, Board Chairman, Lagos State Building Investment Ltd; Dominga Odebunmi, Pioneer Director-General of Lagos State Safety Commission; and Nofisat Arogundade, former director of OSH, Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment.
