Akinwumi Adesina, president of the African Development Bank, will be presented the 2023 award of the Obafemi Awolowo Prize for Leadership this week.
The Obafemi Awolowo Foundation announced in a statement on Sunday that the award ceremony will take place on Wednesday.
It said Adesina was picked as the winner of the prize after a rigorous selection process by a panel of eminent Nigerians.
According to the organisers, the actual presentation of the prize, which consists of a plaque, medal and the certificate of award, will be made at the ceremony that is expected to draw a wide array of distinguished Nigerians and global exemplars.
Adesina will deliver a lecture at the occasion, according to the statement, which said Yakubu Gowon, former head of state and chairman of the board of trustees of the foundation; and Emeka Anyaoku, chairman of the Selection Committee, will be present.
The foundation said special guests of honour include President Bola Tinubu, adding that the event will be chaired by Samia Suluhu Hassan, president of the United Republic of Tanzania.
It said the event seeks to mainstream and to celebrate a revered genre of outstanding contribution which at once uplifts the national soul and regales humanity.
It said: “It is the foundation’s hope that the prize for leadership, being made to such a globally acclaimed awardee, will assist in restructuring national values, as well as send a powerful message concerning the desirability of transformational leadership and a revival of productivity ethics.
“The event is also expected to encourage the dignity of labour and signpost the culture of productivity.
The idea of the leadership prize was derived from the special dialogue of the Obafemi Awolowo Foundation held in July 2011 with the theme, ‘Transformational Leadership and Good Governance: Lessons from the Awolọwọ.’
