It’s finally here! After four solid months of one of the nation’s most intense publicity campaigns, and a national tour the likes of which the nation probably only sees in politics, the organisers of The Future Awards are set to present, for the fifth year in a row, Nigeria’s biggest youth event.
The event holds as announced by the organisers at the official launch of this season on October 1, 2009 in Lagos . It holds on Sunday, the 7th of February 2010 at the Musion Centre in Lagos . The Keynote Speaker is Managing Director of the World Bank, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala. Read the rest of this entry »
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On Tuesday, the 8th of December, The Future Awards released its much-awaited list of nominees for the 2010 edition of the awards. “It’s a rich list!” said Emilia Asim-Ita, the awards’ PR Director. “I am so proud of it; it took two months of gruelling work and research, but I look at the list of another 160 high-achieving young Nigerians and I think to myself: wow, we have been representing!”
The long list was released after two months of calling for nominations, and having town hall meetings across eight states of the federation (Osun, Adamawa, Edo, Rivers, Cross River, Enugu, Abuja and Kaduna), in conjunction with HiTV, as well as Accra, Johannesburg, Manchester and London, reaching out to young Nigerians in order to get a fine spread of nominations and participation.
“There is no excuse for bad behaviour,” said Affiong Williams of the Nigerian Youth network in Johannesburg, “Yes, things might have been bad for Nigerians that migrated here, but what is wrong is wrong and we must condemn it and begin to project positive values wherever we go.” Ms. Williams was passionately contributing to the discussion by young Nigerians living, schooling and working in South Africa, who were part of The Future Awards Johannesburg Town Hall meeting on the 28th of November.
The international arm of the awards’ town hall meetings had the aim of interacting with and inspiring young Nigerians living in countries with substantial Nigerian populations. Not only do the events have inspiring conversations and try and get widespread nominations for the awards, the event also seeks to spread the message for this year’s campaign themed “Representing Nigeria”.
The event, held at the Dio Bacco in Norwood and had in attendance, the MD of Lowe Lintas in Nigeria, Big Brother host IK Osakioduwa (who is a two time winner of the awards) and was held in conjunction with SA company Naijaborn.com.
London Town Hall Meeting
The Future Awards, in conjunction with HITV, which is sponsoring all the town hall meetings, also stormed the United Kingdom. The London Town Hall Meeting held at the University of East London, and was held with support from Oloja.com, MakeImpact led by former nominee Dayo Isreal, Godwin Odusanwho of the Nigerian Students Association and Joseph Britus of the International Students Association.
Held on Wednesday, the 18th of November, it was an evening of brilliant discussions, music and comedy, and had in attendance the Ogun State Commissioner for Sports, who is an alumni of the school, amongst others.
After visiting Abuja, Yola and Kaduna, Nigeria’s biggest youth event, The Future Awards (under the umbrella The Future Project), continued its national tour of the six geo-political zones of the country, taking its youth town hall meetings to Enugu, Port Harcourt and the Ghanaian capital, Accra.
“On these visits, we have tried to see that we can reach individual young people directly and practically. We don’t just want these crowds of people, we want to ensure that message goes through to the attendees – we had them, not just talk about Nigeria and then know how to nominate outstanding young people, but also to make them ambassadors in their communities for the values we hold dear – entrepreneurship and value creation,” Chude Jideonwo, the Creative Director, said.
The Port Harcourt Town Hall meeting had the awards’ Business Owner of the Year speaking to the youth, while Enugu had finalist for On-Air Personality of the Year (Radio), the popular Chuks d Spaceman of Cosmo FM. “Courtesy of support from HiTV for these town hall meetings,” Jideonwo, who was also in Enugu, said, “not only do we have our own events, we also visit youth events, clubs and gatherings of young people in those areas to spread our message of hope and change.”
The Ghana Town Hall meeting was the first of the international town hall meetings for this year, where The Future Awards engages with communities of young Nigerians in different countries. It was held in conjunction with the Nigerian High Commission in Ghana. The High Commissioner, Senator Musiliu Obanikoro, sent a representative. The event held at the Shangrila Hotel, with an overflowing hall of young Nigerians living, working and schooling in Ghana, as well as a mix of Ghanaian youth. Also present was Screen Producer of the Year winner, Onye Ubanatu.
Performers included Ghanaian comedian Peter Wincousyn, Nigerian keyboardist Yemi (who reminded guests of Cobhams), Sammy and Bizkit. The event hosts were daughter of ace Nigerian producer, Daphne Akatugha (who is also one of the coordinators of the International Students Association) and Ghanaian writer Robert.
“We didn’t have any town hall meeting in Lagos because we had the launch event here, and we have also been on a breathless round of events, campuses across the entirte state talking to hundreds of young people,” Jideonwo explained. “But we finally decided to do another event in Lagos, partnering with the popular event Taruwa. The conversation about Nigeria and what young people can practically do to empower themselves and to add value to the country can after all never end.”
Nominations are still for the awards in the 20 different categories, and one of the main objectives of the tour is to get nominees from across the country and outside. According to Jideonwo, nominees are especially wanted in the Best Use of Science and Excellence in Public Service categories. Anyone can nominated any young Nigerian between the ages of 18 and 31 via the website www.thefuturenigeria.com.
Next on the schedule are Benin, Ile-Ife, Calabar, Londonm holding at the University of East London, and Johannesburg, which will be the last town hall meeting, held in conjunction with naijaborn.com, on the 28th of November.
The Future Project, Nigeria was, from the 6th to 12th of July, selected to represent Nigeria at a youth exchange sponsored by the European Commission in Latvia. The Republic of Latvia is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe – bordered to the right by Russia.
The youth exchange was part of a large scale project, Sharing World Youth Skills, financed by the European Commission and organized by Code International, The Netherlands and Youth Leaders Coalition, Latvia in partnership with organizations from Germany, Italy, Spain, Sweden, Ghana, Cote d’Ivore, Bolivia, Brasilia and Mexico. The Future Project, Nigeria/The Future Awards was the only organisation from Africa.
Nominations are still for the awards in the 20 different categories, and one of the main objectives of the tour is to get nominees from across the country and outside. According to Jideonwo, nominees are especially wanted in the Best Use of Science and Excellence in Public Service categories. Anyone can nominated any young Nigerian between the ages of 18 and 31 via the website 
