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Full List of Leadership Awards 2012
[December 04, 2012]

Full List of Leadership Awards 2012


(AllAfrica Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) LEADERSHIP Persons Of The Year 2012 Amidst the man-made bloody chaos, natural disasters, human misery and official incompetence that defined 2012, a few Nigerians stood out - men powered by principle and faith in the chequered promise of a new Nigeria. We combed the arenas of politics, business, the arts, academia, sports, science, philanthropy and faith in search of them. The LEADERSHIP Person of the Year is the person that has impacted the country the most, for good or ill, within the period. The task of finding such a person - or persons, as it turned out this year - was no less challenging than it had been in previous years.



The year arguably represents yet another bloody page in our national history, with despair writ large. It was a year that saw professionals with doctorate and master's degrees scrambling for jobs as truck drivers. Often working at cross-purposes in the face of extreme terrorist threats, security agencies shot themselves in the foot, tossing critical inter-agency synergy to the dogs. While the electricity and petroleum sectors competed for honours in blatant corruption, under a hostile business environment, industries continued to pine. Successive investigations of critical governance deficits, initiated both by the national parliament and presidential directives, turned out to be contrived charades. Then, the floods! A largely bereft political elite completes the picture of a country in regression. It was from this befuddling maze that we made our choices, recognising that while some forces remained agents of socio-political and economic retrogression, others represented untiring, compassionate catalysts for progressive change. In choosing the LEADERSHIP Persons of the Year 2012, we were closely guided by its cardinal rule: the personality or event that impacted Nigeria most, for good or bad, in 2012.

Mindful of history and the media's compelling responsibility to sustain a progressive society anchored on freedom, justice and fairness, LEADERSHIP Board of Editors and its top management voted Sultan Muhammad Sa'ad Abubakar III, Sultan of Sokoto, and John Cardinal Olorunfemi Onaiyekan, Archbishop of the Catholic Diocese of Abuja, as LEADERSHIP Persons of the Year 2012.


In spite of the shocking deficits in nearly all the parameters by which human development is gauged for this period, Sultan Abubakar III and Cardinal Onaiyekan emerged as powerful moderating voices that fundamentally prevented the country from tipping over the cliff to disintegration. Soldiers of their different faiths, they reined in their flocks; they spoke in the face of extreme provocation by those who wanted to use religion as a bait.

After 13 years of unbroken civilian rule, corruption and impunity at various levels of governance remain a defining feature of our national life. But by far the greatest challenge to the Nigerian state in 2012 remains the security challenge. In this regard, one of the greatest contributions to the survival of the country within this period is the intervention of Sultan Abubakar III and Cardinal Onaiyekan. They acted without guns but used the power of appeal to their flocks to hold back when the natural instinct of self-preservation was: to take up arms and fight for their different faiths.

History sufficiently demonstrates the consequence of religious wars. In choosing Sultan Abubakar III and Cardinal Onaiyekan, we closely analysed the consequences of adherents of Nigeria's two major religious faiths taking up arms against one another, a scenario that was all too real given the intensity of the provocations.

In making these choices, the fact was not lost that visionaries who stick out their necks and principle to push interventions that can help troubled societies regain their sanity, provide healing in human relations and evoke hope, must necessarily be recognized and feted periodically because they represent pinions for the survival of humanity. The duo of Sultan Abubakar III and Cardinal Onaiyekan represent such pinions in 2012. Fired up by their convictions, they strove to maintain some Christian-Muslim detente in the face of terrible odds and unprovoked intra- and inter-religious killings.

In a year in which violence and insecurity appear to have become the new normal, and the harbingers of death and destruction were coming up with even more cynical ways to ply their trade, the country's two largest faiths have been put to the stiffest test yet.

2012 is the year when religion could have sounded the final death knell for the country. We have been spared the grief, not by politicians who are mostly either incompetent, clueless or both, but by the works of two exemplary spiritual leaders whose words, actions, gestures and comportment remind us of what leadership really means.

Sultan Abubakar III and Cardinal Onaiyekan are soldiers of faith who have deployed their voices of reason to sustain our fragile peace.

Their good works did not escape the Nobel Committee, which actually nominated them for the prestigious Peace Prize this year.

Not only were these two truly distinguished persons enthusiastically nominated by the LEADERSHIP Board of Editors, they overwhelmingly won the award as LEADERSHIP Persons of the Year 2012 for their outstanding roles in the daunting task of peace-building.

LEADERSHIP Governor Of The Year 2012: Governor Godswill Obot Akpabio Governor Godswill Obot Akpabio is doing good things - and more aggressively this year than in any other year. His massive investments in infrastructure, agriculture, health, job creation and his urgent sense of mission recommended him as LEADERSHIP Governor of the Year 2012 If growth and development were to be measured strictly by the volume of cold cash, the Niger Delta would be a paradise.

But it is not. Years of pumping in billions of naira of federally collected revenue have been met with no less monumental appetite for theft. The Niger Delta is bereft - of most things that make life liiveable - a paradox of how not to use oil wealth.

But the news from the region may yet be changing, with a few bright spots. Akwa Ibom offers hope.

Elected governor of the south-south state of Akwa Ibom in April 2007, Barrister Godswill Obot Akpabio defined his governance plan with a novel nine-point development agenda to liberate his constituency. This agenda includes unity, peace and security, youth empowerment, social development, talent development, continuity, new economy, strategic infrastructure and food security.

A governance optimisation model through critical attention to people, process and technology, Akpabio's nine-point agenda is a method of putting a human face on governance and re-engineering governance to satisfy the needs of the people. The model adopts best-in-class policies for sustainable development, resource utilisation, and accountability.

While effectively challenging long-held traditions, beliefs and redefining a modern Akwa Ibom society, the strategic governance framework has strong points for people management, process performance and technological effectiveness. This footing has enabled the Akpabio administration to record spectacular achievements in various fields.

This is mirrored in the massive infrastructural development, the numerous quality life projects, free and compulsory education, free health care, the new international airport, the linkage of the state in a great and enduring road network and the general sunny disposition the people of the state have about their future.

Although these achievements were not all recorded during the period of this assessment, they were consolidated this year.

This compelling development trajectory is fittingly captured by the governor himself: "I visualise the transformation of Akwa Ibom State from a civil service economy into a re-branded model of assertive, more unified, achievement-driven people. We will leverage the economy to a vibrant industrial and technology hub in Nigeria and transform the state into an irresistible destination in West Africa." It's more than a rhetoric; Governor Akpabio, one of the runner-ups for the LEADERSHIP Governor of the Year Award in 2011, is matching his words with action.

Positives in the state's infrastructure development, support to small and medium enterprises, agricultural innovations, job creation, deliberate youth empowerment, health, and disbursement of grants and loans to rural women and farmers as well as power sector projects tell the story of a man faithful to his promises.

Governor Akpabio is doing good things. His massive investments in infrastructure, agriculture, health, job creation and his aggressive sense of mission recommended him as LEADERSHIP Governor of the Year.

1st Runner-up: Governor Rabiu Kwankwaso of Kano State 2nd Runner-up: Governor Ibrahim Hassan Dankwambo of Gombe State Profile: The Achieving Governor Akpabio Governor Godswill Obot Akpabio was born on December 9, 1962, to Obot Akpabio and Madam Lucy Obot Akpabio (Nee Inyang Etoh) of the Okuku Udo Akpabio family of Ukana Ikot Ntuen, Essien Udim local government area of Akwa Ibom State.

He completed his primary education at Methodist Primary School, Ukana, where he obtained a Distinction in the First School Leaving Certificate Examination. Subsequently, he was admitted to the prestigious Federal Government College, Port Harcourt, Rivers State, and it was there he completed his WASC and GCE 'A' Levels.

Governor Akpabio attended the University of Calabar, Cross River State, and the Nigeria Law School, Lagos. He graduated in Law and was called to the Nigerian Bar. Akpabio embarked on legal practice during his National Youth Service Corps year in Lagos and remained in practice until he was elected governor in 2007.

A devout Christian imbued with true greatness rooted in simplicity and a strong, unshakable faith in the will of God, he has, undoubtedly, latched onto the indelible footsteps of his grandfather, the late Okuku Udo Akpabio, the first warrant chief in Ikot Ekpene province, - Late Dr. I. U. Akpabio, minister of education/internal affairs in the then Eastern Nigeria, and his cousin, Justice Nsima Akpabio, a senator in the Second Republic.

To many, the name Obong (Barr.) Godswill Akpabio elicits different connotations: ** To his wife and children, a devoted husband and a loving father.

** To the youths, a role model worthy of emulation.

** To the elderly, a respectful and humble personage.

** To the needy, a generous and cheerful giver.

** To his contemporaries, a trail blazer.

** In the political arena, particularly in Akwa Ibom State, his name is synonymous with 'continuity', 'hope' and 'good governance.' Regarded as a highly detribalized person, his acceptability of all ethnic groups within the state is acknowledged even by his political opponents.

The story of Obong Akpabio's political life remains that of continuous service to humanity. He was general senior prefect at the Federal Government College, Port Harcourt , Rivers State; Member, NPN (National Party of Nigeria), and personal assistant to Senator Nsima Akpabio, 1983; speaker of parliament, Student Union Government, University of Calabar; Youth ambassador of Nigeria (by the National Youth Council of Nigeria ); Most Outstanding Commissioner in Akwa Ibom State, 2005; holder of the prestigious "lberedem Ibibio" title; holder of various other chieftaincy titles such as Ukai Ibibio, Ibatai Iman Ibom, Obong Iberedem Ekid, Obong lfiok Ibesikpo, Obong Idorenyin Ini, Ubok Udom Ikot Ekpene, Adaha /tu, Ntanta Oro, Iberedem Nsit Alai, Itai Odoro Ikot, and Ubok Udom Ukpum He was also Man of the Year award winner at the Niger Delta Leadership Award (NDELA). A grassroots politician and a patron of more than 178 youth organisations in Nigeria, a facilitator of the Movement for National Accommodation and Continuity (MONACO), another organization committed to the sustainability of the reform agenda of the present democratic dispensation, Obong Akpabio has distinguished himself as a disciplined, hardworking and humble person.

He started as a teacher in 1982 at Afaha Secondary School, Essien Udim local government area. He has held a number of positions, including: ** Associate partner with the firm of Paul Usoro & Co, Broad Street, Lagos .

** Director, corporate affairs/legal services, EMIS Telecoms, 1995 -2002.

** Acting managing director/chief executive, EMIS Telecoms, 2002 ** Commissioner for petroleum and natural resources, Akwa Ibom State, 2002 - 2003.

** Commissioner for local government and chieftaincy affairs, Akwa Ibom State, 2003 - 2006.

** Commissioner for lands and housing, Akwa Ibom State, July 2006.

Akpabio brought justice to the traditional institution by ensuring that customs and traditions which are in conformity with the law formed the bases for the selection of traditional rulers. He worked assiduously to bring peace to warring villages/clans as more than 500 disputed cases in different villages/communities in the state were settled amicably.

He barred monetary and state influence in the selection of traditional rulers, such that only qualified and accepted candidates were presented to the governor for recognition.

In April 2007, Obong Godswill Akpabio successfully ran for governorship of Akwa Ibom State on the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) platform. He assumed office on May 29, 2007. He ran successfully for re-election on April 26, 2011.

LEADERSHIP Politician Of The Year 2012: Alhaji Lai Raufu Mohammed In a country where the ruling party can barely be held to account and the opposition is groping for direction, this newspaper considers it a sacred duty to enrich and deepen public debate by recognising and rewarding voices of reason. Lai Mohammed, whose voice is both a wake-up call and a redeeming national gift, is LEADERSHIP Politician of the Year 2012 The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) not only prides itself as the largest party in Africa, it often behaves like an immortal of sorts. In their make-belief world, the party's elite and their proxies make no distinction between greed and service or between party and country.

The party pays lip service to its rank and file. It disdains voters and seizes power anyhow. It scorns public opinion and does not give a damn about accountability.

In the year 2012, however, only one thing made this elephant dance: the clear, compelling voice of Alhaji Lai Raufu Mohammed, the national publicity secretary of the rival Action Congress of Nigeria.

Lai Mohammed's voice has been a wake-up call and an unmistakeable national gift.

In a country where the ruling party can barely be held to account and the opposition is groping for direction, this newspaper considers it a sacred duty to enrich and deepen public debate by recognising and rewarding voices of reason.

This is the stuff of Lai Mohammed, LEADERSHIP's Politician of the Year 2012.

An avowed democrat and human rights activist, he was a committed member of the National Democratic Coalition (NADECO), which fiercely fought for the restoration of civil democracy in Nigeria in 1999. It was consequent upon his immeasurable contributions as coordinator of the governorship campaign of Senator Bola Ahmed Tinubu that he was appointed as the latter's pioneer chief of staff in May 1999. He held that office creditably till 2002 when he heeded the clarion call of his native Igbomina people of Kwara State to have a shot at the state's governorship seat.

Under his campaign banner of 'Restoration', Alhaji Lai Mohammed changed the face of electioneering campaign and gallantly vied for the state governorship in 2003 on the platform of the Alliance for Democracy (AD). Despite losing the governorship election, Alhaji Lai Mohammed remains the tested and trusted leading light of all progressive elements now earnestly yearning for a new dawn in Kwara and the entire Nigeria.

Lai Mohammed was born in Igbaja, Ifelodun local government area of Kwara State, on December 6, 1951. After his elementary education in Igbaja and Ilorin in the early 60s, he proceeded to the famous Government College, Keffi, now in Nasarawa State, in 1964. He obtained his West African School Certificate (WASC) at the College with Grade 1 in 1968.

Young Lai Mohammed, from there, went to Government Secondary School, Okere, now in Kogi State, where he passed his Higher School Certificate HSC (A/Level) in 1970 with flying colours. Between 1971 and 1976, he attended the University of Ife where he bagged a Second Class (Upper Division) and a Bachelor of Arts (B.A. Hons.) degree in French. As a prelude to his French (B.A. Hons.) degree, he was in the University of Dakar, Senegal (1973-1974), and Centre Audio Visual De Languages Modernes in France (1974-1975).

An erudite scholar with unquenchable passion for advocacy, Lai Mohammed proceeded to the University of Lagos in 1982 to read law. He came out with LL.B Second Class (Upper Division) in 1985. He was called to the Nigerian Bar in 1986 after obtaining his B.L.(Hons) with Second Class (Upper Division) from the Nigerian Law School , Lagos.

Before veering into full legal practice, Alhaji Lai Mohammed had a brief stint with the University of Ilorin as a graduate assistant in 1978 before joining the services of the Nigerian Airports Authority (NAA), now Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) as a public relations officer in 1978 and later became the principal public relations officer from 1985 -1987.

After a brilliant public relations career in NAA, he rose to become the corporation's secretary, a position he held from 1987 to 1988 when he voluntarily retired to go into private legal practice. He co-founded the thriving legal firm of Edu & Mohammed as a senior partner in 1989.

A member of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) and fellow of the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations (NIPR), Alhaji Mohammed went into active politics in 1990 as a foundation member of the now defunct Social Democratic Party (SDP) and was the coordinator/chief of staff to Yomi Edu's Gubernatorial Campaign Organisation in Lagos State.

Mohammed is happily married to Alhaja Kudirat Adeoti and they are blessed with children.

It is against the background of the courage, outspokenness and progressive politics that LEADERSHIP voted Lai Mohammed as its Politician of the Year 2012.

1st Runner-up: Governor Adams Oshiomhole of Edo State 2nd Runner-up: Governor Olusegun Mimiko of Ondo State/Gov. Adams Oshiomhole LEADERSHIP CEO Of The Year 2012: Mrs. Evelyn Ndali Oputu (MD/CEO, Bank of Industry) Ms. Evelyn Ndali Oputu, managing director, Bank of Industry, has broken the glass ceiling and trod the terrain reserved for men. This year, she has consolidated on her phenomenal support for micro-small and medium scale enterprises and made progress on the access to renewable energy project started with UNDP in 2011. She hacks through bureaucracy to offer lifeline to many small-scale businesses. Her audacious business promotion in July in London is widely reported to be paying off already. For her relentless exertions to put Nigeria on the global industrial map, Ms. Evelyn Ndali Oputu is LEADERSHIP CEO of the Year 2012 Ms. Evelyn Ndali Oputu was appointed managing director and chief executive of the Bank of Industry Limited (BOI) in December 2005. She is renowned for her investment and commercial banking expertise, her vast experience spanning more than two decades and her entrepreneurial skills as an industrialist since 1997.

The Bank of Industry is Nigeria's oldest and most successful development finance bank. It was reconstructed in 2001 out of the Nigerian Industrial Development Bank (NIDB) that was incorporated in 1964. At inception, the bank's share capital was £2 million. The International Finance Corporation which produced its first chief executive officer held 74 per cent of its equity along with other domestic and foreign private investors. The bank's current authorised share capital is N250 billion ($2.119 billion).

In the last five years, the bank has witnessed unprecedented expansion in its credit operations without compromising the quality of its investments and impressive financial returns. The cumulative value of fresh loans and investments rose by 1066.3 per cent from N9.8 billion to N114.3 billion between 2005 and 2010.

The percentage of its annual lending to micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) reached 96 per cent by 2010. The bank's efficiency also improved remarkably. The portfolio at risk declined from 65 per cent in 2005 to less than 21 per cent in 2010. The industry average in Nigeria is 32.8 per cent. The development effectiveness of BOI's operations has helped to create over one million jobs.

Since her assumption of office in late December 2005, Oputu has embarked on a number of initiatives designed to facilitate the attainment of the Millennium Development Goals in Nigeria.

Accordingly, the bank's investment portfolio has been expanded mainly in favour of small and medium enterprises in view of their higher level of multiplier effects per unit of investment. A department has also been established to address the requirements of women entrepreneurs.

In order to deepen the developmental impact of assisted projects, priority has been accorded those that utilise local raw materials and enterprises that have high export potential as well as ventures with high employment-generating capacity.

At 62, she still contributes her quota to the socio-economic growth of the country. She attributes her achievements in life to luck and providence. Ms. Oputu, managing director, Bank of Industry, has broken the glass ceiling and trod the terrain reserved for men. Ms. Evelyn Ndali Oputu, managing director, Bank of Industry, has broken the glass ceiling and trod the terrain reserved for men. This year, she has consolidated on her phenomenal support for micro-small and medium scale enterprises and made progress on the access to renewable energy project started with UNDP in 2011. She hacks through bureaucracy to offer lifeline to many small-scale businesses. Her audacious business promotion in July in London is widely reported to be paying off already.

Through hard work, she made her way up the ladder in the financial sector and has served as a member of several buoyant companies, which are engaged in a wide range of businesses such as insurance, mining, oil and gas, medical and manufacturing.

Once asked the secret of her achievements and young looks, Oputu, smiling, replied: "The secret is that everybody should be happy with themselves, both inside and out. If you are content with your lot in life, you produce and give the best; you would be happy with yourself." Runner Up: Ms. Funke Opeke, CEO Main One Cable Company LEADERSHIP Banker Of The Year 2012: Mr. Ahmed Lawan Kuru (MD/CEO, Enterprise Bank Limited) In 15 months, he has succeeded in transforming the bank into a strong institution driven by solid corporate governance and a highly motivated workforce. This year, in particular, he has massively expanded the bank's deposit base, and significantly improved liquidity. Capital adequacy, a key liquidity test, improved from negative of 120 per cent to 40 per cent. He has aggressively pursued retail banking, keeping the customer at the heart of the bank's new products and services. For raising Enterprise Bank from the dead and redeeming with it the hard-earned savings of thousands of despairing depositors, Ahmed Lawan Kuru is LEADERSHIP Banker of the Year 2012 Ahmed Lawan Kuru is the pioneer Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of Enterprise Bank Limited, a nationalised bank created following the revocation of the operating licence of Spring Bank. Kuru, on appointment, was mandated to turn around the erstwhile rescued bank into a commercially and professionally viable entity. Within the last 15 months, he has succeeded in transforming the bank into a strong institution that is driven by a strong corporate governance structure with a highly trained and motivated workforce and a very strong brand that can compete, in terms of efficiency, with the major players.

How was he able to achieve this The workers were given new rules of engagement which drive the new goals of the bank aimed at full retail banking and customer satisfaction.

In a country where the saying 'customer is king' is largely lip service, Kuru went out of his way to reach out to the bank's customers, letting them into the new structure of the bank, listening to them, and finding out new ways to serve them better.

He has improved the bank's products and services through a number of customer-friendly schemes. Some of the products launched include the SALAD, a salary advance product where customers can withdraw up to 50 per cent of their salaries before payday. Also the bank introduced the "financing the future" personal loan, a jumbo consumer loan scheme which helps customers in the area of assets and household equipment acquisition, as well as special loans for individuals and businesses.

Capital adequacy, a key liquidity test, improved from negative of 120 per cent to 40 per cent.

Today, Enterprise Bank has retooled it IT and ranks among the top 15 banks in ATM and POS deployment. It has established fully manned agribusiness and SME desks and is aggressively expanding its Internet banking services.

Prior to his appointment as managing director/chief executive officer, Enterprise Bank Limited (EBL), Kuru was executive vice chairman, Emeritus Capital Limited, a financial services firm with specialty in international business development focusing on sub-Saharan Africa.

He also played at the top echelons of Bank PHB Plc as an executive director, overseeing critical areas like risk management, compliance, commercial banking, northern operations, public sector, multilateral agencies and the West, East and Central Africa expansion programme of the bank. Before his rise to the level of executive director, he held several other top positions, including general manager/regional manager in charge of bank operations at Habib Nigeria Bank.

He holds a Bachelor of Science (B.Sc) and a Master's degree in Business Administration from the Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria. Kuru has attended many local and international courses, including the Senior Management Development Programme by Philips Consulting in South Africa and Leadership programmes at the London Business School. He is respected in the banking industry as a result-oriented and deft leader who easily carries high responsibility with a strong accountability record.

He took up appointment at Enterprise Bank Limited as the helmsman at a time when the tide was high and the storm was raging. In the midst of the storm, however, he has been able to steer the bank not just on the path of acceptance but also on the road to profitability.

He has helped the bank in its smooth transformation and ensured that no staff of the old bank was sacked, as against the common situation with many of the rescued banks where staff members had been let go under controversial circumstances and had caused many a ruckus in the banking industry.

1st Runner Up: Funke Osibodu, Former Managing Director, Union Bank Plc 2nd Runner Up: Mr. Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede, Group Managing Director, Access Bank LEADERSHIP Business Person Of The Year 2012: High Chief Raymond Dokpesi Dokpesi has defined his business vision with an intense and strategic objective to expand in Nigeria and outside the country. This year alone, he opened five new radio and television stations (including one in Gombe where even the President is too scared to visit) and deployed new equipment to other states, in a patriotic drive to keep citizens informed and engaged. For his dogged and selfless exploits in spite of the huge obstacles to doing business in Nigeria, High Chief Raymond Aleogho Dokpesi is LEADERSHIP Business Person of the Year 2012 High Chief Raymond Anthony Aleogho Dokpesi is the LEADERSHIP Business Person of the Year 2012. Today, Dokpesi has established himself as a media guru. With good reason, he is often referred to as the Ted Turner of Nigeria. Dokpesi not only pioneered the first satellite TV, Africa Independent Television (AIT) but also the first privately-owned radio station, RayPower FM, in Nigeria.

Dokpesi has defined his business vision with an intense and strategic objective to expand in Nigeria and outside the country. He has opened new television stations in several states of the federation and abroad.

In 2003, AIT launched its signals in the United States. At present, AIT is received in America, Mexico, the Caribbean, and Europe-wide on the Hotbird satellite as well as countries within Africa. Today, the sky is the limit for the broadcast visionary who saw the possibilities of the broadcast industry and followed his dream.

Born in 1951 in Ibadan, Dokpesi started his early schooling at Loyola College, Ibadan. He subsequently joined the Immaculate Conception College (ICC), Benin City, where he was the pioneer member of Ozolua Play House, a dance/drama group. He was also part of the pioneer students of the University of Benin, Edo State, where he did his undergraduate studies. He completed his studies in University of Gdansk, Poland, where he earned his doctorate degree in Marine Engineering under the sponsorship of Alhaji Bamanga Tukur who saw him through secondary school and university.

Dokpesi started as the personal assistant to Alhaji Bamaga Tukur, one of the general managers of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA). Dokpesi also served as a civil servant in the Federal Ministry of Transport under Alhaji Umaru Dikko and General Garba Wushishi. The association of Raymond Dokpesi with the Tukurs and the late Abiola resulted in the birth of African Ocean Lines (AOL).

One of Dokpesi's first businesses was the first indigenous shipping line in Africa. It was established in the 1980s. Although the business did not last long, it contributed a great deal to the Nigerian shipping industry as it helped formulate the Nigerian Shipping Decree of 1986, which stated the sharing formula 40:20:20 for cargo between developed and developing countries.

However, he never forgot his first love- showbiz and entertainment. This can be traced back to his early days in secondary school when he was the pioneer member of Ozolua PlayHouse, a dance/drama group. He decided to put his dream to reality when he conceived the idea of starting a radio station during the Ibrahim Babaginda regime. The atmosphere was enhanced by the deregulation of broadcasting in Nigeria. In 1994, he launched the first Nigerian private FM radio station, RayPower, and two years later, he launched the AIT.

Under the astute guidance of its founding chief executive, High Chief Dokpesi, the broadcast conglomerate of AIT and RayPower radio witnessed tremendous expansion in 2012. Ahead of the competition in almost every parameter of equipment acquisition and conquest of new territories, the organisation reached out to Northern Nigeria, opening new broadcast stations (television and radio) in Bauchi, Gombe, Akure, Benin and Sierra Leone.

It also opened a new Yoruba/Pidgin radio station in Lagos within this period of assessment. In the arena of critical advertising infrastructure to support advertising industry specifications, the organisation also acquired and deployed complementary equipment to Enugu, Katsina and many of its stations across the country. These accomplishments simply positioned High Chief Raymond Dopkesi to coast home as LEADERSHIP Business Person of the Year 2012.

LEADERSHIP Company Of The Year 2012: Arik Air The airline transported its 5 millionth passenger on 6 August 2010 and transported its 10 millionth passenger on 18 September 2012, both on flights between Johannesburg and Lagos. This year, Arik Air has remained the only dependable link connecting different parts this country without which travel would have been hell for thousands, if not millions, of "jetless" travellers. For being truly the 'wings of Nigeria' for the period of assessment, Arik Air is LEADERSHIP Company of the Year 2012 By redefining the scope, operational philosophy and depth of the aviation sector in Nigeria, Arik Air, which also operates a regional and international flight network, is LEADERSHIP Company of the Year 2012. Currently the largest commercial airline operator in West Africa and also the national carrier of Sierra Leone, Arik Air remains the unmatched local and regional carrier on the continent.

With a fleet of 23 state-of-the art regional, medium haul and long haul aircraft, including two Airbus A340-500, Arik Air is the first operator of the wide bodied aircraft in Africa.

The sheer depth and scope of its operations were dramatically demonstrated when on 20 September, 2012, the airline was forced to cancel all its domestic operations after aviation officials disrupted the airline's operations in Lagos, Nigeria. The commercial aviation sector of Nigeria was practically grounded. At the heart of the airline's operations is a management footing that places travelling guests first, even in an extremely challenging business environment.

A key positive of Arik Air management was recently acknowledged by the Centaral Bank of Nigeria (CBN) over the airline's utilisation of federal government's Power and Aviation Intervention Fund (PAIF). A CBN and Bank of Industry (BoI) delegation led by the Deputy Director, Development Finance Department of CBN, Uji Amedu, on an assessment tour of Arik's facilities, confirmed that the airline put its share of the aviation intervention fund disbursed to the sector to good use. The CBN and BoI are managers of the N300 billion disbursed by the CBN as intervention funds to the power and aviation sectors to help refinance facilities earlier taken by the sector operators from commercial banks.

During the inspection tour of the facility, the company's Associate Vice President, Operation Control Centre, Ralph Henschen, disclosed that the airline had proposed to do some expansion of its facilities to accommodate more aircraft and newer technologies as obtained in United States, Europe and Dubai. He said: "We are already on course to complete these facility expansions by next year when we shall mark our 7th year anniversary." According to him, the airline has set a standard for itself in the sector with the purchase of brand new planes such as its two A340 planes with the capacity to fly for 20 hours non-stop.

Arik Air was founded in 2002 and commenced operations on 30 October, 2006. On 3 April, 2006, Arik Air took over the former Nigeria Airways facilities in Lagos, some three years after its liquidation, and began reconstruction work. On 14 June, 2006, Arik took delivery of two new Bombardier CRJ-900 aircraft to fly domestic routes throughout Nigeria and, within the African continent from Summer 2006, two ex-United Airlines Boeing 737-300s and 350-seat Bombardier CRJ-200 aircraft. On 30 October, 2006, Arik began scheduled passenger flights with four flights between Lagos and Abuja using CRJ 900 aircraft. Flight operations began to Calabar on 15 November 2006 and services to Benin City and Enugu started on 7 January, 2007. The airline is wholly owned by Ojemai Investments.

The Nigerian government set a deadline of 30 April, 2007 for all airlines operating in the country to re-capitalise or be grounded in an effort to ensure better services and safety. The airline satisfied the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA)'s criteria in terms of re-capitalisation and was re-registered for operation. On 4 April, 2008, Arik Air was given permission to fly to the United States by the US Department of Transportation.

The airline transported its five millionth passenger on 6 August, 2010 and it transported its 10 millionth passenger on 18 September 2012, both on flights between Johannesburg and Lagos.

For being truly the 'wings of Nigeria' for the period of assessment, Arik Air is LEADERSHIP Company of the Year 2012.

LEADERSHIP Telecom Company Of The Year 2012: Airtel Nigeria Eleven years after entering the Nigerian mobile telecommunications space, Airtel Nigeria has remained focused on providing high quality customer care service, which has won it dozens of awards across the country. But the mobile giant is also making waves in another area: corporate social responsibility. For its robust customer service and its extraordinary effort to transform education which has lead the company to adopt 30 schools as "Our School" this year, Airtel Nigeria is LEADERSHIP Telecom Company of the Year 2012 In June 2010, Bharti Airtel, parent company of Airtel Nigeria, acquired Zain Nigeria and other Zain operations in Africa in a $10.7 billion transaction.

To date, the company has rolled out its 3.75G network across the country reaching speeds of up to 21 mbps. Airtel Nigeria's 3.75G network is one of the fastest available globally and will be immensely beneficial to large corporations, small and medium businesses and the youth. Airtel Nigeria has over 4,000km of fibre cable on its transmission network and 20 million subscribers. Currently it is constructing over 2000 kilometres of fibre optic cable on its network to improve on the quality of services. This has earned it plaudits from customers and regulators.

On the continent, Airtel recently celebrated its 60 millionth customer in Africa, adding 10 million customers across its operations in 17 African countries in less than 12 months of having crossed 50 million subscribers. Airtel with operations in 20 countries across South Asia and Africa in October emerged the fourth largest mobile operator in the world in terms of subscribers with over 200 million subscribers.

Recently, the Chartered Institute of Personnel Management (CIPM) in Nigeria awarded Airtel Nigeria the Best Human Resources Practices Award within the telecom sector. Airtel remains focused on making a positive impact on the communities in which it operates. As part of this initiative to create a better learning environment for students, Airtel has adopted 30 schools through its 'Our School' initiative across the continent, with plans to adopt up to 45 schools by April 2013.

Earlier this year, the company also kicked off its second season of the Airtel Rising Stars tournament - a football tournament that aims to nurture and develop local talent from the grassroots to national level. The tournament is supported by world-renowned football clubs, Manchester United and Arsenal.

1st Runner Up: Visafone 2nd Runner Up: Etisalat LEADERSHIP Bank Of The Year 2012: Zenith Bank Plc Zenith Bank has shown a consistent operating strategy of organically developing the domestic franchise and strengthening enterprise risk management. The bank has developed a strong franchise over time by capturing business from large corporates, while not totally neglecting retail services. For emerging as the most capitalised bank in Nigeria and relentlessly pursuing niche products and services to consolidate its position, Zenith Bank is LEADERSHIP Bank of the Year 2012 The LEADERSHIP Bank of the Year 2012, Zenith Bank Plc., is a leading Nigerian top-tier bank, with strong revenue growth, supporting adequate capitalization. A strong risk position underpinned by Zenith's prudent underwriting standard and moderate loan growth target plus a stable core deposit base with strong liquidity indicators have positioned the bank as a foremost player in that strategic financial services sector.

According to Standard and Poor's Rating Services, Zenith Bank Plc continues to enjoy a leading market position and accounts for approximately 15 per cent of total banking sector assets. The bank had total consolidated assets of N2.36 trillion ($15.2 billion) as of March 31, 2012. The Nigerian banking sector has undergone a phase of consolidation following the Central Bank's swift actions to rescue failing banks in 2010-2011. With little question, Zenith will, over time, face increasing competition from its peers in its core markets.

But Zenith's management has shown a consistent operating strategy of organically developing the domestic franchise and strengthening enterprise risk management to reduce risks. The bank has developed a strong franchise over time by capturing businesses from large corporate clients, while offering banking services to its suppliers, distributors, and staff.

Boasting a large and stable funding base, and a liquid balance sheet, Zenith Bank's funding is "above average" and its liquidity "adequate". Zenith, like other banks operating in Nigeria, is largely deposit-funded, with total deposits accounting for 99 per cent of its total funding base by March 31, 2012. The funding base is fairly diversified with no material single-name concentration. Over the last five years, Zenith's loan-to-deposit ratio compared very well with its Nigerian peers. At year-end 2011, the bank had a loan-to-deposit ratio of 54.4 per cent down from 57.6 per cent in 2010.

While largely stable, even while under market stress, the bank is still exposed to contractually short-term funds. About 40 per cent of total deposits are contractually short term with maturities of three months or less, while another 55 per cent had maturities spanning one to two years. Zenith has a liquid balance sheet with liquid assets (defined as cash and money market instruments and securities) to total assets equaling to 57.2 per cent at year-end 2011.

From Q1 2012 assessment by Standard and Poor's Rating Services, Zenith Bank Plc has adjusted assets base of N 2,360 trillion, customer loans (gross) N 937,000 billion, adjusted common equity 396,590 billion, operating revenues N52,083 billion, and core earnings of N17,691 billion. For delivering innovation in a very challenging environment, Zenith Bank Plc is the LEADERSHIP Bank of the Year 2012.

1st Runner-up: FCMB 2nd Runner-up: Unity Bank Plc LEADERSHIP Entertainer Of The Year 2012: Iyanya...The Kukere Master Kukere introduced another amazing style of dance from the Cross River State of Nigeria. Today, everywhere in Nigeria, the old, young, men and women and some international artistes cannot wait to dance to the infectious Kukere dance for his creativity and extraordinary flair, Iyanya, the Kukere Master, is LEADERSHIP Entertainer of the Year 2012 In a year that spawned many entertainers from different arenas of this category, musician Iyanya (The Kukere Master) was voted LEADERSHIP Entertainer of the Year. Clearly the entertainment industry will not be doing justice to its teeming followership without recognising one of its foremost high priests.

Iyanya has undoubtedly carved a niche for himself as winner of Project Fame West Africa Season 1 and Kukere Master. Though dancensteps like galala, swor, kote, konto, yahooze and others were creations of Nigerians, Kukere brought out another amazing style of dance from the Cross River State of Nigeria. Today, everywhere in Nigeria, the old, young, men and women and some international artistes cannot wait to dance to the infectious Kukere dance.

Riding on this music's popularity, many DJs have seen it as a way of making Nigeria music lovers cruise their way in clubs, pubs and events. For providing comic relief and creating a music tailored to a unique dance style, Iyanya (The Kukere Master) is the LEADERSHIP Entertainer of the Year 2012.

Runner-up: David Do LEADERSHIP ICT Company Of The Year 2012: Chams Plc This choice is based on Chams Plc's performance in the past one year as an extremely influential and highly visible technology provider in a competitive global technology environment. ChamsCity, a subsidiary of Chams Plc, is shortly expected to become the biggest cyber café in the world. This facility is projected for replication in all the states of the federation. For its innovation, pioneering role and courage, Chams is LEADERSHIP ICT Company of the Year 2012 Innovation in the future tense best describes Chams Plc, a leading provider of enterprise technology solutions with competence in identity management, transactional card-based services, e-commerce and mobile payment systems.

Chams is ISO 9001:2000 certified, and is also the first home-grown company to be listed in The Guinness Book of World Records, for setting up ChamsCity, the world's largest digital mall in 2008.

The company drives the National Identity Management Scheme consortium, and also operated the world's largest identity card personalisation plant which delivered the 70 million voters' identity cards to INEC in 2007 and provided jobs to about 500 Nigerians.

Chams Plc launched new subsidiaries - ChamsSwitch, Chams Access and ChamsMobile - in 2008 in addition to already existing and thriving SuperCard, CardCentre, and PayMaster. It also strengthened its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) through the Chams Theatre, a strategic intervention of the company in saving the stage arts in Nigeria, which saw about 10,000 persons touring four states in the country, and Soup Kitchen, an employee volunteerism initiative which has members of staff visiting the less privileged with food to eat and be merry.

Chams Plc has weathered the storm and has come out strong, with awards of recognition to its name.

It is in this light that Chams Plc emerged the LEADERSHIP ICT Company of the Year 2012. This choice is based on Chams Plc's performance in the past one year as an extremely influential and highly visible technology provider in a highly competitive global technology environment. ChamsCity, a subsidiary of Chams Plc, is shortly expected to become the biggest cyber café in the world. This facility is projected for replication in all the states of the federation.

Apart from being a testament to unique identity management and related solutions vision and quality service delivery, this recognition and award also challenge Chams Plc to hold fast to its highly impactful business drive.

LEADERSHIP Mortgage Bank Of The Year 2012: Aso Savings & Loans Plc Aso Savings is a company driven by sound financial principles. For being the emergent national leader in mortgages and a leading financial services provider with demonstrable passion for excellence, ASO Savings is LEADERSHIP Mortgage Bank of the Year 2012 Having built deep and unsurpassed working knowledge of the Federal Capital Territory as well as directly developed five housing estates around Abuja ASO Savings & Loans Plc is the LEADERSHIP Mortgage Bank of the Year 2012.

ASO Savings is a primary mortgage institution (PMI) incorporated in Nigeria as a limited liability company on November 9, 1995. It formally commenced business on January 2, 1997, and converted to a public liability company (PLC) on September 22, 2005.

In line with its vision to be the national leader in mortgages and a leading financial services provider by 2012, the company decided to walk the talk. Apart from executing over N30 billion mortgage originations for over 12,000 homeowners, Aso Savings and Loans has also successfully driven and originated mortgages for over 88 per cent of the residential mortgages securities of the N25 billion Sale of Federal Government Houses bond in Abuja in 2007 and delivered social mortgages to numerous beneficiaries under the National Housing Fund Scheme.

It now operates from 21 branches and three cash centres within the FCT, Lagos, Rivers, Ondo, Kano, Niger, Kaduna and Edo states.

Aso Savings and Loans Plc is a primary mortgage institution that provides mortgage banking services such as commercial mortgage loans, construction finance, mortgage renewals and transfers, debt consolidation and refinancing, and executes projects under the National Housing Fund (NHF) housing scheme.

Between November 2006 and January 2007, Aso Savings became a wholly private sector entity with the divestment of government holding to 16 per cent of equity and expanded its ownership base to over 3,000 shareholders. As at December 2007, the firm had a shareholders' fund in excess of N4.5 billion.

Since then, the company has entrenched itself in the mortgage and housing finance industry, offering real estate investment and financial advisory service, such as residential and commercial real estate financing, loan syndication, and loan structuring as well as financial advisory, underwriting, analysis of lease, deal origination and incubation, and wealth management services to clients across the country.

Today, it is a company driven by sound financial principles. For being the emergent national leader in mortgages and a leading financial services provider with a demonstrable passion for excellence ASO Savings is the LEADERSHIP Mortgage Bank of the Year 2012.

LEADERSHIP Product Of The Year 2012: Peugeot 408 In a business environment where industries are pining away, Peugeot Automobile Nigeria (PAN) officially unveiled the new Peugeot 408 series in the mid-luxury segment of the car mart in the country, determined to take back the road from the horde of Japanese and South Korean cars in the Nigerian market. For its courage and resilience, Peugeot 408 is LEADERSHIP Product of the Year 2012 Cutting the tape to kick off the commercial launch of both Peugeot 408 and Peugeot 308 at the fair ground, the minister of trade and investment, Dr. Olusegun Aganga, acknowledged Peugeot Automobile Nigeria (PAN) as one of the few surviving automobile plants in Nigeria. He said PAN was in direly need of adequate and consistent patronage and protection which, according to him, could only be achieved principally through the strict enforcement of the federal government's policy of 'Buy made-in-Nigeria products'.

In a business environment where industries are pining away, Peugeot Automobile Nigeria (PAN) officially unveiled the new Peugeot 408 series in the mid-luxury segment of the car mart in the country.

Beyond the now familiar rhetoric of top government officials, PAN has weathered a storm that many have not survived. The sleek, new product, a brand that enjoys the reputation of being the "Nigerian car," Peugeot 408 is voted LEADERSHIP Product of the Year 2012. The 408 boasts an array of features which are unparalleled. PAN also described the new product as a high performer specifically designed to deliver results to drivers while sparing them any motoring hitches on the road.

1st Runner-up: Blackberry 2nd Runner-up: Da Viva LEADERSHIP Young Person Of The Year 2012: Mary-Ann Juma For demonstrating the power of the human dream and the critical importance of effort, focus and self-discipline, Mary-Ann Juma is the LEADERSHIP Young Person of the Year 2012 Mary-Ann Juma, 21, was born on May 9, 1991, in Abuja to the family of Jonathan and Lois Juma (both civil servants from Gombe State). She attended NAPO Primary School, Abuja, for her nursery and primary education, and Loyola Jesuit College for her secondary education, and Amherst College, Massachusetts, for her undergraduate studies.

A gifted child, Mary-Ann had topped her classes from nursery through primary schools. In 2001, at age 10, after her primary five, she was offered a full merit scholarship for her secondary education by the Loyola Jesuit College, Gidan Mangoro, Abuja, having scored the highest marks in a very competitive entrance examination.

She was also offered a merit scholarship by the Turkish International School, Abuja, in 2010. But she opted for Loyola Jesuit College. Also in the 2010 national Common Entrance Examination to Unity Schools in Nigeria, Mary-Ann came third overall.

During her stint at the Loyola Jesuit College from 2001- 2007, she won the gold medal at the Annual National Cow Bell Mathematics competition for junior secondary schools, organized by Promasidor Nigeria Plc., in 2004. She also won the gold medal at the Annual Science Quiz Competition for secondary schools organized by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation in 2007.

Mary-Ann was given an award as the best girl in Nigeria in the West African School Certificate Examination in 2007, having obtained nine distinctions (8 A1 and 1 B2) in physics, mathematics, chemistry, further mathematics, English, Hausa, French and technical drawing. She also won various prizes in inter-school competitions, debates, and quizzes throughout her days at Loyola Jesuit College.

In the United States, Mary-Ann was awarded a full merit scholarship by Amherst College, Massachusetts, for a four-year under graduate degree programme in mathematics/economics in 2008. Perhaps demonstrating her appreciation of and total commitment to the honour, she graduated from the college with distinction/ Magna Cum Luade (equivalent of First Class).

She was subsequently offered a job by the Bank of America as an investment banker in August 2011, before she graduated from college. After graduation, she took up the job and, during her induction, she wrote and passed the qualifying examination as an investment banker and secured a licence (at a sitting) and qualified to practice in August 2012.

Mary-Ann has mentored and taught younger children at schools, churches, and motherless babies' homes over the years. For demonstrating the power of the human dream and the critical importance of effort, focus and self-discipline, Mary-Ann Juma is the LEADERSHIP Young Person of the Year 2012.

LEADERSHIP Public Officer Of The Year 2012: Alhaji Mohammed Sani-Sidi (NEMA Director-General) For turning NEMA into a forward-looking, dynamic, strategic and proactive organisation well-positioned to manage post-disaster challenges in Nigeria Alhaji Sani-Sidi is LEADERSHIP Public Officer of the Year 2012 Alhaji Mohammed Sani-Sidi, director-general of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), is the LEADERSHIP Public Officer of the Year 2012. Against the background of the multifarious challenges in his sector, Alhaji Sani-Sidi adopted innovations in the specific manner he handles disaster issues. He adopted a deliberate policy of continuous human capacity development for the staff and structured training programmes for the stakeholders. It is worthy to mention that NEMA has trained its personnel in all departments and readied them for emergency responses.

The mandate of the agency on disaster awareness creation has continued to receive a boost under the director-general. Thus, the agency now reaps from its rapport with the media under the aegis of Journalists Against Disaster (JAD) and the group of spokespersons of the response agencies under Media Information Committee on Emergency Management (MICEM). The public is now better informed about disaster issues and the activities of the agency, which have become more visible with the vibrant relationship created with the media and the professional competence of its public relations department.

Since his assumption of office as director-general NEMA, Alhaji Sani-Sidi has improved the image, and effectiveness of the agency as a forward-looking, dynamic, strategic and proactive organisation that is well-positioned to address most post-disaster challenges management in Nigeria. A member of the Institute of Civil Protection and Emergency Management (ICPEM), International Association of Emergency Managers (IAEM), the International Emergency Management Society (TIEMS) and the World Society of Victomology (WSV), Sani-Sidi has received several commendations and awards, including that from the Institute of Corporate Administration and the Conference on Disaster, Safety and Security Management.

He also earned the African Business Leadership Award given to him and to NEMA as the Best Emergency and Disaster Management Agency of the year 2011 by the African Leadership magazine. Furthermore, his outstanding performance earned NEMA the recognition and award of the "Most Outstanding Public Institution in Nigeria", which was presented in September 2011 by Independent Service Delivery Monitoring Group in collaboration with the Africa Independent Television (AIT).

The NEMA DG, who hails from Kaduna State, has two Master's degrees - in Business Administration (MBA) and in International Relations and Diplomacy. He is married and has children.

1st Runner-up: Dr. Bashir Gwandu (Former Executive Commissioner, NCC) 2nd Runner-up: Dr. Olusegun Aganga, Minister of Trade and Investment LEADERSHIP Author Of The Year 2012: Olusegun Adeniyi Adeniyi's 'Power, Politics and Death: A Front-row Account of Nigeria Under Late President Yar'Adua,' gives significant insights into the tenure of the late President Yar'Adua. While enlightening the debate on a controversial presidency, the book also attempts to moderate certain uninformed positions taken on the Katsina-born late president and earned Olusegun Adeniyi the award of LEADERSHIP Author of the Year 2012 Award-winning, top-flight journalist, writer of note and political analyst, Olusegun Adeniyi, currently chairman, editorial board of THISDAY Newspapers, is the LEADERSHIP Author of the Year 2012. He was voted tops in this category on account of his book, Power, Politics and Death: A front-row Account of Nigeria Under late President Yar'Adua.

In the best tradition of literary journalism, Adeniyi captures the power-play, intrigues and compelling politics that defined the Yar'Adua presidency, a regime which spawned the famous "Doctrine of Necessity" - the quirky parliamentary script that transmuted Dr. Goodluck Jonathan from deputy to acting president and spared Nigeria a crisis.

Something of a reference work, Adeniyi's "Power, Politics and Death: A front-row Account of Nigeria Under late President Yar'Adua", gives significant insights into the tenure of the late President Yar'Adua. While enlightening the debate on a controversial presidency, the book also attempts to moderate certain uninformed positions taken on the man, the politician and the Katsina-born late president.

A 1989 BSc International Relations holder from the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, with a Master's in International Law and Diplomacy (MILD) from the University of Lagos in 1997, Adeniyi began his journalism career as a staff reporter with The Guardian in December 1990. In April 1992, he left The Guardian to join the now rested African Concord magazine as a senior staff writer and, in September of the same year, he was appointed the magazine's Abuja bureau chief with accreditation to cover the State House.

In June 1995, Adeniyi crossed over to the Sunday Concord newspaper within the late Bashorun M.K.O. Abiola's media empire as assistant editor. Two years later, he became deputy editor, a position he held until he joined THISDAY newspaper in January 1999, also as deputy editor for the Sunday newspaper. A year later, in 2000, he became the substantive editor of the Saturday newspaper.

Adeniyi was later to become editor of THISDAY on Sunday and in August 2005, he was appointed the editor of THISDAY. On May 30, 2007, he was tapped by the late President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua to be his special adviser on media and publicity, a position he occupied until YarAdua died on May 5, 2010.

Winner of the Jakande Prize or Political Reporter of the Year in the 1992 edition of the Nigeria Media Merit Award (NMMA), Adeniyi was a Fellow at the Weatherhead Centre for International Affairs, Harvard University, where he spent the 2010/2011 academic session. He conducted his research on the factors that shape incumbent presidential elections in Africa.

Adeniyi is the author of five books: The Last 100 Days of Abacha; Abiola's Travails; Fortress on Quicksand; POLITRICKS: National Assembly under Military Dictatorship and Power, Politics and Death: A Front-row Account of Nigeria under late President Yar'Adua.

Fellow of the Nigeria Leadership Initiative (NLI), Adeniyi is also a founding member of the National Stakeholder Working Group of the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI). He is currently chairman of the editorial board of THISDAY newspaper where he writes a weekly column, "The Verdict According to Olusegun Adeniyi".

Born on November 6, 1965, Adeniyi is married and has three children.

LEADERSHIP Government Agency Of The Year 2012: Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) The agency has demonstrated that, with disciplined application of scarce resources, commitment to work and genuine appreciation of the worth of human life, sanity can indeed be enforced on the nation's roads. The reduction in road accidents this year and the significantly improved emergency response time recommended FRSC as LEADERSHIP Government Agency of the Year 2012 With statutory responsibilities for road safety administration in Nigeria, the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) has indeed redefined road safety supervision in the country even against the background of significant operational challenges. Its positive impact in all Nigerian states as well as the Federal Capital Territory within the period of assessment makes it the LEADERSHIP Government Agency of the Year 2012.

Currently headed by Ositadinma Benjamin Chidoka, the corps marshal and chief executive, the agency has demonstrated that, with disciplined application of scarce resources, commitment to work and genuine appreciation of the worth of human life, sanity can indeed be enforced on the nation's roads.

The FRSC has given a new meaning to its briefs, which includes: making the highways safe for motorists and other road users, recommending works and infrastructure to eliminate or minimise accidents on the highways and educating motorists and members of the public on the importance of road discipline on the highways.

By its innovations in 2012 for a safe motoring environment in Nigeria, the Federal Road Safety Corps is LEADERSHIP Government Agency of the Year 2012. Closely aligned with its vision of eradicating road traffic crashes and creating a safe motoring environment, the FRSC successfully courted a World Bank intervention on country capacity review of Nigeria which in part was one of the measures to close identified gaps in Nigerian road safety.

This culminated in the donation of 16 patrol vehicles with state-of-art devices and other operational equipment to enhance FRSC's activities along designated safe corridors. The benefits of this is increased FRSC presence on the highways, improved visibility and enforcement of traffic regulations and prompt response to road crashes.

Within this period, the agency secured the approval of the National Council for Education and the Federal Executive Council for the introduction of standard school buses nationwide. This improved the safety standards of school buses and reduced cases of accidents involving children.

There was also the public presentation of a toll-free telephone number 122, which allows for prompt response to road traffic emergencies with the creation of a free platform for seamless communication gateway between the Corps and the motoring public which has shored up public confidence and the reporting of traffic emergencies.

During the period of assessment, the FRSC constituted a committee on the implementation of international vehicle transit charges at selected Nigerian border posts. This facilitated the creation a strong mechanism to enhance safety and co-ordination of trans-border movement.

The agency designed a platform called "One Driver One Record", which enables FRSC to track and match records of a driver with his driver licence, vehicle number plate, insurance and traffic offences in a single view, which can be shared with other security agencies for crime prevention and the promotion of national security.

Besides acquiring over 3000 plots of land for building of staff houses nationwide, it commissioned the FRSC Estate, Gwagwalada Phase One, Abuja, and this has enhanced staff welfare and productivity. It also successfully concluded arrangements for the acquisition of estates for staff in Yola, Bauchi and Calabar.

The agency significantly ensured the availability of real time data with the aid of ICT and upon which re-alignment of operational strategies and deployment of patrol resources are based. It was not surprising that with this capacity, the agency reliably recorded that from week 1 to 45 (January - November 2012) FRSC rescue teams had saved 14,061 road traffic crash victims nationwide.

The corps was able to convince the National Assembly and the general public on the need to upgrade of the National Drivers Licence and Number Plates, following the temporary suspension of the scheme. This resulted in the restoration of the integrity of the national driver's licence, improved vehicle owners' identification process, improved capacity for enforcement of traffic rules and regulations and creation of a reliable national data base for vehicle owners.

For these achievements and more the FRSC is LEADERSHIP Government Agency of the Year 2012.

1st Runner-up: Ministry of Aviation 2nd Runner-up: Ministry of Mines and Steel LEADERSHIP Brand Of The Year 2012: Honeywell Flour Mills Plc Despite the obvious challenges in its business environment, this year's half-year result reinforces the positive outlook for the company's full year results and the sustainability of its current growth momentum well into the foreseeable future. For creating brands that have become runaway successes, deepening consumer experience and significantly changing the company's bottom line , Honeywell is LEADERSHIP Brand of the Year 2012 Honeywell Flour Mills Plc was initially registered as Gateway Honeywell Flour Mills Limited on July 9, 1985 with a share capital of N10million comprising 10 million ordinary shares of N1 kobo each. A change in the company's ownership structure led to a change of name to Honeywell Flour Mills Limited (HFML) in June 1995. A subsequent conversion to a Public Liability Company in March 2008 led to its current name - Honeywell Flour Mills Plc. It now has an authorized share capital of N4billion.

The company engages in the manufacture and marketing of wheat-based products. It offers flour for baking bread, cakes, biscuits, pastries, and other confectioneries; and brown flour for baking whole wheat breads, as well as semolina, whole wheat meal, and pastas. The company, through its subsidiary, Honeywell Superfine Foods Limited (HSFL), also develops, produces, markets, and sells flour-based semi-processed food products, such as noodles, noodles value max, spaghetti, and macaroni in the fast moving consumer goods sector.

HSFL has been unable to satisfy rising demand for its Honeywell branded noodles, especially following the runaway success of its 'Bam Bam La La' advertising campaign. Marketing is being strategically directed at consumers and distributors in a more effective and efficient manner, utilising both traditional and new media channels which have resulted in increased points of sale and an upswing in revenues.

The company, listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange, with Oba Otudeko currently the chairman, has a highly experienced Board and a very professional management team which is working hard to continuously grow the business. Despite the obvious challenges in its business environment, this year's half-year result reinforces the positive outlook for the company's full year results and the sustainability of its current growth momentum well into the foreseeable future.

The company had been consistently rewarding its shareholders owing to consistent outstanding performances in its financials. It recorded a N1.8 billion half year growth in profit in its unaudited financial results for the six months ended September 30, 2012.

The result, which is reported under the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS), showed a 17 per cent increase in revenue from N18.68 billion to N21.93 billion between comparative periods in 2011 and 2012.

Profit before Tax (PBT) rose to N1.79 billion from N1.32 billion recorded in the first half of the last financial year owing, largely, to the company's ability to contain costs whilst achieving increases in sales.

1st Runner-up: MTN 2nd Runner-up: SAMSUNG LEADERSHIP Sports Persons Of The Year 2012: The Paralympians In a year of excruciating disappointment at the London Olympic Games where Nigerian athletes recorded zero medal haul, our disabled paralympians saved the country's honour by winning several gold medals and, for good measure, breaking world records. For saving Nigeria from shame and disgrace, the Paralympians are LEADERSHIP Sports Persons of the Year 2012 The last time Nigeria won gold in an Olympic outing was in 1996 at the Atlanta edition in the United States of America. Nigeria won two gold medals then, in football and long jump. At the last edition in London, the abled bodied athletes failed again and returned home without a single medal.

However, rescue to Nigeria's national image came when the paralympians stepped on the stage in London and restored the nation's pride where their able-bodied colleagues failed. Nigeria won 6 gold medals, all in powerlifting, 5 silver and 2 bronze to end the campaign with a total of 13 medals.

Yakubu Adesokan, 33, won the first gold medal for Nigeria, breaking the world record in the men's 48 category by lifting 178 kg. Esther Oyema lifted a 135kg weight to also set a new world record in the women's 48kg category while Oyema, 30, grabbed a gold medal while setting another record.

Others are Joy Onaolapo, who won Nigeria's fourth gold medal in women's 52 kg; breaking another record with a second lift of 130kg, while Grace Anozie made it six in the women's +82.5kg class. Folashade Olufunmilayo set another new world record in the women's 75kg but failed to win the gold medal.

For breaking four world records and rescuing Nigeria from international shame, these worthy ambassadors are the LEADERSHIP Sports Persons of the Year 2012.

Copyright Leadership. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com).

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