When you start, many will not believe in you especially those in your close circle. However, there are a few that will catch the vision from day one and some will catch it later.The advantage is many know your weakness more than your strength so they conclude you can’t make it.

Secondly, you are adventuring to an uncomfortable Zone when they are still in their comfort zone so is a worry to many.

What you need to do is to make your works speak for you and not your words. Be an inspiration to many. Let some sit back and say because of you, I have achieved ABC……There is one thing you should not forget, those you started with and stayed with you.

The journey of pursuing a vision is tough but is achievable when you understand you are the vision carrier so the disappointment of no one should be a discouragement to you.

Remember, #itspossibleifonlyyoubelieveOscar Bimpong

OUR PLAY DIRECTOR OF THE YEAR 2021 IS MR JAMES HENSHAW – FOUNDER OF JAMES ENE HENSHAW FOUNDATION

PROFILE: James Ewa Henshaw.

Between 2000 and 2013 when I returned to Nigeria I was a senior lecturer in Business and Computing at South Thames College, London where I taught on the National and Higher National Diploma courses, and was the Co-ordinator of the Foundation Degree Programme in e-Business under the auspices of Kingston University. My specialisms were Programming, Business Information Systems and Project Management.

The Arts, particularly theatre, has always been my abiding interest, something I probably inherited from growing up with a playwright father. I was deeply involved in student drama while at university. In 1986, I won an Arts Council Bursary for New Writing (Plays), and this led to setting up a theatre company which performed African plays and toured mainly around the North-East of England. Subsequently, I took a post as a Community Arts Development Officer attached to Northern Arts based in Newcastle upon Tyne.

After taking up a teaching career, I continued to be involved with a amateur and semi- professional theatre, and directed plays for the Calabar Union in the United Kingdom.

After the death of my father, spurred by the desire to maintain his literary legacy I set up the James Ene Henshaw Foundation and returned to Nigeria.

The Foundation has since republished 3 plays by the late playwright, Ene Henshaw, and got them back on the English curriculum for secondary schools in a number of States, as well as several universities in the country. Reviving the practice of drama in secondary schools, as well as encouraging the growth of a theatre-going culture in the local community are the main challenges taken on by the Foundation. We are addressing these issues through our PLAYS-TO- SCHOOLS programme and the Season of World Classics which we have opened with SIZWE BANSI IS DEAD.

OUR PAN-AFRICANIST WRITER OF THE YEAR, 2021 IS CLAUDE OPARA. CLAUDE WAS BORN IN ZAIRE BUT ORIGINALLY FROM NIGERIA. HE IS ALSO A QUALIFIED ARCHITECT

His work is starting to attract critical acclamation from very many literary circles around the world

INFORMATION ABOUT CLAUDE CAN BE FOUND BELOW

Claude Opara is a Nigerian from Imo State. He was born in Kinshasa, Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of Congo) but relocated to Nigeria in the ’70s and grew up in Kaduna. He has a penchant for adventure and writing stories.

Although he has written many stories in the past, “…And the night hissed.” is his first publication. In his second year at high school, Claude participated in a Rotary Club school essay competition and was first runner-up. This gingered him to take more interest in creative writing since at the time, his focus had been on fine arts where he had won best artist.

He later became a strong member of the school’s Literary & Debating Club where he was the first editor and also wrote short stories/commentaries for the school magazine, ‘The Literati’. With such creative interests he was thus drawn to studying Architecture in college, graduating from Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria.

The lure of the literary world did not leave him however. Upon relocating to Lagos in 2001 after his studies, he worked on one of his early stories,’And the Night Hissed’,a gripping thriller, and eventually published it under Authorhouse and later Thomson Press. Claude Opara is married with children.

Claude has also written books with pan-africanist themes. His work is starting to attract critical acclamation from very many literary circles from around the world

OUR FILM DIRECTOR OF THE YEAR, 2021 IS MR DESMOND OVBIAGELE

Desmond Ovbiagele worked in investment banking for over a decade before exiting to pursue a passion for movie production. He wrote, produced and co-directed his debut feature film, Render to Caesar, which was selected to screen in official competition at FESPACO, Africa’s largest film festival, in 2015, as well as at the Pan African Film Festival in Los Angeles. It also received awards for Best Screenplay at the Nollywood Movies Awards and Best of Nollywood (BON) Awards respectively, in addition to the award for Best International Feature Film at the Nile Diaspora International Film Festival in Kampala, Uganda. The Milkmaid, which he also wrote, produced and directed, is his second feature film, winning five Africa Movie Academy Awards in December 2020, including for Best Film.
In December 2020, the Nigerian Official Selection Committee announced The Milkmaid as the country’s official selection for the
93rd Academy Awards in the category of Best International Feature Film.

FILMOGRAPHY

Render to Caesar (2014)
The Milkmaid (2020)

OUR POP ARTIST OF THE YEAR 2021 IS THE AMAZING ROGER OKEWOLE BASED IN NEW JERSEY, USA –

INFORMATION ABOUT ROGER CAN BE FOUND BELOW

I am Roger Okewole and 9ja Pop Art is a peek into my imagination!

INSPIRATIONS: More than Dali, Rembrandt, Da Vinci, Michelangelo and Picasso, Roy Lichtenstein is my main artistic inspiration. I couldn’t have been older than eight when Mom was showing me Lichtenstein’s works in World Book Encyclopedia.

BEGINNINGS: My parents bought a few of those thick coffee table art books with photos of the great paintings by Old Masters, alongside Greek and Roman sculptures. I was studying anatomy and perspective from those books from a very early age. My folks also bought me every age-appropriate comic book they could find, which truly unlocked my imagination.

I first exhibited in a gallery when I was about 11 years old. I was designing costumes and banners for carnivals in Nigeria when I was in my early teens. I was 16 when I got my first graphics job with an advertising agency in Lagos.

I worked as a graphic artist while at college in Nigeria and the USA. I did all this without a single day in art school. My folks insisted I follow the “responsible eldest son” path and I got a Civil Engineering degree and an MBA.

Then things changed…After about a 10-year hiatus spent climbing the corporate ladder, I formed 9ja Pop Art to bring my artistic side back to life.

MEDIA: I mostly use pencils, inks, watercolor pencils and computer graphics; I like to mix it up and my creative impulses tend to go in very different directions. The only thing I never do is photobashing

I hope you enjoy the ride as much as I have!!!

My art business has been designated as a “Trusted Art Seller” with The Art Storefronts Organization, which means you can shop with confidence, and know that I stand behind the quality and value of my products.

OUR FEMALE JOURNALIST OF THE YEAR, 2021 IS DENISE DENNIS BASED IN PORT-HARCOURT, NIGERIA

INFORMATION ABOUT HER CAN BE FOUND BELOW

Denise Dennis, an award winning broadcast journalist with over six years of active experience, is currently an On-Air Personality (OAP) working with the nation’s number 1 News, Talk and Sports radio station, Nigeria Info 92.3 FM, in the beautiful city of Port Harcourt.

She is currently the host of the “Chat Station” show that airs from 1.00 to 5.00a.m. on week days and the “Sunday Night Cafe” show that airs from 9.00p.m to 12.00 Midnight.

Denise is a public speaker, a quintessential Master of Ceremonies, an understanding, incisive and compassionate “Agony Aunt,” a voice-over artiste and remarkably sonorous Music Minister.

As a result of her understanding of the tumultuous experiences of adults, and the attendant unanswered questions with regard to life, love, sexuality, emotions, faith, and relationships, including marriage, she has often provided reasonable answers and guidance to her clients. She birthed “Project RAW,” an acronym for “REAL ADULT WORRIES”….(A Safe Haven for Real and Mature Conversations) in the month of May 2019, a forum at which she speaks uncensored on such matters. She has successfully hosted two editions, one each in the months of June and October 2019 respectively and a “Valentines day” edition “LOVE IN THE GARDEN CITY WITH DENISE DENNIS UNCENSORED in the month of February 2020 in the city of Port Harcourt.

OUR MALE JOURNALIST FOR THE YEAR 2021 IS STEVE MULINDWA FROM UGANDA

INFORMATION ABOUT STEVE CAN BE FOUND BELOW

Steve Mulindwa is from Uganda, East Africa.He has over 20 years experience working as a qualified journalist and broadcaster and has interviewed numerous famous personalities including Ex Presidents, Politicians, Business tycoons, musicians and community leaders. He has also worked for several radio stations, magazines and constituted authorities.Steve is also a founding member of several African initiatives making a difference to peoples life. He has a passion for people, politics and community development

OUR MALE PROFESSOR OF THE YEAR 2021 IS Professor Rotimi Ayodele Kayode JAIYESIMI

INFORMATION ABOUT HIM CAN BE FOUND BELOW

Professor Rotimi Jaiyesimi graduated from the University of Ibadan Medical School in 1978. He came to the British Isles in 1985 in pursuit of further professional development. He has worked in Nigeria, Ireland, Saudi Arabia and the United Kingdom. He was appointed Consultant in Obstetrics and Gynaecology in the UK in 1994. He is a Fellow of the West African College of Surgeons and of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists. Professor Jaiyesimi holds a Masters degree in Business Administration and a Mastersdegree in Medical Law.

He is currently the Associate Medical Director for Patient Safety at BTUH, Visiting Professor at the Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Sunderland and the Faculty of Law, University of Ibadan. A member of the Institute of Directors (IoD), he is Chairman of the Board of Management at Brighthope Specialist Hospitals, Lagos, Nigeria and the Secretary of the Medical Association of Nigerians Across Great Britain (MANSAG).

He is passionate about the safety of patients, developing the younger generation by teaching and leading by example. As Visiting Professor to the University OF Ibadan Law Faculty, he had delivered lectures to postgraduate students and staff on the legal issues in clinical practice and on the sustainable development goals. He has been a member of faculty of many training missions to Abuja, Abeokuta, Ibadan, Sagamu and Tanzania. He is a public speaker and has appeared in print and visual media.

Professor Jaiyesimi is keen to see the sharing of knowledge between Nigerian health care professionals in the diaspora and colleagues in Nigeria. This is to reverse the brain drain and to facilitate the exchange of knowledge and skills. He was the Chairman of the Presidential Initiative on Medical Excellence (PRIME) and the Presidential Initiative on DiasporanEngagement (PRIDE) between April 2016 and October 2017. He made contributions to the Federal Republic of Nigeria National Policy on Diaspora Matters in December 2016 and was a participant at the multi-stakeholder Validation Seminar on the National Policy on Diaspora Matters at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Abuja in December 2016.

OUR FEMALE PROFESSOR OF THE YEAR 2021 IS PROFESSOR ROSE- MARGARET EKENG -ITUA

INFORMATION ABOUT HER CAN BE FOUND BELOW

Rose-Margaret Ekeng-Itua is an innovative Engineering Professor based in the Silicon Valley Area in California, USA with over 10 years of experience in Higher Education globally. Before moving to the USA she was the Chair of Engineering and Senior Lecturer at the University of West London, London, UK .She graduated from the Federal University of Technology Owerri, Nigeria with a B.Eng. (Hons) in Electrical/Electronic Engineering majoring in Telecommunications. She gained an MSc. in Mobile and Satellite Communication from the University of Surrey, Guildford, UK and her Doctorate in Cybernetic Intelligence for Mobile Devices at the University of Reading, UK .

She has been internationally recognized by UNESCO, BBC, the IEEE for her contributions towards youth empowerment and campaigning for equity for African Americans and Females in STEM education and Career.

She has research interests in the Internet of Things, Wireless Sensor Networks, Sustainable Energy and Appropriate Technologies for Emerging Economies and bridging gender and race divides in STEM education and careers. Rose-Margaret has implemented various initiatives to encourage social entrepreneurship amongst African Youths and to encourage African girls to pursue STEM education/careers.

OUR ENTREPRENEUR OF 2021 (ELDERLY CATEGORY) IS ELIZABETH SAMA OBILEYE

BRIEF INFORMATION ABOUT HER CAN BE FOUND BELOW

Elizabeth Sama Obileye was born in 1951 to Dr. Sama Ekpo Sama and Ms Ayi Ekpe, both of Calabar, Nigeria. Taken to Ibadan where she attended St Teresa’s College, Ibadan and had her first degree in French from University of Ibadan. She then trained to become a Translator/Interpreter in CIAL, Spain; Sorbonne 3, France and the Polytechnic of Central London (now University of Westminster) UK. She obtained MSc in Organisational Behaviour from Birkbeck College, University of London while working with the World Health Organization as head of English Translation Section for 17.5 years, with a brief period as the Administrator, in the Reproductive Health Division when WHO/AFRO was moved to Zimbabwe during the civil conflicts in Congo-Brazzaville.

She has been involved in a number of projects in village health posts and she mentored children in difficult circumstances to take positive control over their destiny in both Congo-Brazzaville and Zimbabwe, using Sports, in particular, football. Through this process she helped to stimulate youth sports in Harare, Zimbabwe. Elizabeth Sama Obileye is a mother and grandmother.