Four Nigerians will be presented the inaugural Queen’s Young
Leaders Awards, on Monday, at the United Kingdom’s
Buckingham Palace.
The awards will be presented by the Queen of England,
Queen Elizabeth II. The four Nigerians are: Isaiah Owolabi,
Kelvin Ogholi, Nkechikwu Azinge and Oladipupo Ajiroba.
According to a statement issued by the QYL, the awards are
being given to exceptional young people from across the
Commonwealth. Apart from the four beneficiaries from
Nigeria, Canada, India, Cameroon and South Africa have three
winners each.
The award winners aged between 18 and 29 are being
recognised by the UK monarch for taking the initiative to
support others, raise awareness and inspire change on a
variety of different issues including education, gender
equality, mental health and disability equality.
“We are very much looking forward to welcoming the first
Queen’s Young Leaders to London on the 22nd (of June). It
will be such an honour to witness these exceptional young
people receiving their awards from Her Majesty the Queen
for their incredible work in their countries and across the
Commonwealth,” the Executive of the Queen Elizabeth
Diamond Jubilee Trust, Dr. Astrid Bonfield, said.
One of the winners, Owolabi, a co-founder of Hacey’s Health
Initiative, told SUNDAY PUNCH , during a courtesy visit on
Wednesday by the British High Commission represented by
Theresa Adeniyi and the QYL Nigerian ambassador,
Stephanie Okereke-Linus, that the QYL award placed further
responsibilities on him.
“The success is collective. I am happy and also surprised by
the award. I see the award as a bigger responsibility and an
opportunity to further impact on the life of others. This
award will provide needed boost to our efforts at the HHI to
continue to engage the public and private sectors and the
people on the need to pay more attention to health, women
and girls issues in the society,” he said.
In addition to meeting the UK monarch, the winners before
receiving their awards at the palace will meet the UK Prime
Minister, David Cameron, visit the UK headquarters of Twitter
and the British Broadcasting Corporation.
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