Wale Adenuga; Nigerian cartoonist and comedy show producer. Adenuga created Papa Ajasco and other characters of his skits in the first four years he was running his entertainment company as a one-man business. While an undergraduate, Adenuga became the chief cartoonist of the most popular campus magazine called Viper. Later he developed this vocation into…
Alfred Rewane; Nigerian civil rights leader and campaigner for democracy, human rights, true federalism and accountability in public office. He was a financier of pro-democracy movements in Nigeria during the military dictatorship of General Sani Abacha [i]. The wealthy industrialist is credited with standing up to the racism of Lagos’ Bristol Hotel in 1948 when…
Rhodes Steve; Nigerian Classical musician. Rhodes’ original compositions, like Serenade for an Occasion, Walk Lightly, Ijapa-Pantomime, Why am I Free? and God’s Beauty, established his musical influence in Lagos. Rhodes produced and directed the first television drama, which he titled The Most Excellent Way, in 1963. As an artist he was praised as a consummate…
Samuel Okon Peter; Nigerian World Boxing Council, WBC Heavy weight Champion. After a poor outing at the Sidney 2000 Olympics, Peter prepared for his debut international professional match under the auspices of Svailo Gotzev, renowned boxing manager. With a first-round knockout of opponent on 6 February 2001, and a couple of others at the Palace…
Bekololari Ransome-Kuti; Nigerian human rights activist and medical doctor. In his lifetime, Beko earned the admiration of many for his tenacity in the struggle for the sustenance of democracy in Nigeria. Beko was radicalized to fight the military, when on February 18, 1977, soldiers invaded the residence of his elder brother, Fela who was a…
Sikiru Ayinde; Icon and one of the originators of Fuji music, which was originally a local subgenre called Were, used in waking up the Muslim faithfuls for the dawn-food in the month of fasting (ramadan). Beginning from 1958, Sikiru Ayinde was in the forefront of the popularisation of Fuji in its Nigeria place of birth…
Nenadi Esther Usman; Nigerian federal minister under President Obasanjo, who succeeded celebrated Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala in the ministry of finance. Usman under Iweala was part of the brains of the economic reforms of Olusegun Obasanjo government. Her focus in the finance ministry as stated by her was to bring the effect of past reforms to the…
Dora Akinyuli Dora Nkemdilim Akunyili; Nigerian pharmacist and public officer holder, who attained heroe’s status in her role as the Director General of the National Agency for Food and Drugs Administration (NAFDAC), the nation’s regulating body for pharmaceutical products by President Obasanjo. Akunyili had gotten recommendation through a former minister, Dr. Onalapo Sholeye, who was…
Nuhu Ribadu; Nigerian anti-graft czar, founding chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission EFCC, who brought freshness, patriotism and candour to his job. As an undergraduate Law student in Ahmadu Bello University in Zaria, the story was told of Ribadu’s foolhardy confrontation with a gunman when he was himself armless. While he was only…
Josiah Idowu-Fearon; Clergyman of the Nigerian Church, Anglican Communion, distinguished for his promotion of dialogue and reconciliation between Christians and Muslims. He is the Archbishop of the Province of Kaduna. Born in 1949, Idowu-Fearon trained for a short period as a soldier, but realising he had a calling to serve God, he left the military…