Rockshock reports from "The Future Awards" 2011

A touch of green every where,a beautiful sight to behold! Cheers and smiles, pleasantries with warm embraces. That was the atmosphere at the 6th edition of the future awards which held some eighteen hours ago at the spacious Landmark events center on the shores of the popular Oniru beach.

It was simply awesome and inspiring! Well attended by most of those who believe in the strength and ideas of the Nigerian youth, all those who believe that the youth begins to lead tomorrow from today and that celebrating them is key to spurring them on and as well inspire them to do more in contributing to our dear nation's development.

A well attended occasion by children,youths and the grown ups. It all started from the entrance with the sharp contrast of the green carpet and the white beach sand leading to the beautifully decorated hall. Guest check-in started as scheduled and they all started arriving in their droves and the cameras started clicking away;from Bosworth international college to Wesley Girls college, Karen Young to Omotola Jolade-ekeinde , Pat Utomi to Dele Momodu,Joke Jaiyesimi to Kemi Adetiba, Flo Adefope to Segun Dangote,Omowunmi Akinifesi to Oyinda Osonowo, Jedi to Princess,and on goes the list.

Omowunmi Akinifesi (former most beautiful girl in Nigeria)

The award event started 7:48pm with a sensational rendition of our national anthem by Segun Obe and Ego followed by a musical performance by the all girl group; Chase (Crat,Ollah and January) which carried enough energy to usher all in attendance into what to be expected- a fun filled evening.

Omowunmi Akinifesi and Gbemi Olateru were the first to present the first category(s) of award which was won by Muyideen Salau (Best use of advocacy) and Tolulope Iruoye (Best use of technology) and that marked the beginning of the anticipation.

Aisha Augie-Kuta after winning In her category told the story of the nigerian youth as bare as it is through the lens of her camera,it was food for thought for it captured the waste of a youth due to the system's inadequacy to support the survival of its progeny. Lara George quickly brought us back into the event from our wondering of the youths sufferings with her lovely performance and then Salewa (Tinsel) gave a little drama that got everyone laughing.

Mr Segun Aganga - the minister for finance gave the keynote address with honour. He described how Obi Ezekwesili and Dora Akunyili had described what to expect to him and how the youth organizers had held him spell bound with the delivery of the event,he went on to say how the anthem's rendition gave him a youthful feel and how much he loves the zeal and pride in the Nigerian youth. He highlighted our potentials as a nation and the need to through the youths make these potentials translate into better lives for all. The minister ended his address by asking all Nigerians and the youths in particular to live the words of the national anthem.
Freez , Lolo, Salewa, Geneviev, Omotola along with Lynx,Tosin Martins,Obiwon all presented different category of awards at this time before Sound sultan gave his energetic performance with MI which got the crowd going wow! Uche Nnaji(ouch!) Told the crowd about the pains of entrepreneurs and how system breakdown in the country militate against survival.

The creative director of the awards event Chude Jideonwo gave a thought provoking speech about the state of the federation,it shook everyone listening to the very bottom of their being the speech said all the event sought to tell. Dr Sid and Dolapo Oni took over as comp ere before Banky W performed why?        (From W experience) with his band it was splendid.

The show went on and this time to its ebb, all those who deserve to be recognized has been recorgnized and those who stood out got honoured. It was an event not to be forgotten in a hurry as the thought of it is a souvenir to stay on the mind of the nations youth constantly reminding us that we are the leaders of tomorrow and tomorrow is here already it starts right now!

                                                                                             Report by Olasubomi Kukoyi
Introducing 2011 FUTURE AWARDS WINNERS

ACTOR OF THE YEAR

Mercy Johnson

BEST USE OF ADVOCACY

Muyideen Salau

BEST USE OF SCIENCE

Debo Olaosebikan

BEST USE OF TECHNOLOGY

Iruoye Tolulope

BUSINESS OWNER OF THE YEAR

Bode Pedro

COMEDIAN OF THE YEAR

Seyi Law

CORPORATE PROFESSIONAL OF THE YEAR

Tokini Peterside

CREATIVE ARTIST OF THE YEAR

Aisha Augie-Kuta

CREATIVE PROFESSIONAL OF THE YEAR

Janet Nwose

EXCELLENCE IN PUBLIC SERVICE

Emmanuel Etim

JOURNALIST OF THE YEAR

Tolu Ogunlesi

MAGAZINE OF THE YEAR

FAB

MUSICIAN OF THE YEAR

Banky W

MUSIC PRODUCER OF THE YEAR

Sosick

ON-AIR PERSONALITY OF THE YEAR (RADIO)

Matse Uwatse (Wazobia FM)

ON-AIR PERSONALITY OF THE YEAR (TV)

Tana Adelana (Peak Talent Show)

SCREEN PRODUCER OF THE YEAR

Clarence Peters

SPORTSPERSON OF THE YEAR

Enyiama Vincent

DESIGNER OF THE YEAR

Bridget Awosika

TEAM OF THE YEAR

The Falconets

YOUNG PERSON OF THE YEAR - WINNERS

Nnaemeka Ikegwuonu 28– Advocate 

Don Jazzy 29 – Entrepreneur

Genevieve Nnaji 31 – Actor

Psquare 30 – Artiste

Uche Eze 26 – Entrepreneur

Nneka (Egbuna) 29 – Artiste

Makinde Adeagbo 25 – Innovator

Ojoma Ochai 29 – Intrapreneur

Debo Olaosebikan 25 – Scientist

Blessing Okaragbe 22– Athlete

“No more excuses, let’s save Nigeria......”

The celebrity of the moment is most definitely the 26 year old young man behind the most influential youth gathering in Africa. He gave a speech at "The Future Awards" last night. It gave many people goose pimples. We at Rockshock hereby present the speech as seen below. Be ready to be inspired.

Being an Address by Chude Jideonwo, Managing Director of RedSTRAT/The Future Project at The Future Awards 2011, 30 January 2011, Lagos.

Sometimes Nigeria can confound and frustrate you. Just a few weeks ago, at a meeting our organization facilitated for the Presidency to engage them on the issues that affect young people nationwide, someone said: “people have no faith in themselves, people are pessimistic – that’s why our country is the way it is.” And I smiled.

I smiled because I used to think like that too. I was 13 when I wrote my first book, “In my father’s knickers” and the first publisher I sent it to published it, no issues whatsoever. So when I heard people complaining about the “system” not working, I wondered what on earth they were talking about, it had worked for me. Little did I know I was an exception to the disheartening general rule. Many years later I have learnt not to be so quick to judge.

So when I hear statements like that made, statements like “our country is the way it is because people are lazy and pessimistic”, It is enough to make you cry – this utter cluelessness that can sometimes pass for engagement or problem solving, not just by government, but by the generality of the people who have the task or the duty to ensure that our country is set upon that clichéd right track.

No, people are not pessimistic, people are realistic. And the reality is that our country is essentially… falling apart.

People are suffering. People are producing garri in the east and the South-South but have no one to sell it to because the transportation system has collapsed, textile and other industries are shutting down in the North, parents who earn N25000 to N30000 are expected to pay school fees of up to N250000. There is an overpowering sense of powerlessness, of hopelessness. And if anybody is saying anything different to President Jonathan and all of government, then they are lying.

Did you hear the first speaker, Aisha? People are homeless, people are jobless. People cannot afford meals; people live under the bridges – boys of 8, 7, 5. The guys that clean your windscreens, the girls you see still carrying bread and hawking it from 12pm to 1am. Suffering. Poverty. They are the generality and there are millions of them. And they are mad as hell. Let’s not even talk about Jos, or the Niger Delta. These are the people who wonder – “how do you bring back the book for people who never had books in the first place?”

It is this frustration that led me to gather friends, associates, partners and youths – on my 25th birthday last year - to say Enough-is-Enough, When we got to the National Assembly and had the Senators running through back gates and we raised our voices saying “we are not activists, we are young professionals who want to tell you how we feel”, and that is “this is not the country we want!” It wasn’t just about whether President Yar’Adua was missing or that the promised 60000 megawatts was nowhere to be found, it was because we had had enough. The people on the other side are not listening! And they have to. Government, Captains of industry, funding and International Organisations engaged in this project called Nigeria, those who should facilitate the work of change.

Let me speak candidly. Because it is in the middle of these kinds of crisis that the governments of the Niger Delta seem to have come together and decided that the solution for this problem is to organize a Miss Niger Delta competition.

These are the people we go to meet to support our work to reach young people with skills, with knowledge, to build their capacity. We don’t want contracts, we have plans – proven to work – to train young people, we want to bring mentors for them, we want to bring this award to your state, this conference, let these young people meet the kinds of mentors that can change their lives.

Many are making effort and we are grateful. I thank you Access Bank, I thank you, I thank you Virgin Atlantic, I thank the Office of the Delta State Governor, I thank you MTN, I thank you Miccom Golf Resorts, I thank you HiTV, but it is not enough. If this country collapses, there will be no banks, there will be no telecoms companies, no Twitter, no Facebook. No clubs, no bowling alleys. No aso-ebis, no weddings. Look at Tunisia and Egypt, those tall buildings are tumbling down and tumbling fast.

And no, it’s not a role for government alone. We cannot be getting funding from International organizations like the World Bank, Omidyar Network, MacArthur Foundation and others and all our own organizations want to focus on are reality shows and concerts, pageants and raves. They say that is what young people want. Are you kidding me? On the 29th of January, we had more than 2000 youths at our pre-awards conference, same as last year. We go outside Lagos for our Town Hall Meetings to engage the youth nationally on entrepreneurship, value creation and governance and people are standing like it’s a crusade. On Facebook, on Twitter, thousands of followers.
This hall,full. Are they not youths? We have a database of thousands of volunteers – we cannot even accommodate all – begging to do something, to be part of something serious and impactful; so be part of projects like ours, or those of organisations like “Rise Networks”, “Light-Up-Nigeria”, “Paradigm Initiative Nigeria”, “BLING” - just to mention a few – firms that have gained such credibility and influence and a tremendous following of young people. Why do Marketing Managers, Marketing Directors, MDs think that creatively and intelligently engaging these young people is a waste of time and money?

I ask when I see them: why is it so difficult to find the budget to support our trainings for young people in entrepreneurship, creativity – our “Young Writers Network”, our “The Future Enterprise Support Scheme”, our “Do Something” Seminars, but so easy to have money out for… you know these things.

Just last year, a member of our Board, an amazing woman, Obiageli Ezekwesili called up a bank MD and said, look man, you have to support this, I have known them for five years, I have seen the numbers, I have seen the passionate young people they lead, support them. And he said, “Oh the young people are not our demographic”. So she asked “So who is your demographic – the aging, the geriatric?” Such irony, such disconnect, such a paradox.

This project – this event - is a gift of love, of passion. It comes from blood and the hardest of work. This project is not even where the income comes from. That comes from our business arm, our PR business, our management consulting, our project management, the magazines we edit for companies, our online media businesses. Any thing but The Future Awards… some of you here think we make millions from it?

Let me tell you… for all our Town Hall Meetings across Nigeria – visiting Abia, Benin, Yola, Ile-Ife, South Africa, the UK to listen to the issues and aspirations of Nigerian youths etc – we were not able to get even up to half of our budget and subsequently ran at a great loss just because we are determined to make this happen. The amount we received for sponsorship is not up to the amount some of you spend on “Omugwo”. The only way we are able to do this is because partners like Cool FM, Wazobia FM, Miccom, Yvent Kouture, Dtalkshop, Total Consult, Silverbid Tremor Perfect, MAI clothing, Saheeto, La Bash, Mass Media Partners and others you can see in the brochure say “yes you guys have no sponsorship but this is a national project and it’s changing lives, it cannot die” – and they join their hands together and tell us “We will give you sound, we will give you stage, we will give you this and that – premium high quality, you don’t have to pay, and here we are.

It shows you the kind of generation that we belong to. Some of us, even in this crisis of nationhood, still want to do things for legacy, for posterity, for history. Not because we are so special, but because we saw what our parents did with our country and we don’t like it. And we declare… ‘We cannot continue like this!’

It’s not about government. It’s a general collapse in values. Our problems are not hard we just refuse to engage them. We refuse to join hands and repair the road where you drive your jeep in Banana Island. It’s not hard. To give a couple of millions that you spend on random parties to mentors the children of the Dustbin Estate, it’s not hard. To come to us, beyond words – beyond “oh you’re doing so well, oh I’m so proud of you guys, oh I am so impressed” – to saying, which of your projects can I fund, how many of your young people can I support, how many award winners can I structure sustainable investment for… it’s not hard. Is not hard to say one percent of my budget, as a company, will go to practically enriching the lives of young people. No, it’s not. Enough of lip service. Put your money where your mouth is.

Ladies and gentlemen, our country is not yet a great one. That’s the truth. How can you be great if your young people are so disillusioned, so angry, so tired? This nation can be great, it has its moments of greatness, but lets call this spade a spade; it is not yet even near greatness. And if we don’t acknowledge how urgent this problem is, Egypt and Tunisia are just a few hours away.

The good news is: Our revolution does not have to be bloody if we all combine the clinking of champagne glasses with the rolling up of our sleeves. Find a way to get involved. Stop sitting in your house and complaining – do something, put your hands on the plough, add your quota. If you don’t know how to do your part then ask the many people doing real work, making real impact, adding real value, who actually understand the issues, understand the youths, and own that future. Ask us. There is no longer any excuse. It is no longer cool to be disinterested.

All of us must work together and take active steps to safeguard this future in the NOW! We have no choice. We have no choice.

God bless Nigeria.