From Oluseye Ojo
Ibadan, Oyo State, on Wednesday, hosted a celebration of five Nigerian icons—Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Professor Wole Soyinka, Professor Bolanle Awe, Adebayo Ogunlesi, and Kanu Nwankwo—during a children’s book launch and the commissioning of a new library and digital centre for World Book and Copyright Day.
The event, organised by Edem Ossai, a lawyer and founder of Mentoring Assistance for Youth and Entrepreneurs Initiative (MAYEIN), featured her book, Role Models Series for African Children Vol. 1.
Ossai said, “This book captures the incredible journeys of some of the inspiring achievers in Africa and brings it within the reach of children in storybook format in a way that they can enjoy and digest.”
The book documents the lives of Okonjo-Iweala (WTO Director-General), Soyinka (Nobel laureate), Awe (Nigeria’s first female history professor), Ogunlesi (Global Infrastructure Partners founder), and Nwankwo (former African Footballer of the Year) to inspire qualities like hard work and honesty.
Speakers, including former University of Ibadan Vice-Chancellor Professor Olufemi Bamiro, urged students to emulate these role models. Bamiro stated, “It shows that there is still hope in this country.”
Professor Francis Egbokhare emphasised knowledge access, saying, “Those who control information control human minds. Those who control minds control generations.”
Professor Niyi Osundare advocated for libraries in underserved areas, stating, “I believed that mobile libraries and small physical libraries in under-resourced neighbourhoods would be an effective way to provide reading support and literacy resources to poorer and marginalised children.”
Julie McKay, US Consulate Public Affairs Officer, praised the book’s inspirational value, while publisher Adejoke Oyekan noted its focus on globally influential Nigerians rooted in African heritage.