Queen of England honours four Nigerians

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.