Technology Africa, a fledging independent television production outfit, has honored some credible Nigerians with the National ICT Merit Award in an event organised last week, tagged Titans of Tech.  The 2-day event which began with informed lecture and workshop at the Muson Centre, Onikan Lagos, crystalized into a night of honour tagged National ICT Merit Award night at the Eko Hotels & Suites in Victoria Island, Lagos.

According to Don Pedro Aganbi, Managing Consultant, Technology Africa,

Titans of Tech National ICT Merit Award is designed to celebrate hi-tech revolutionaries, trail-blazers, pioneers, men and women of entrepreneurial integrity who are at the forefront of technology development in the country.categories of awardees; Legends of Technology, IT Technoprenuers and National ICT Merit Awardees were honoured.

The award had three categories namely: Legends of Technology, IT Technopreneurs and National ICT Merit Awards. The Legends of Technology emerged as:

• Otunba Mike Adenuga, Chairman/CEO of Globacom, who’s timely intervention in the telecommunications arena has continued to hold a lot of implications for the burgeoning Nigerian telecommunications sector.  Globacom, under his leadership, has been adjudged the fastest-growing telecoms operations in Africa and the third fastest in the world, with a current active subscriber base of over 20 million.
• Demola Aladekomo, CEO of Chams Plc, Nigeria’s premier ICT solutions provider, a highly experienced IT practitioner with some of the landmark achievements in the industry associated to him, arising from his visionary capacity in IT. Aladekomo was responsible for the establishment of the first wide area networking on PC in Nigeria. Chams, is currently Nigeria’s leading smart cards solutions company.
• Jim Ovia, Chairman of Visafone, Nigeria’s leading CDMA mobile operator, was attributed to being in the vanguard of promotion and propagation of Information and Communications Technology in Nigeria. He chairs the Nigeria Software Development Initiative (NSDI) and the National Information Technology Advisory Committee [NITAC]. Jim the founder of the ICT Foundation for Youth Empowerment, which focuses on improving the socio-economic welfare of Nigerian Youths by inspiring and motivating them to embrace Information and Communication Technology. Lately, he has emerged as the Chairman of Visafone, the CMDA operator that has revolutionise the face of mobile telephony in Nigeria, connecting 2.5 million subscribers in its first year of operation.
• Mrs Florence Seriki, Managing Director of Omatek Ventures Plc, Nigeria’s foremost computer manufacturer, started out in 1986 as a youth corper with the NNPC, teaching the Who-is-Who in the financial and oil industry how to type with the computer when it was only big companies that could acquire a PC. Today, Omatek becomes the first computer factory in Africa to locally produce completely knocked down casings, completely knocked down speakers and to locally produce home entertainment speakers, ranging from two-in-one speakers to five-in-one. 

In the IT Technopreneurs category, Annie Okonkwo, Chairman of Reltel wireless, promoters of the ZOOMMobile Brand, Chief Leo Stan Ekeh, Chairman, Zinox Technologies, leading indigenous PC manufacturer, Cosmos Maduka, Chairman/CEO Coscharis Company Limited and Admiral Alison Madueke, Chairman, Interconnect Clearing House Limited, primer-clearing house for the nation’s telecommunications industry were honoured.

Other awards were:

• The ICT Training Academy of the Year - New Horizons
• ICT Company of the Year - Chams Plc
• ICT Driven Bank of the Year - FinBank
• ICT Product of the Year - Good Job Portal from Wadof Software Consulting
• Nigeria’s Global ICT Company - Omatek Ventures Plc and Globacom
• ICT Driven Microfinance Bank of the Year - Integrated Microfinance Bank
• The Software Company of the Year - Programos Software
• ICT Driven University of the Year - Covenant University
• ICT driven Secondary School of the Year - Christ the King Int’l School
• Best ICT Company with Indigenous content - Wadof
• ICT Personality of the Year - Mr. Tim Akano
• CDMA Company of the year - Visafone
• Mobile Operator Company of the Year - MTN Nigeria
• ICT Driven Airline of the Year - Dana Air
• Telecom Brand of the Year - ZOOMMobile
• IT Brand of the Year - Zinox
• ICT Driven State of the Year - Lagos State
• Best ICT Infrastructure Company of the Year - Helious Tower
• Best ISP of the Year - Emperion
• Best ICT Support Bank - GTBank
• Bank with the Best e-Channel - Zenith Bank
• ICT Revelations of the Year - Davidson Osaremen and Alade Oluwaseun, the two young kids of 12 and 13 respectively who recently were declared Youngest Microsoft Certified Professionals (MCPs).

I think the awardees deserve these awards as their contributions and achievements are quite obvious. However, I’m not sure whether Technology Africa is using this awards to get the attention of some of these individuals and companies. Whatever the case, I guess it celebrates Nigeria’s tech achievers and achievements.