By Babajide Komolafe

Founder and Executive Chairman of Honeywell Group, Dr. Ayoola Oba Otudeko will chair the 2015 Vanguard’s PERSONALITY OF THE YEAR Awards ceremony holding in Lagos tomorrow (Friday, April 8, 2016).

The high profile event, scheduled to hold at the prestigious Eko Le Meridian Hotel, will feature presentation of five categories of awards to eminent and distinguished Nigerians, including the duo of President Muhammadu Buhari and former President Goodluck Jonathan.

Oba Otudeko

They were voted as the Vanguard Personalities of the year 2015.

Other award categories are: Hero of Democracy; Life time Achievement award; African Businessman of the Year Award; Businessman of the year and Governors of the Year Awards.

As chairman of the glamorous event, Dr. Otudeko will bring to bear his celebrated corporate leadership skills to coordinate the proceedings and presentations of the awards.

Dr. Oba Otudeko, CFR , born August 18, 1943, is an astute and highly successful Nigerian investor and entrepreneur whose domestic and foreign interests cut across diverse sectors of the economy.

He is a self-made man in the field of manufacturing and telecoms. He is renowned for being in the Forbe’s lists of Africa’s 50 richest people, ranking at 33 with a net worth of $575 million as of November 2013.

Dr Oba has contributed in various ways to his country, leading him to be awarded the following national honors: Commander of the Federal Republic in 2011, Officer of the Order of the Federal Republic in 2002 and the Member of the Order of the Federal Republic.

Recently awarded the 2016 Africa CEO of the year by the Africa CEO Forum for his outstanding contributions to the development of the African continent, Otudeko is a corporate titan, entrepreneur, philanthropist.

A Chartered Accountant, Chartered Banker, and Chartered Secretary by profession, Otudeko was voted as Business Person of the Year 2015 by the Board of Leadership Newspapers, “for his relentless appetite for risk, his zeal to impact lives by creating jobs and transforming the business landscape with legacy projects and his philanthropy.”

Otudeko is currently Chairman, Honeywell Group, Airtel Nigeria and Fan Milk of Nigeria Plc. He retired as the Chairman of First Bank of Nigeria Plc after 12 meritorious years on the Board of the bank.

He also served on several Boards, including the Boards of Central Bank of Nigeria, Guinness Nigeria Plc and Ecobank Transnational Incorporated, ETI. Between September 2006 and August 2009, he was the 16th President and Chairman of Council of Nigerian Stock Exchange.