The Future Awards

The Future Africa Awards & Summit, also known as (The Future Africa Awards and formerly known as The Future Awards), are a set of awards given by The Future Project (TFP), a social enterprise communications firm affiliated to Red Africa.^[1] The awards celebrate young people between the ages of 18 and 31, who have made outstanding achievement in the year under consideration. Forbes has described the awards as "Nigeria’s most important awards for outstanding young Nigerians".^[2]

The idea for the awards was conceived by Chude Jideonwo and Adebola Williams in 2005.^[3]

History

The first awards ceremony was held on February 6, 2006 at the Muson Centre in Lagos to honor the outstanding achievements of the 2005/2006 season and subsequent editions have held at diverse locations, with that of 2011 holding on January 30, 2011 at the Landmark Events Centre, Victoria Island, Lagos.^[4] Since the 7th season in 2012, it has consistently been held at the Altec Azcum in Port Harcourt, Rivers State.^[5] 2013's edition was hosted by on-air personality, Toke Makinwa and rapper, Vector.^[6]

In 2013, the name of the awards was changed to reflect the partnership with the African Union and its pan-Africanness.

Nomination and judging process

Nominations were open for a two-week period, usually ending sometime in December of the preceding year, until the timeline format was changed for the 2012 awards year.

Since 2004, nomination results have been announced to the public in late January. Prior to that, the results were announced in early February. Nominations are on TFA's Facebook page. In 2013 however, they were announced in July, 2013.

Judging

There is a 4-stage, 3-month long judging process involving a board of judges and an audit aommittee. Judges come from all over Africa to include Forbes’ Mfonobong Nsehe. The judges include Belinda Otas (Assistant Editor, New African Woman), Brenda Wendo (Deputy Features Editor, The Star Newspaper, Kenya), Billie Adwoa McTernan (Ghana correspondent, The Africa Report), Adam Bouhadma (Editor, 9rayti.com, Morocco), Michelle Atagana (Managing Editor, Memeburn).^[7][8]

Those on the audit committee are: Katja Schiller Nwator (Leadership Development and CSR Manager, The Tony Elumelu Foundation), Mahamadou Sy (Founder and Executive Director of the Institut Supérieur de Développement Local (ISDL), Senegal), Wendy Luhabe (author), Abiola Alabi (MD, MNet Africa), Tonye Cole (Executive Director, Sahara Group), Ndidi Nwuneli (Founder LEAP Africa), Mo Abudu (CEO, Ebony Life TV), Gbenga Sesan (Founder Paradigm Initiative Nigeria), Eikem Nutifafa (Founding Partner, Oxford and Beaumont, Ghana), Chi-Chi Okonjo (Publisher, Ventures Africa), Victoria Trabosh (Founder, Ithafari Foundation), Taa Wongbe (Managing Partner The Khana Group), Ayo Ajayi (MD, PATH Global) and Jennah Scott (Director, Liberia Philanthropy Secretariat, Office of the President).^[9]

Award ceremonies

The awards are usually presented in February, except for 2012 when the awards where the ceremony was shifted to August.^[10]

Telecast

The major awards are presented at a live televised ceremony that is also streamed on the internet, most commonly in February or March following the relevant calendar year, and six weeks after the announcement of the final shortlist of nominees.

Categories

The awards are given to winners in ten categories, including the Young Person of the Year category, trimmed down from the initial twenty-one.

Young Person of the Year Award

Winners of the Young Person of the Year award include Tanzanian entrepreneur Ashish Thakkar, malaria scientist Ify Aniebo, award-winning writer Chimamanda Adichie, NASA scholar Tosin Otitoju, agriculture entrepreneur and advocate Nnaemekan Ikegwuonu, amongst others.^[11]

Criticism

The awards have drawn criticism from several quarters in recent times, especially as regards the ages of the nominees. In December 2011, Chude Jideonwo released a statement, stating: “We certainly have had more than a few complaints about the ages of one or two nominees. We sincerely appreciate those reactions and the fact that people feel so strongly about this awards process confirms to us that people believe in what we are doing... Over the years we have had to withdraw the nominations of a few nominees who have been unable to prove their actual ages; indeed, The Future Awards is one of the very few processes that actually demands proof of nominees’ claims.”

They announce a two-week complaint period, within which members of the public can email complaints about any nominee to the Central Working Committee about the age, substance of achievement, or any other claims by the nominees.^[12]

In 2009, an email exchange between dancer and a former winner of the award, Qudus Onikeke and Chude, leaked on the Sahara Reporters blog,^[13] as the former sought to clarify comments he had made -about the Young Person of the Year Award given to pop superstar, D'banj - in the year after his win, against the backdrop of the GOOD Music artiste's controversial video for Suddenly.

Awards

The Future Africa Awards won the Event of the Year award at the first ever The Nigerian Event Awards (TNEA), which held on Sunday 8 May 2011 at The Grandeur, Oregun, Lagos. It beat other nominees like the MAMA Awards 2010, Elite Model Look, Hennessy Artistry 2010, Face of Africa and Thisday Style Event^[14]

In February of 2013, its founders, Jideonwo and Williams were both named in Forbes' 30 Under 30: Africa's Best Young Entrepreneurs.^[2]

Associated events

The following projects are closely associated with the annual Future Awards ceremony:

• “Do Something” Conferences
• The Future School Seminars
• The Future Town Hall Meetings
• The Future Enterprise Support Scheme
• The Future TakeAction
• The Future Interventions
• The Young Writers Network
• The Future Mentorship Scheme
• The Future Volunteers Programme
• The Future Polls/Research
• This is the Future! Book
• The Future Youth Opportunity Centre
• This is the Future! Book

References