Wife of the Oyo State Governor, Mrs. Florence Ajimobi, was on Tuesday honoured by the ECOWAS Youth Council with the award of the Distinguished African Female Personality of the Year and the Nelson Mandela Leadership Award.
The President of the council, Mr Emmanuel Williams said the award was aimed at celebrating Mrs. Ajimobi for what he called her monumental achievement, delication to duty and industry.
According to him, it was also to appreciate, salute and encourage the governor’s wife who he described as a seasoned public office holder,
supporter of youth development and empowerment, an apostle of positive change and philanthropist per excellence
Williams described the occasion as a milestone in the history of the organization.
He said that the council had over the years paid special attention to the distinctive growth and development of education in the West Africa sub region as well as production and marketable projects.
“The ECOWAS Youth Council is for regaining our orbit for development,” he said.
In her remarks, Dr. (Mrs.) Ajimobi expressed appreciation to the Council for counting her worthy for the honour.
She said that the award had afforded her the opportunity of meeting with young Africans drawn from all walks of life who shared her passion for service and excellence.
“In the past, many of the nations in Africa were colonized by imperial masters and many were victims of slave trade. This fight for freedom by our founding fathers was meant to set us free from the shackles of foreign masters but sadly, we seem to have become overloaded in the cages of our own making”
“My passion has always been to raise an independent generation and indeed, I am confident in bringing the vision of change we desire in Africa to reality,” she said.
Dr.(Mrs.) Ajimobi dedicated the award to all the children, women, widows and the less privileged in the state whom she described as her pillar of support.
