Chief Executive Officer of Oceanwave Group, Peter Dunia, and globally acclaimed author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie have emerged as the 2026 Man of the Year and Woman of the Year, respectively, at the 8th Leadership Excellence Awards (LEEX) following the conclusion of a nationwide public voting exercise monitored by the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN).

The results released by the Local Organising Committee on Friday showed that Dunia secured a commanding victory in the Man of the Year category with 2,189,857 votes, defeating Chairman of Geregu Power Plc, Femi Otedola, who polled 1,083,683 votes, and Chief Executive Officer of Nepal Oil & Gas Services Ltd., Ekeoma Ekeoma, who garnered 485,308 votes.

In the Woman of the Year category, Chimamanda Adichie polled 826,097 votes to emerge winner, ahead of Prof. Folasade Ogunsola, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Lagos, who received 287,569 votes, while Dr. Amina Mohammed, Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations, secured 152,853 votes.

The online voting exercise attracted millions of votes from across Nigeria and the diaspora, underscoring the growing credibility and popularity of the Leadership Excellence Awards as one of Africa’s foremost platforms for recognising transformational leadership.

Dunia’s emergence as LEEX Man of the Year reflects widespread public recognition of his remarkable contributions to Nigeria’s maritime and energy sectors, as well as his unwavering commitment to philanthropy and humanitarian service. Beyond building one of Africa’s leading indigenous offshore and marine logistics companies, he has consistently invested in initiatives that improve the lives of vulnerable communities through educational support, healthcare interventions, youth empowerment, community development projects, and assistance to victims of natural disasters and economic hardship. His commitment to creating opportunities, uplifting underserved communities, and promoting indigenous enterprise has earned him admiration far beyond the business community.

Adichie’s victory recognises her extraordinary contributions to literature, education and global advocacy. Through internationally acclaimed works such as Half of a Yellow Sun, Americanah and Purple Hibiscus, she has elevated African storytelling on the global stage while championing gender equality, social justice and human dignity. Her writings, lectures and advocacy have inspired millions across the world, making her one of Africa’s most influential contemporary intellectuals and cultural ambassadors.

Speaking on the outcome, the Local Organising Committee described both winners as exceptional leaders whose impact transcends their respective professions, noting that they exemplify the ideals of visionary leadership, excellence, integrity and service to humanity.

“Peter Dunia, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie and over 20 other winners represent the very best of Africa—leaders who have not only excelled in their fields but have also used their platforms to uplift others and drive meaningful change,” the Committee stated.

The Leadership Excellence Awards (LEEX) is Africa’s premier online media awards, established to honour outstanding achievements in governance, business, innovation, entrepreneurship, public service, philanthropy, humanitarian service and sustainable development. The awards are proudly endorsed by the African Union–African Film Institute (AU-AFI), further affirming their growing reputation as one of the continent’s most respected platforms for celebrating transformational leadership.

Previous recipients of the prestigious LEEX Man of the Year Award include renowned entrepreneur and philanthropist Tony O. Elumelu, CFR, former Anambra State Governor Peter Obi, and industrialist Abdul Samad Rabiu, CFR. Previous Woman of the Year winners include Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Director-General of the World Trade Organization; Adaora Umeoji, Group Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of Zenith Bank Plc; and Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan.

Peter Dunia and Chimamanda Adichie will be formally decorated at the 8th Leadership Excellence Awards Ceremony, scheduled for Thursday, 12 November 2026, at the Nigerian Air Force (NAF) Banquet Hall, Abuja alongside more than 20 distinguished recipients in other award categories.The event is expected to attract senior government officials, diplomats, business leaders, traditional rulers, development partners, academics, civil society leaders and other distinguished personalities from across Africa.

The Local Organising Committee congratulated all the finalists for their outstanding achievements and expressed appreciation to millions of Nigerians and members of the international community who participated in what it described as a transparent, credible and independently monitored voting process.

By Okey Maduforo, Awka

Despite a legal action instituted by 56 serving councillors in Anambra State challenging the conduct of the forthcoming local government election, the Anambra State Independent Electoral Commission (ANSIEC) says it is proceeding with preparations for the exercise.

The Chairman of ANSIEC, Mrs. Genevieve Osakwe, who spoke to reporters in Awka, said the commission was currently working to conclude arrangements for a free, fair and transparent electoral process.

She maintained that the suit filed by the 56 councillors does not automatically stop the election, adding that all political parties should continue preparations for the exercise.

“As you can see, we are in our offices working ahead of the conduct of the election, and it is not automatic that when a suit is filed in court, the electoral process will stop,” she said.

The primary elections for the nomination of candidates by political parties were conducted between December 18 and February 16, while the local government election has been scheduled for August 29, 2026.

According to Osakwe, the election will be conducted in strict compliance with the Electoral Act 2022 and the relevant Anambra State law. She also assured all political parties and their candidates of a free and fair process.

However, 56 serving councillors last month instituted a suit challenging the planned election, arguing that their tenure of office has not expired.

Recall that the Anambra State House of Assembly had passed a bill into law prescribing a two-year tenure for elected local government chairmen and councillors.

The suit, which joined the Attorney-General of Anambra State, the Anambra State House of Assembly and the Anambra State Independent Electoral Commission (ANSIEC) as the first, second and third defendants respectively, was filed as Suit No. A/261/2026.

The plaintiffs are seeking, among other reliefs, a declaration that the statutory system of local government guaranteed under Section 7(1) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) implies a secure, stable and reasonable tenure capable of achieving grassroots governance and does not permit the arbitrary truncation of its life cycle by state actors.

They are also seeking:

“A declaration that Section 110(A) of the Anambra State Electoral (Amendment No. 3) Law, 2024, which limits the tenure of democratically elected Local Government Chairmen, Deputy Chairmen and Ward Councillors in Anambra State to two (2) years, is inconsistent with Section 7(1) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended) and is therefore unconstitutional, null, void and of no legal consequence.”

The plaintiffs are further seeking an order of the court striking down, invalidating and expunging Section 110(4) of the Anambra State Electoral (Amendment No. 3) Law, 2024, from the statute books of Anambra State on the grounds that it is inconsistent with the 1999 Constitution (as amended).

Among the other reliefs sought are an order of the court directing and affirming that the plaintiffs, and indeed all democratically elected local government councils, are entitled to a secure and standard tenure of four years, in alignment with the democratic mandates of the federal and state tiers of government.

The plaintiffs are also seeking:

“An Order of Perpetual Injunction restraining the defendants, their agents or privies or anyone acting on their behalf, from dissolving, terminating or interfering with the tenure of the elected local council at the two-year mark.”

They further seek:

“An Order of Perpetual Injunction restraining the 3rd defendant from taking any steps, publishing any timetables, or conducting any elections aimed at replacing the plaintiffs as the current elected local councils until their full four-year tenure is spent.”

Despite the pending suit, ANSIEC has maintained that preparations for the August 29 local government election will continue.

Bristol Airport in the United Kingdom suspended all flight operations on Friday evening after a defect was discovered on part of its runway, leaving passengers stranded and forcing incoming flights to divert to other airports.

The airport halted all departures and arrivals at about 6:08pm on Friday, initially announcing that the suspension would remain in place until 8am on Saturday.

However, the disruption extended into Saturday morning as officials carried out inspection and repair work on the affected section of the runway.

The airport said the suspension was a precautionary measure, stressing that passenger safety remained its priority.

It advised affected passengers to contact their airlines for information about individual flights, while easyJet warned travellers flying to and from Bristol to expect continued disruption.

Passengers described confusion and frustration at the airport following the shutdown, with some reporting limited information and difficulties retrieving their luggage.

Richard Broadbent, who was due to travel to Newcastle with his partner and daughter, said passengers were moved to a crowded area after their flight was cancelled.

“She said suddenly all flights were cancelled and all passengers were moved to one place down at ground level, and it was absolutely packed,” he told the BBC.

Broadbent said alarms later sounded at the airport, causing further distress among passengers.

Another traveller, Paul Smith, who was due to travel to Glasgow for his son’s 20th birthday, criticised the communication and support provided to passengers during the disruption.

“The communication, advice and support for passengers has been really poor,” Smith told the BBC.

Smith said some travellers were left in the baggage reclaim area attempting to locate their luggage, while another passenger took to X to ask the airport for information after being stranded for several hours.

The airport confirmed that the disruption was caused by a defect on the runway but did not disclose details about the nature or cause of the problem.

Some passengers described the affected section as a “hole in the runway”, although the airport did not use that description in its official statement.

Flights bound for Bristol on Friday evening were reportedly diverted to London Gatwick, Birmingham and Cardiff airports.

Bristol Airport urged affected passengers to contact their airlines for the latest information regarding their flights.

At the time of the report, the airport had not confirmed when normal flight operations would fully resume.

By Okey Maduforo, Awka

Osita Chidoka, Chancellor of the Athena Centre for Policy and Leadership and a former Minister of Aviation, has called for a new Nigerian national consensus founded on equal citizenship, accountable public power and a common duty to defend the rights of every Nigerian.

Chidoka made the call while delivering the keynote address at the 28th Wole Soyinka Lecture, which this year also marked the inauguration of the National Association of Seadogs’ (NAS) Martyrs’ Day. Professor Wole Soyinka, who is now 92, was present throughout the lecture.

According to a statement by Chidoka’s Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Mr Ikechukwu Okafor, the Wole Soyinka Lecture Series was established in 1994 by the National Association of Seadogs, Pyrates Confraternity, to mark Professor Soyinka’s 60th birthday. Since then, it has become an annual platform for national and global discourse on good governance, social justice and democratic ideals.

The statement added that NAS was founded in 1952 at University College, Ibadan, by seven undergraduates, including Soyinka, and was formally registered in 1980.

This year’s Martyrs’ Day, inaugurated alongside the lecture, honours 33 NAS members who were detained for 72 days in Port Harcourt in 1997, an episode Chidoka examined extensively in his address.

In his address, titled “Reclaiming the Nigerian State Through Accountability, Justice and Civic Courage,” Chidoka argued that Nigeria’s difficulties go deeper than the structure of the federation.

What the country lacks, he said, is “a sufficiently shared organising ideal”—an agreement on “what Nigerian power is for, what citizenship must guarantee and what Nigerians owe one another.”

He acknowledged that Nigeria’s federal arrangements require reform, particularly in the areas of devolution, policing and fiscal responsibility. However, he warned that structural reform without a moral purpose could simply redistribute injustice.

“A federation can be decentralised and still be unjust,” he said. “A regional government can oppress a local minority. A state police service can protect a Governor rather than the citizen.”

Tracing the country’s founding aspirations through the 1957 Willink Commission, the independence anthem and the 1999 Constitution, Chidoka said Nigeria was established on a promise to protect minorities, uphold justice and build a nation in which no citizen would be oppressed.

He commended President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for restoring “Nigeria, We Hail Thee” as the national anthem in 2024, arguing that the anthem “does more than ask us to love Nigeria: it tells us what kind of Nigeria deserves our loyalty.”

Chidoka proposed three commitments as the foundation of a renewed national consensus: equal citizenship without the need for an ethnic sponsor or political godfather; public power treated as a trust that leaves a trail and submits to correction; and a shared duty to defend the dignity of Nigerians beyond one’s own party, faith or community.

On accountability, which he defined as “answerability joined to consequence,” Chidoka, drawing on his years as Corps Marshal of the Federal Road Safety Corps, said explanations, audit reports and court judgments mean little on their own.

“Explanation without correction is not accountability,” he said, proposing a three-part discipline for public power: trace, test, correct.

Drawing a direct line between the 1997 detention of NAS members in Port Harcourt and the 2005 Apo Six killings in Abuja, Chidoka argued that Nigeria has changed the uniform of its rulers without sufficiently changing the reflexes of power.

He called on NAS to extend the meaning of Martyrs’ Day beyond its own members, insisting that “the best way to honour the F18 survivors is to defend citizens who do not belong to this Association.”

He closed with a direct appeal:

“Let us construct a new national consensus around equal citizenship, answerable power and common brotherhood. Let us give young Nigerians a banner worth carrying. Let us build a Nigeria where courage can live and no citizen needs a martyr’s bravery merely to enjoy a citizen’s rights.”

The lingering leadership crisis rocking the Enugu State chapter of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) took a dramatic turn on Tuesday as more than 80 party aspirants under the umbrella of the Enugu G80 formally declared their total support for the State Working Committee led by the Chairman, Dr. Johnpaul Anih.

The endorsement followed an extraordinary virtual meeting of the coalition held on Monday, August 3, 2026, where members unanimously resolved to recognize the Dr. Johnpaul Anih-led executive as the authentic leadership of the party in Enugu State.

The G80, described as a coalition of over 80 aspirants drawn from different political blocs within the party, said its decision was reached after a careful review of the circumstances surrounding the leadership dispute and extensive consultations with relevant stakeholders.

According to the communique adopted at the meeting, the coalition concluded that the executive led by Dr. Johnpaul Anih remains the only leadership produced through a valid state congress conducted on May 4, 2026, in compliance with the party’s constitution and monitored by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

The group maintained that the legitimacy of that congress cannot be displaced by any parallel arrangement or externally imposed structure.

The forum further announced the unconditional endorsement of the Anih-led executive, describing the decision as one driven by justice, equity, constitutional order and respect for internal democracy.

As part of the resolutions, members agreed to dissolve their individual political structures into the Dr. Johnpaul Anih-led leadership in order to build a united and formidable platform capable of strengthening the party across the 17 local government areas of Enugu State.

The aspirants also pledged financial, moral and political support to the State Executive in its ongoing efforts to consolidate the party and defend what they described as the democratic mandate freely given by party members during the state congress.

Addressing the forum, Dr. SKC Ogbonnia, who briefed members on the outcome of recent engagements with Dr. Johnpaul Anih and other stakeholders, urged party faithful to remain united in the interest of the party and the advancement of democratic values.

The coalition disclosed that it would immediately forward an official letter to the National Leader of the party, Senator Henry Seriake Dickson, formally communicating its endorsement while urging the national leadership to respect the outcome of the validly conducted congress and restore constitutional order within the Enugu State chapter.

In the letter signed by the group’s coordinator, Dr. SKC Ogbonnia, NDC Senatorial aspirant for Enugu West Zone, and Chief Charles Solomon Ako, NDC House of Reps aspirant for Igboetiti/Uzouwani federal constituency, the G80 appealed to the national leadership to reaffirm the Dr. Johnpaul Anih-led State Working Committee as the legitimate leadership of the party in Enugu State, reject attempts to create or sustain parallel executive structures and ensure that all party organs recognize the executive produced through the congress.

The coalition also called for the harmonisation of candidates produced by the two factions in line with the Electoral Act and the party’s constitution, insisting that any harmonisation process must be anchored on the executive that emerged from the validly conducted congress.

In a strongly worded warning, the G80 cautioned individuals and groups against actions capable of undermining the unity and stability of the party in Enugu State.

The coalition declared that it would resist every attempt to impose parallel leadership structures, insisting that only executives produced through constitutional processes possess the legal and moral authority to administer the affairs of the party.

The group further maintained that respect for internal democracy remains indispensable to the survival of the NDC, arguing that allowing unelected structures to supersede validly elected executives would erode members’ confidence and weaken the party ahead of future elections.

The latest endorsement adds to growing support for the Dr. Johnpaul Anih-led State Executive, coming barely weeks after party stakeholders, State Working Committee members and local government chairmen unanimously passed a vote of confidence on the leadership, citing its grassroots mobilisation efforts and commitment to strengthening the party in Enugu State.