Ayotomiwa Elesho, a 400-level student of Political Science, and Otito-Jesu Ayeni, President of the Literary and Debating Society for the 2020/2021 Session, UI, have emerged as recipients of the 2024 Diana Awards, as revealed in a virtual ceremony held on Thursday 5th December, 2024.
Both were announced as part of 200 Awardees from 45 countries, and were two of the 22 Nigerian recipients, stated to be “exceptional young people who have demonstrated their ability to inspire and mobilise new generations to serve their communities and create long-lasting change on a global scale”.
Ayotomiwa Elesho was awarded for his work with ‘Homeless Not Hopeless Nigeria’, an NGO he founded in 2020 motivated by a desire to tackle Nigeria’s homelessness crisis. According to the Diana Awards, he has impacted over 900 students through substance abuse awareness campaigns, reached 150 individuals through mental health projects, and led advocacy marches engaging over 5,000 Nigerians, despite starting with limited resources.
While Ayeni Otito-Jesu was awarded for work with his organisation, Archivan, which is dedicated to reducing employment inequalities faced by millions of people with disabilities in Nigeria. Through multiple initiatives, since its inception, ‘Archivan’ has trained 3,000 disabled people and indirectly impacted 7,000 others, with 75% securing employment and 20% starting businesses within months of completion.
Both join a growing list of present and past students of the University confered with this prestigious Award. Most recently, in 2023, now fourth-year medical student, Covenant Odedele, and MBBS graduate, Dr Abdulhameed Babatunde, were awarded, with the former being the youngest Nigerian awardee. In 2021, Yusuff Adebayo, now a Pharmacist, was also awarded.
Speaking with the Press on his win, Ayotomiwa said, “I’m thrilled to receive the Diana Award, and I think this excitement is better experienced than explained. Since I began my social impact journey over 4 years ago, I have received a few nominations and awards for the impact that I seek to create. But winning the Diana Award just feels different”
He added, “I mean, not only is the Diana Award the most prestigious award that a young person can receive for social impact or humanitarian work, but it also represents an avenue to create further awareness on an issue that I’m very passionate about – homelessness. So, it excites me that when people read about my Diana Award win, they will also be encouraged to learn about the issue of homelessness, and possibly help address this under-tackled and under-discussed issue which affects over 25 million Nigerians at varying degrees.”
With regard to the Application Process, he explained that the Diana Award is nomination-based from someone in their [awardees] community who has seen the impact of their work, and as such nominees and eventual winners are not always aware of the process. Following the reception of a mail stating the conference of the award, there are a series of trainings such as the Media Training before the reception of the award. It takes about six months in total.
He added that, “I must express my deep appreciation to Covenant Odedele (Visionary) for nominating me for the award, and to Jonathan Akinyemi for offering supporting evidence of the social impact work we’ve done together”.
He concluded, by saying, “Ayotomiwa Elesho is the name featured in the Diana Award announcement, but to suggest that I alone did the work that earned me this recognition would be a wrong suggestion. My team members at Homeless Not Hopeless Nigeria, and our volunteers have worked so hard to help achieve the mission of the organization, and I acknowledge their efforts” .
The Diana Awards, now in its 25th year, is a charity set up in memory of the late Princess Diana of Wales. It celebrate young people between 9 to 25 years ‘who work to improve the lives of others’.
