Winners have emerged at the Guardian Woman Festival Seven Wonder Women Awards held last weekend at the Federal palace hotel, Victoria Island, Lagos.
The Seven Wonder Women Awards seeks to highlight the efforts of women who standout and inspire inclusion in various spheres. They were recognised for their works as women who have been long-serving professionals in their fields, recipients of national honours, achievers of record-breaking feats, survivors against unsavoury odds and advocates for women’s rights in the face of adversity.
After almost two months with over 150 nominees, over 8000 votes trimmed the nomination list to 29 finalists. These finalists were then subjected to a team of 12 judges who decided the final winners in these categories – Science, Technology, Engineering and Management (STEM); Healthcare, Physical Activity and Sport; Beauty, Fashion and Wellness; Social Impact; Media, Arts and Entertainment; Innovative
Entrepreneurship and Careers; Leadership and Public Service Category
Recognised in the STEM category is the Executive Director and Co-Founder at Technology for Social Change and Development Initiative (Tech4Dev), Oladiwura Oladepo. Tech4Dev is a non-profit enterprise that creates access to decent work and entrepreneurship opportunities and platforms for Africans through digital skills empowerment and advocacy.
Oladepo’s passion for gender parity and improved economic outcomes and financial independence led her to advocating for more women in STEM. This drive led to the birth of the Women Techsters Initiative, which has grown to become Africa’s largest women-in-tech tuition-free programme aimed at bridging the digital technology knowledge divide between men and women across low-income communities in Africa, as well as ensuring that women have equal access to better opportunities.
Renowned Nigerian track and field athlete, Tobi Amusan, won the Healthcare, Physical Activity and Sport Category. Amusan specialises in the 100m hurdles race and also competes as a sprinter. She is the current world record holder in the 100m hurdles with a time of 12.12 seconds, which she set at the 2022 women’s 100m hurdles semifinal in Eugene, Oregon.
She is the current Commonwealth and African champion in the 100m hurdles, as well as the record holder in those two competitions. Amusan became the first ever Nigerian world champion and world record holder in an athletics event when she won the 2022 World Championships 100m hurdles gold medal, setting the current world record of 12.12 seconds (+0.9m/s) in the semi-final, followed by 12.06 seconds (+2.5m/s) in the final.
Tara Fela-Durotoye stood out in the Beauty, Wellness and Fashion category. The beauty entrepreneur and lawyer is a pioneer in the bridal makeup profession in Nigeria. She launched the first bridal directory in 1999, set up international standard makeup studios and established the first makeup school in Nigeria. She is the founder and CEO of House of Tara International and creator of the Tara Orekelewa Beauty range, Inspired Perfume and the H.I.P Beauty range. As of 2019, her brand, House of Tara, had 270 products, 23 stores, 14 beauty schools and 10,000 representatives all around Africa.
The winner of Social Impact category, Chioma Ohakwe, is the Founder of Bethesda Home for the Blind based in Lagos, Nigeria. The non-profit organisation primarily educates and provides care to visually impaired and blind individuals. She trained as a fashion designer and afterwards set up Bethesda Home for the Blind, which has positively impacted the lives of many people living with vision challenges in Nigeria. It has helped many to get an education. The organisation has sponsored students to undertake West African Senior School Certificate (WASSC) and Unified Tertiary Matriculation (UTM) examinations. Through her organisation, Ohakwe has helped ex-students to get jobs after graduating from the university.
Accomplished actress and filmmaker, Funke Akindele, was awarded in the Media, Arts and Entertainment Category. Akindele is the most nominated actress/filmmaker at the AMVCA and currently owns six wins, which makes her the actress with most wins. She is the second director to gross over a billion naira at the Nigeria Box Office and currently the highest grossing Nigerian Director in Nigerian Box Office with a total Gross of over ₦2.9 billion. She was the running mate of the People’s Democratic Party governorship candidate in Lagos State, Abdul-Azeez Olajide Adediran, in the 2023 general election.
In the Innovative Entrepreneurship and Careers Category, Chief Executive Officer of Transcorp Hotels, Dupe Olusola, won. Olusola, a business executive, is the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Nigeria-based hospitality company, Transcorp Hotels plc, a subsidiary of the Nigerian conglomerate, Transnational Corporation of Nigeria. In March 2020, she was appointed to head Transcorp Hotels by the board members, becoming the second woman ever to lead the organisation.
Standing tall in the Leadership and Public Service Category is the Executive Secretary, Lagos State Domestic and Sexual Violence Agency, Titiola Vivour-Adeniyi. She has spent about 15 years in public service, where she has served the Lagos State Government in different capacities. Her experience cuts across public policy and public administration, as well as legal expertise and social services (social welfare and social protection). She has been instrumental in ensuring a proactive and coordinated response to sexual and gender-based violence in Lagos State.
She is an author of several books for children on domestic violence, civic education, sexual violence and self-love/body safety. In December 2022, she published her memoir titled ‘Living for a Higher Purpose, Inspiring Hope through the Nigerian Public Service.’
