Ajaero, Chima, Adebiyi-Abiola among activists in Changemakers 2023 list

The Executive Director, Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth Nigeria, and member of the International Executive Committee of Friends of the Earth International, Prince Chima Williams; Nigeria’s queen of recycling and environmental sustainability, Bilikiss Adebiyi-Abiola; the President, Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Joe Ajaero are among leading activists listed in Changemakers: 100 Nigerians Leading Change, 2023

In a statement jointly signed by the Co-editors, Kammonke Abam and Tammie Edet Kammonke, those who made the list were selected from diverse backgrounds in acknowledgement of their tremendous contributions to the development of society.

According to the duo, people in the list represent a streak of light in a country darkened by corruption and other perennial problems, adding that their inspirational stories of change were documented in the compendium.

Other prominent Nigerians listed in the compendium are the founder of The Zeebah Foundation, Mr. Nzan Ogbe; a renowned philanthropist and Chairman of Global Citizen Nigeria, Mr. Tunde Folawiyo; a serving Senator Ali Ndume and retired international soccer star, Kanu Nwankwo.

Prince Chima Williams is the 2022 Goldman Environmental Prize (Green Nobel Prize) Winner for Africa; a member of the International Executive Committee of Friends of the Earth International; a Solicitor and Advocate of the Supreme Court of Nigeria with over 20 years of litigation experience in the areas of human/environmental rights; an international legal consultant with host and home country litigation expertise and the Principal of Chima Williams & Associates.

Bilikiss Adebiyi-Abiola is a Nigerian entrepreneur who founded the Lagos-based recycling company ‘Wecyclers’. She is currently the Director General of the Lagos State Records and Archives Bureau (LASRAB) and Managing Director of the Lagos State Parks and Gardens Agency (LASPARK). She is also a member of the Board of Trustees of the Lagos State Employment Trust Fund.

Ajaero is the NLC President. He is a renowned unionist and has held various positions including Secretary/Chairman of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) Vanguard Chapter, Member Central Working Committee and National Executive Council of the NUJ (1997-1999) and National Ex-Officio (1997-1999).

Last year, the Director of MacArthur Foundation’s Africa Office in Abuja, Nigeria, Dr. Kole Shettima; the former Secretary General of NLC and the current Executive Secretary, Organisation of Trade Unions of West Africa (OTUWA), Comrade John Odah; the Executive Director of the African Centre for Leadership, Strategy & Development (Centre LSD) and Chief of Staff to the Deputy Senate President, Dr. Otive Igbuzor were among civil society activists that made the list of Changemakers.

Changemakers: 100 Nigerians Leading Change is a biographical compendium that profiles outstanding men and women that illuminate the atmosphere with their incandescent ideas and creative work.