It was truly the gathering of
eminent Nigerians, stars, celebrities and achievers from all walks of life at
the historic maiden edition of Daylight Annual Leadership Awards (DALA2016).
The talk-of-the-town awards ceremony
held elaborately at the posh Civic Centre, Victoria Island, Lagos, amid glitz,
glamour and grandeur.
Painstakingly and proudly organised
by leading and reliable online newspaper Daylight (www.daylight.ng),
the grand ceremony that serenaded Lagos and its environs while it lasted, was
equally well attended with victuals in surplus.
The very colourful event, which was
beautifully and professionally anchored by the famous duo of Okey Bakassi and
Jennifer Eliogu, began on a very high note with the rendition of the National
Anthem, by kid prodigy, Nonso Sax.
The nine year-old precociously
talented child, got a standing ovation for his brilliant performance.
Amazingly, one unique thing about
the ceremony was that virtually all the awardees were in attendance to
personally receive their prestigious DALA Plaques.
Interestingly, the event commenced
with the citation of leading Nollywood star and TV Host, Monalisa Chinda-Coker,
who mounted the well-decorated stage to receive her DALA Plaque, for the Best
TV Talk Show Host of the Year, amid cheers and encomiums.
Beautiful and effervescent Monalisa,
who was gorgeously swathed in a flowing yellow flowery gown, in her acceptance
speech thanked the organisers and promised to continue doing her best for
humanity through her creative works.
She was immediately followed by
another top entertainer and presenter/producer of Bold Faces and The
Psychologist on TV, Tricia Eseigbe-Kerry. She won in the Best Use of Advocacy
on TV category.
However, one of the biggest honours
of the night went to Mr. Femi Adesina, the Special Adviser, Media and Publicity
to President Muhammadu Buhari.
Amiable Adesina, who was accompanied
to the event by his darling wife and two lovely children was recognised and
rewarded with the diadem of Most Outstanding Media Personality.
Also the famous and multi-talented
trio of Stephanie Okereke-Linus, Osita Iheme and Zik Zulu-Okafor smiled home
with DALA Plaques in the categories of Nollywood Person of the Year (Female),
Nollywood Person of the Year (Male) and Nollywood Icon of the Year, in that
order.
Stephanie who donned a lovely green
gown was oozing elegance and radiating in the curvy attire that was perfectly
made for her.
The high point of the awards
ceremony was the presentation of the highest award of the night, Daylight
Person of the Year, to the immediate past Director General of the National
Broadcasting Commission (NBC), Mr. Emeka Mba.
Cerebral Mba thanked the management
of Daylight.ng, organisers of the awards, for deeming it fit to recognise and
honour him for the outstanding contributions rendered to father land during his
fruitful tenure at the NBC.
As the classy and colourful event
which was spiced with titillating and hilarious comedy and musical performances
progressed, the very popular and celebrated trio of Okey Bakassi, Steve Yaw Onu
and Mr. Raw Nwanne, were also decorated with DALA Plaques in the Comedian,
Radio Personality and Musician of the Year categories, respectively, amid
applause and plaudits.
And for his immense contributions to
the growth of entertainment and tourism in Nigeria, showbiz impresario and
founder of Niteshift Coliseum, Mr. Ken Calebs Olumese was garlanded with DALA
Life Time Achievement award.
Olumese who was accompanied to the
event by his son, Kevin was full of praises to the organisers for deeming it
fit to recognise and reward him.
Fast growing and time conscious airline,
Air Peace, ably led by Barrister Allen Onyema won the DALA Plaque for Airline
of the Year.
The last award of the memorable and
fun filled night of high-net-worth gathering went to Nollywood newest
discovery, Angel Ufuoma.
The sexy lawyer turned actress
walked away with the trophy of Nollywood Most Promising Actress of the Year.
Meanwhile, earlier in his speech,
the youthful and cerebral Publisher/Editor-in-Chief of Daylight.ng and founder
of DALA, Mr. Azuh Amatus, reiterated that the award primarily seeks to reward
outstanding and hard working Nigerians in leadership positions that have
excelled immensely in their chosen careers, in both private and public sectors.
Azuh, a member of the Nigerian Guild
of Editors (NGE), added that DALA was part of the activities marking Daylight
newspaper’s first anniversary of robust, responsible and reliable online
journalism.
A special anniversary edition of
Daylight newspaper was also unveiled at the ceremony by Mr. Femi Adesina, who
was supported by his wife, Mrs. Nike alongside Azuh.
This was preceded by the cutting of
the splendid anniversary cake by Azuh, his wife, Mary, son, Nonso Sax, who were
joined on stage by a galaxy of Nollywood stars and entertainers.
”I want to thank all of you for
coming to rejoice and celebrate with us. My special thanks to all our awardees
for accepting to be the first ever recipients of this laudable and prestigious
DALA Plaques,” stated elated Azuh.”
The historic night of celebrations
and networking ended with riveting performances from the quartet of De Don,
D’Lectura, TJ Sax and Kesh Ofuobi, respectively.
In their separate speeches, all the
honourees were full of appreciations to the organisers for rewarding and
celebrating them at DALA 2016.
In the words of Adesina: “I feel
honoured, thank you Daylight media for celebrating me. This is coming one year
after I left active journalism.”
Tags
Entertainment