Two young Nigerians have been honoured with The Diana Award for going above and beyond in their daily life to create and sustain positive change.

The Diana Award was established in memory of Diana, Princess of Wales, to honour young persons aged 9-25 years for their social action or humanitarian work.

Oluwananumi Dawodu and Akingbola Adewunmi, both aged 23, from Lagos have been recognised by the Award board.

Adewunmi Akingbola is the founder of ‘HealthDrive Nigeria’, an initiative in the South West of Nigeria, which aims to raise awareness, test and vaccinate people against the deadly Hepatitis B virus.

Adewunmi’s awareness-raising campaigns have reached a good number of people in the region itself, whilst also engaging national audiences through mass media.

His free screening programmes have tested a lot of people so far and ensured carriers of the virus gain access to specialist support via referrals.

On top of that, Adewunmi has delivered a highly subsidised vaccination programme to people in the region.

His work has inspired and engaged other young peopleto get involved in the initiative and set up similar health programmes themselves.

He is a recipient of AfriSAFE 2020 awards and IKapture 25 Under 25 Awards.

On the other hand, Dawodu Oluwananumi launched the ‘End Hepatitis’ project which has helped over 1,500 people get screened and vaccinated against Hepatitis B.

In response to the global pandemic in March 2020, Dawodu supervised a team of 20 volunteers to share information on how to prevent the spread of the virus, fielding over 1,000 calls daily.

Dawodu has also organised sessions on social impact topics and leadership skills for organisations like the Gates Foundation and was awarded the ‘SME 100 Africa 25under25 Most Enterprising Person Award’ in 2020.

Congratulating the 2021 Awardees, Tessy Ojo, CEO of The Diana Award, says: “We congratulate all our new Diana Award recipients from the UK and all over the globe who are changemakers for their generation.

“We know by receiving this honour they will inspire more young people to get involved in their communities and begin their own journey as active citizens.

“For over twenty years The Diana Award has valued and invested in young people encouraging them to continue to make positive change in their communities and lives of others.”


https://www.vanguardngr.com/2021/07/two-nigerians-bag-the-diana-award-2021/