The Pitcher Festival of Creativity held a prestigious winners’ reception recently, at the Radisson Blu Hotel Ikeja Lagos, celebrating the achievements of participants from the 2024 Future Creative Leaders Academy (FCLA) and the Young Professionals Academy. The event honored the creativity and dedication of winners and highlighted the festival’s commitment to nurturing young talent through intensive training, competitions, and global connections.
At the reception, FCLA Dean Ngozi Akinyele, Group Executive, Chief Marketing & Communications Officer of Coronation Group, presented awards for the inaugural Cultural Fusion project, a collaborative effort with Romania. The winning team included Nigerian students Faderera Quadri, Aanuoluwapo Oladejo, Joy Bepo, Oladipupo Oladipupo, Adeola Yekinni, and Faith Ogunleye, alongside Romanian students Dragoș Velicu, David Băjan, and Laurențiu Luican. The FCLA competition also recognized Babafemi Okeleye from Ajayi Crowther University as the 2024 Cannes Lions Roger Hatchuel Student Academy representative, with MediaFuse Dentsu Nigeria sponsoring this prestigious honor.
The FCLA awards for competition performance were distributed as follows: Bronze Medals to Boniface Abah and Afoma Nnaemeka, Silver Medal to Joy Bepo, and Gold Medal to Kehinde Olawoyin. Dr. Yinka Egbokhare of the University of Ibadan was honored as FCLA Lecturer of the Year 2024 for his outstanding contribution to fostering creativity.
In the Young Professionals Academy segment, Lanre Adisa, CEO/CCO of Noah’s Ark Communications, presented awards across several categories. The Young Lions Competitions saw wins for Team Nigeria from MediaFuse Dentsu (Stephanie Ume and Joseph Uwandu), Team Ghana from mediaReach OMD Ghana (Bernard Kwarteng and Ewurakua Otabil), and Team WECA from mediaReach OMD Nigeria (Ngozi Uwafili and Quadri Abolaji). Additionally, Dentsu Creative Nigeria’s Adebimisola Sotade won the Young Lions Design Competition, and Esther Usoro and Adaora Muoh from Dentsu Agyle Nigeria won the Young Lions Film Competition.
Dr. Nnamdi Ndu, CEO of CHINI Africa and Chairman of Pitcher Festival, concluded the event by congratulating the winners and announcing cash awards of 100,000 Naira, 75,000 Naira, and 50,000 Naira for the Gold, Silver, and Bronze medalists in the Young Pitcher Competitions, respectively. He also hinted at future initiatives, including a leadership program in collaboration with a leading African business school and a significant homecoming event to mark the 20th anniversary of the academies and the 10th edition of the Pitcher Awards.
