Ooni of ife honours Orifunke Lawal with Royal african award
The Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi Ojaja II, has honoured Orifunke Lawal, the founder of Lady with Balls, with the prestigious Royal Africa Award. At the fourth Royal African Young Leadership Forum (RAYLF), held at the Oduduwa Hall of Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Orifunke received the Royal African Medal and was inducted into the Royal Court of the Kingdom of Ife.
Orifunke Lawal was among 100 distinguished young Africans from 40 countries recognized in governance and leadership, technology and innovation, entrepreneurship and empowerment, creative culture, and academic excellence.
Other honourees included Minister of Youth Jamila Bio Ibrahim, Minister of State for Youth Ayodele Wisdom Olawande, Executive Vice Chairman/CEO of the National Agency for Science and Engineering Infrastructure Khalil Suleiman Halilu, and Director General of the Small and Medium Enterprise Development Agency (SMEDAN) Charles Odii.
Addressing the theme “African of the Future: Better Together,” the Ooni of Ife emphasized that RAYLF aims to cultivate a new generation of competent and patriotic leaders for Nigeria and Africa. He expressed his vision to elevate many leaders from humble beginnings to positions of prominence. The Ooni also commissioned the Royal African Chamber of Commerce to support this initiative and foster economic growth and development across the continent.
Furthermore, the grand ceremony also saw the launch of a one-billion-naira seed funding initiative for Royal African Foundation Women-Owned Microbusinesses (WOMB), a collaboration between the Small and Medium Enterprise Development Agency (SMEDAN) and the Royal African Foundation (RAF). The WOMB project is an initiative of the Ooni of Ife to train, fund, mentor and support female entrepreneurs across Nigeria with access to local, regional and global markets.
Orifunke is the founder of Lady with Balls, an organization dedicated to empowering young women and girls in Nigeria. She also established the Orifunke Lawal Academy, an educational technology organization that designs courses and programs on 21st-century global skills to enhance the employability of young Africans. Additionally, she is a fellow of the Lateef Jakande Leadership Academy and serves as a Special Assistant to the Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babajide Olusola Sanwo-Olu.
