“Everything still goes back to farming” – Ooni says ahead of Leadership Award ceremony in London
The Ooni of Ife, Ooni Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi has highlighted the importance of agricultural research and value addition as pathways to sustainable development in Africa.
Ooni made this assertion on March 1, when he was formally presented with an invitation letter for the Triangle 2025 Face of Africa Leadership Award for Excellence by the Chief Executive Officer of Triangle International Magazine, Otunba Femi Salako.
Salako visited the monarch at his palace ahead of the award ceremony scheduled for Thursday April 2 2026 at the Great Hall Strand Campus of King’s College London, United Kingdom.
Ooni who will serve as Royal Father of the Day, formally endorsed the event and commended the organisers for promoting African excellence and leadership on a global stage.
Praising the initiative, the monarch said, “I want to sincerely commend the organisers of this award for projecting Africa positively to the world. Celebrating leadership and excellence is very important for our continent, and I gladly give my blessings and full support to this noble initiative.”
Also explaining his perspective on agro industrial transformation, he said, “Concentrate is simply about adding value. You can pick a thousand oranges and turn them into a few tablets. That is beneficiation. Everything still goes back to the farm because many people do not realise that major global products like Coke or Fanta originate from agricultural produce.”
The monarch noted that his passion for agriculture inspired his Ojaja beverage initiative, which he described as a symbol of African innovation and economic self-belief.
He said, “I want to live a life of impact so that in a hundred years people will say there was an Ooni who came and did something different. The Ojaja drink is not just for Nigeria. It is for Africa to show that a Black man can create something globally competitive from our own resources.”
He added that the project is rooted in encouraging more people to farm invest in research and develop processing industries that can transform raw materials into globally valued products.
The Triangle Face of Africa Leadership Award for Excellence recognises outstanding African leaders and changemakers across sectors and is expected to bring together diplomats policymakers traditional rulers and professionals from across Africa and the diaspora.
