The organisers of the Ethnic Business Awards-TEBA has began preparations for the sophomore edition of the laudable event aimed at honoring foreigners and migrants community in Nigeria.
According to Tunde Moshood, Convener of the awards ceremony, this year’s show holds at the prestigious Oriental hotel, Lekki Lagos on Nigeria’s Independence Day, Sunday October 1st, 2023.
In a World Press Conference attended by major radio and broadcast stations, the organisers disclosed that the amazing figures of foreigners and their economic contributions to the nation informed the need for the award celebration.
Below is the full texts of the press briefing that held at Oriental hotel Lekki Lagos on Thursday April 6th, 2023, “Let us quickly tell you about the project and why each and everyone of us should not just embrace the idea, but to support it in our own little way. This is because we feel there’s an urgent need for us Nigerians to recognize, honour, appreciate and reward migrants community in Nigeria. You’ll all agree with us that, most of the awards projects are geared towards eulogising ourselves, we mean just Nigerians without recourse to considering the migrants community.
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So it is in this regard that the Ethnic Business Awards debuted in 2020, it is designed as an annual event but the fears and jitters left behind by hurricane Coronavirus Desease a.k.a Covid19 hampered the project’s immediate continuity. Just like the maiden event, the sophomore edition holds at same place, the prestigious Oriental hotel, Lekki Lagos on Sunday, October 1st, 2023.
For us, The Ethnic Business Awards is a Corporate Social Responsibilty, our own way of giving back to our guests, our idea of celebrating foreigners, those foreign businesses, diplomatic missions and migrants community for their unflinching support and contributions to the Nigerian economy.
In the year 2020, the official statistical figure of international migrants in Nigeria was given as 1.3m, though debatable, and that’s just a rough estimate. With that figure, Nigeria has, the largest migrants’ population in Africa and I think the seventh largest in the world.
This amazing population and their outstanding achievements therefore necessitate the need to appreciate and reward the heroic contributions of these foreigners in the Nigeria’s business arena. It will interest you to know that, the loyalty of foreigners in the business circuit is so impressive that, we now have different communities springing up ethnic markets, restaurants and multinational companies. A typical example is the China Town and other ethnic markets/restaurants spanning across Nigeria and so on. By and large, in terms of economic contributions, foreigners share a chunk percentage of the labour market both in the auto world, and manufacturing, with imposing presence in oil, banking, communications and white collar jobs.
The Aims and Objectives
Some of the reasons this idea was convened are;
To bring together migrants community with a view to celebrating their sense of unity and economic contributions
To strengthen the mutual relationships between migrants community and host country
To recognise and reward entrepreneurial spirits amongst migrants and ethnic personalities in Nigeria
To appreciate the economic importance and contributions of foreigners in Nigeria.
To highlight the benefits of diversity in ensuring sustainable economies, nurturing innovation and accelerating productivity growth to further secure the future of the Nigerian States.
The Project’s Concept
We shall be researching and appreciating promising and established foreign companies, migrants community and ethnic individuals of sterling qualities, they will be identified and grouped into different categories via a public opinion poll, research and consultations for the purpose of the awards ceremony/presentation· The evening is designed to be a fusion of multi-ethnic fashion, dance, music and comedy.
The Ethnic Business Awards are a testament and celebration of Nigeria’s multifarious business people. The project is basically targeted at ethnic personalities, groups, corporate firms, and loyal migrants who now see and call Nigeria homes, and who have evolved their lives to contribute to its business landscape.
The Awards Categories
We have created categories like The Ethnic Man Of The Year.
This award goes to an outstanding migrant/naturalized male who aside being an employer of labour or business leader has also built a rapport and contributed to other communities most especially the host society. There’s also The Ethnic Woman of The Year who’ll be considered worthy of the memento in the same vein.
Other categories are Auto Company of The Year, Ethnic Financial Institution of The Year, Household Appliances Company of The Year, Electronics Company of The Year, Ethnic Group of The Year among others. There are also categories like Special Recognitions in various fields and so on.
