News & Events

40 UNDER 40 FINALLY LAUNCHED

The 40 under 40 Project was on Friday May 18, 2007, launched at the prestigious Lagos Motor Boat Club. The event ceremony which was put together by Ufo Eric Atuanya, Ego Boyo, and Alima Atta of Rimsom Associates, Temple Productions and Sesema PR Limited respectively was a huge success.

Speaking at the event, Mrs. Ego Boyo, an Executive Director of 40 under 40, articulated the motive behind this noble project. She stated that 40 under 40 was set up to project Nigeria's image by way of celebrating Nigerians who had made a huge impact in their various endeavors. The actress extra-ordinaire also reiterated that 40 under 40 project will be an avenue to nurture under- served children in our society to achieve greatness in life.

The high point of the event was a special performance by Nkeiru Okoye, a world acclaimed composer that is of Nigerian descent. Okoye, who is based in United States, has won many awards at the international arena. She represents a best of Nigerians that are currently making positive waves around the globe.

In the same vein, a group of children from the Ovie Brume Youth Center also performed at the event. It is expected that children from Ovie Brume Youth centre will make the project's first training program which is a collaboration with Cisco Networking Academy to train 40 under-served children on Information Technology.

The chairperson of the 40 under 40 Board of Trustees, Prof. Alele Williams, spoke of the need to keep this dream alive by ensuring that everyone that are involved in this project live up to the principles by which the organization was established. She also called on Nigerians in diaspora to be good ambassadors of their country.

At the official presentation and unveiling of the 40 under 40 logo, Mr. Ufo Eric-Atuanya, an Executive Director of the organization talked about the genesis of the project, its goals for the immediate future, and the significance of the logo and its colors. Eric-Atuanya stated that, "We visualized this initiative three years ago because; my partners and I realized that, as Nigerians, we needed to take our destiny into our hands. What shape the country will take tomorrow depends on the foundation we lay today. We owe it to ourselves, our children, and future generations to develop an institutional framework to build and sustain a strong, transparent Nigeria." He also spoke of the need to inculcate hard-work, integrity and intellectual honesty in the younger generation of Nigeria so as to replace the negative image portrayed of Nigerians internationally.

The 40 under 40 initiator and Managing Partner of Rimsom Associates subsequently, unveiled the official logo stating that, 40 under 40 is about Excellence; 40 under 40 is about Mentorship; 40 under 40 is about securing Nigeria's future. He concluded his speech by elaborating on the significance of the logo which he said "is a composition of an abstract symbol of two human elements, an older and a younger one. The younger one clings onto the older one while the older one renders support, both in ascensions reaching unto greater heights."

The event attracted eminent individuals from all works of life who came to share this dream on 'Celebrating Excellence.'