Former EACDA National Publicity Secretary, Mr. Adewale Adekanye Bags Omo-Atata Award
The immediate past National Publicity Secretary of Ekinrin-Adde Community Development Association (EACDA), Mr. Adewale Victor Adekanye has been enlisted as a recipient of the Omo-Atata Award at the forthcoming Awards Night slated for June 20th.
Adewale Victor Adekanye was born in Ekinrin-Adde in the year 1972, into the family of late Samuel Adekanye Aronimoh from Ilaga – Adde and Bamigbola Eunice Aronimoh (née Faleke), from the Ekinrin community.
Adewale started his primary education at the LSMB School in Ekinrin-Adde in 1977/78, but he completed it at Oluti Primary School, Lagos, in 1983, after which he proceeded to Amuwo Grammar School, Agboju-Amuwo, Lagos, for his secondary education.
As designed by fate, his parents decided to send him back to Ekinrin-Adde, his homeland, to complete his secondary education at Baptist High School, and he graduated with the prestigious set of 1988. He thereafter proceeded to the University of Ibadan and graduated in 1990 with a B.Sc. in Political Science. He later obtained a Masters degree in business administration (MBA) with a specialization in Human Resources Management from Lagos State University in 1999.
Adewale started his journey in the corporate world in 1997 with Allied Merchants & Brokers, the sole importers of Uncle Ben’s rice in West Africa.
Later on, on December 14th, 1998, he made a foray into the banking industry with Ecobank Nigeria Limited as an Internal Control & Compliance Officer. On April 2nd, 2002, he joined Oceanic Bank Nigeria Plc as a Resident Internal Control Officer/Branch Auditor.
Adewale crossed over to Ecobank again in February 2011 when Oceanic Bank was bought over, and was at different times in Compliance, Sales and Marketing as Branch Manager and Team Lead, Commercial Banking, until November 2017, when he left the banking industry after nineteen years.
From 2017, Adewale ventured into business with: Garnet Sports Ltd, May 22nd Integrated Services, and Royal Accessories Mart Ventures.
Within the same period, he also worked with his senior cousin, Prince Ben Bola Faleke, as the Admin and Logistics Manager at Skyward Aviation, Lagos. He was also privileged to work in or serve as a consultant or partner in some corporate organizations like Joho Ltd, Feminat Concept Ltd, Apagutan Oluwole & Co., and DTT Consulting, among others.
The decision of his parents to send him, as a teenager, home to complete his secondary school helped him connect to his roots at that stage of his life, as he was able to bond with his peers and contemporaries, imbibe the rich culture, and learn about the historical events of the community.
All of that combined to instill love and passion in him for his homeland, which largely shaped his orientation and disposition and positively influenced his adult life.
His deep love and commitment to his community, and the ascension of HRM Olu Anthony Bamigbaiye Idowu as the Olu-Adde of Ekinrin-Adde, which elicited so much joy and enthusiasm across the community, made it very easy for him to accept the call to serve by the former President of EACDA, Elder Ekundayo Mejabi, and his senior cousin, Araba Rufus Aiyenigba. This made him step into the arena of community organizing as a very visible player, serving in two national executive committees of the association.
Adewale served the community meritoriously for six consecutive years as the National Publicity Secretary of the EACDA from December 2018 to December 2024, and as the Chairman of the Lagos State Branch of the EACDA from December 2021 to March 2023, when he stepped down voluntarily.
As the National Publicity Secretary, Adewale raised the bar of community service admirably by redefining service delivery and expanding the scope of the office as a spokesperson for the community.
He opened up the space for positive and meaningful engagements, engendering ease of information gathering and dissemination, with a positive impact on the overall development of the community.
During his six-year tenure, Adewale, like no time in history, generated greatly active traffic from members of the association nationally and internationally by proactively and diligently utilizing the new media. He strategically deployed social media platforms and strategic media campaigns to actively generate the interest of and drive the participation of Ekinrin-Adde compatriots in community development initiatives to sustain growth.
Adewale served in both capacities at the branch and national levels with utmost dedication and excellence, bringing to bear his experience in human relations management, strategic corporate communication innovations, and great ideas that helped transform the landscape of service delivery and ensured exceptional performance on both jobs.
Adewale undeniably impacted the two national administrations he served with his creative and novel ideas, and noble ideals which, in no small measure, enhanced the dignity of the administrations and helped to project the image of the Ekinrin-Adde community to a higher pedestal.
In tune with his transparent lifestyle and manifest characteristic and defining ideal of integrity, the engaging and participatory budgetary system and accountability that he introduced as the Chairman of the Lagos State Branch of the EACDA gained the trust of the members. This positively impacted the association by creating openness and a sense of belonging among members, thereby significantly increasing its finances—a benchmark that remains in Lagos till date.
Adewale and his family currently live in the United Kingdom and work as a quality assurance specialist.
Adewale is happily married to his heartthrob, Joanne Olufunke Adekanye, from Okedagba-Adde, a legal practitioner, and the marriage is blessed with children.
