Okpebholo, Idahosa, Ikpea, Aliu, Others Bag Edo Icon Award of the Year

Governor Monday Okpeholo of Edo state, his Deputy Governor, Hon. Dennis Idahosa; business mogul, Chief Leemon Ikpea; and Vanguard Correspondent in Edo State, Comrade Ozoruvba Aliu, were among those who bagged the Edo Icon Award of the Year 2025.

The award, now in its 5th edition, was established to reward exceptional performances in government and the private sector in Edo State and to encourage recipients to do more.

Speaking at the presentation ceremony in Benin City, the organizer of the Edo Icon Award, Lion Moses Ebahor, said the award was designed to celebrate Edo people who have performed excellently and to further motivate them.

He stated that in the last five years of the award, he had not met most of the awardees.

“The Edo Icon Award is a means to celebrate Edo people all over the world. Since its inception in 2021, when we used it to celebrate Edo Broadcasting Service @ 30, we have been organizing it year-in, year-out. Most of the people we give the award to are those creating value in their callings, both in public and private sectors.

“The current Edo State governor, Senator Monday Okpebholo, was given ‘Edo Personality of the Year 2022’. He became a senator, and we gave him ‘Edo Man of the Year 2024’ before he became the governor of Edo State. The chairman of the occasion, Chief Leemon Ikpea also a philanthropist is ‘Edo Man of the Year 2025’, Governor Monday Okpeholo bagged the Edo special Governor of the year award while the Deputy Governor, Hon. Dennis Idahosa, is the ‘Edo Personality of the Year 2025’.

“Ours is to celebrate Edo people who are doing well. We don’t give the award to criminals; we don’t give it to people with shady characters. Those we give awards to are people we do not know personally, but we carry out research to see what they are doing. For example, the Vanguard reporter we awarded—we didn’t know him or had ever met him, but we saw what he was doing at Vanguard.

“We give awards to those in security, academia, business, media, and all human endeavours. We dig into people’s profiles before anything,” he said.

On his part, the Vanguard Correspondent in Edo State, Comrade Ozoruvba Aliu, who bagged the ‘Edo Icon Print Media Personality of the Year’, said he was overwhelmed when he was informed of his nomination, adding that the recognition serves as an encouragement to do more.

“I am really overwhelmed by this award because our job is a thankless one. If you write a report and someone does not like it, they believe someone has given you money to do it. The day you write something that favours them, they thank you. That is the kind of job we do.

“I was shocked when I was called and informed that the group had nominated me for an award. Whatever we do, we should know that someone is watching. I appreciate the organizers of this event, and I want to say that this is an encouragement to do more,” he said.