This is a real-life example of what it means to represent African excellence and a true testament to the fact that impossible is nothing. This milestone is truly a blessing.

My role model was my late mother, Mrs. Stella Okwui Ebigwei who was a widow. She instilled discipline, hard work and fear and reverence of God in my sister and I and so I had a focus that I would not derail but be a notable person someday. She was my strong supporter and always called me ‘Star’.

She is an acclaimed scholar, author, teacher, development specialist, administrator, leader, and mentor. The list of her achievements is endless, and she has a solid legacy of excellence as evidenced in everything she has been involved in throughout her illustrious career,

Through hard work, dedication and perseverance Nigerian women have achieved milestones, broken barriers and charted new paths in the last 25 years. We have so much to present to the world, as stakeholders take stock of the progress made by women after the famous conference. I congratulate Nigerian women on this special day and state my confidence that even with so much we have achieved, the best days of Nigerian women are still ahead.

In Nigeria, they see me as a role model and refer to me as 'mother' or 'mama'. When I was playing, my colleagues had a lot of respect for me and now, seeing me as a coach, they transferred that respect to me and made the work easy.

As the highest-grossing filmmaker in Nigeria and a reputable actress, I’m proof that hard work and determination can take you far

The family support programme and other action taken had catapulted women into the mainstream of life in Nigeria. Nigerian women had been able to penetrate "glass ceilings".

So the African woman is indeed the one who is building sustainable structures with the bricks life has thrown her, and I celebrate her for that.

The Nigerian woman is smart, beautiful, fashionable, driven, purposeful and has the capacity to take on the world without fear, that is not a tool you leave at home when you are building leadership

"Professor Bolanle Awe is the quintessential ‘Omoluabi’ whose name, character and conduct has been nothing less than extraordinary.”

Nigerian women rock! The can-do spirit and general tenacity in the face of adversity is something to be admired. From the market woman selling her wares to the women at the height of their careers, I am full of admiration of how Nigerian women manage to make things happen, sometimes with very little.

Nigerian women have worked their ways to the top in various sectors. Women are now major players in business, politics, the academics and just about any area endeavor. We may not have reached our goal of having 35 representation in government, but women have broken the glass ceiling in the public and private sector. We have a large pool of female entrepreneurs, academicians, sports stars, investors and leaders, who are contributing to the development of the country. Today, you can say we have a lot to show for years of advocacy for gender equality, judging by the success millions of women have recorded in their chosen fields”,

“I’ve become far more than Africa’s first successful model with albinism through my journey… one is doing some incredible things .There’s a lot of growth & accomplishments that came from how it all began,’’

Prime Oyo Role Model is a part of OYOMESI character education strand designed to honour the people who have excelled in their chosen profession and contributed to the development of education and society at large.