The Committee for Relevant Art (CORA) will confer high honours on over 20 distinguished cultural icons who reached significant age milestones this year, marking a highlight of the 2025 Lagos Book & Art Festival (LABAF).
The special tribute ceremony, tagged a “Literary Owambe,” is set for Saturday, November 15, 2025, at 7 pm at Freedom Park, Lagos Island, with a simultaneous virtual broadcast. The event will pay homage to artists, writers, filmmakers, architects, and public servants who celebrated their 90th, 80th, 70th, and 60th birthdays throughout the year.
This celebration is steeped in CORA’s objective to Educate, Enlighten, and Empower the citizenry by spotlighting personalities whose careers have been instrumental in building the nation’s cultural foundation, a commitment LABAF has upheld since its debut in 1999.
Leading the 90s Club are pioneers like Frank Aig-Imoukhuede, Nigeria’s first Federal Director of Culture; Prof Demas Nwoko, the renowned architect and designer; Chief Fred Agbeyegbe, lawyer and playwright; and the publisher-writer, Modupe Oduyoye.
The 80s Club features four eminent figures: Oba Gbenga Sonuga, theatre director and administrator; Prof Dele Jegede, artist and art historian; Dr Ola Balogun, influential director and filmmaker; and Prof Olanrele Bamidele, academic and pioneer of Theatre for Development.
Honourees in the 70s Category include novelist and literary administrator, Dr Wale Okediran, and the language technologist and polymath, Dr Tunde Adegbola.
The largest cohort, the 60s Club, includes major entertainment and media figures such as comedian Atunyota Akpobome (Alibaba), actor Segun Arinze, filmmaker Kingsley Ogoro, journalist Reuben Abati, and literary activist Olatoun Gabi-Williams, among 13 other respected professionals.
Running parallel with the tribute is the commemoration of the 20th anniversary of the Green Festival, a children and adolescent segment consistently staged by CORA’s partner, Children and the Environment (CATE). Day 5 of the festival, branded the ‘Green Day,’ celebrates two decades of environmental advocacy.
Curated and directed by Adesola Arti Alamutu, the Green Festival has influenced over 5,000 pupils and students, many of whom are now in leadership positions worldwide, underscoring the festival’s long-term impact on youth development and environmental awareness.
