A former President of the Association of Telecommunications Companies of Nigeria (ATCON), Dr. Olusola Teniola; and the President of the Lagos branch of the Association of Anambra State Development Unions, Sir Amechi Ebeledike, were among the ICT/Technology industry titans inducted into DigitalSENSE Africa Hall of Fame at the close of the 17th edition of the annual Nigeria DigitalSENSE Forum (NDSF) on Internet Governance for Development in Lagos.
This landmark edition, which served as a vibrant backdrop for celebrating the pioneering individuals and corporate giants anchoring the nation’s digital evolution, provided an opportunity to honour an elite circle of trailblazers who have dedicated decades to defending digital rights, shaping technology policy, and building critical national infrastructure.
Currently, the Director of Strategic Business Initiatives at ipNX Nigeria, Teniola, who served as the event Chairman, was honoured for his relentless advocacy for broadband expansion and internet affordability, and his steadfast guidance within Nigeria’s multi-stakeholder space.
For the highly respected Ebeledike, who was inducted into the Hall of Fame as a result of his strategic contributions to infrastructure resilience and ecosystem sustainability, his legacies were formally enshrined with the honour. The induction celebrates a legacy of deep institutional dedication, recognising leadership that successfully bridges the gap between complex digital policy and grassroots national development.
In a deeply emotional and poignant segment of the ceremony, the forum paid a special posthumous tribute to a former Executive Secretary of ALTON, Gbolahan Awonuga.
Recognised for his foundational contributions, unparalleled dedication, and decades of structural service to the telecommunications sector, the special posthumous honour was met with immense reverence by industry leaders. The organisers noted that Awonuga’s enduring legacy as a bridge-builder between operators and regulators remains a vital cornerstone of Nigeria’s modern digital infrastructure footprint.
In the corporate categories, the Nigeria Internet Registration Association (NiRA) emerged as a standout winner. Charged with managing Nigeria’s country-code top-level domain (.ng), NiRA was named the “Custodian of the Decade”, in recognition of its monumental strides in digital sovereignty and cybersecurity.
The organisers praised NiRA’s leadership for aggressively localising Nigeria’s online identity, lowering barriers to domain acquisition, and fortifying the underlying Domain Name System infrastructure against evolving global threats.
Simultaneously, MTN Nigeria was honoured with the DigitalSENSE Africa 2026 Mobile Inclusion and Connectivity Award. The accolade recognises the telecoms leader’s unmatched contributions to expanding Nigeria’s telecommunications landscape, bridging the digital divide, and ensuring millions of citizens are connected to the digital economy.
In addition to the stellar corporate honours, infrastructure giant Digital Realty was recognised with the DigitalSENSE Africa 2026 Infrastructure Backbone Award for Digital Realty Nigeria. The milestone award highlights Digital Realty’s foundational role in scaling Nigeria’s cloud readiness, anchoring local data hosting capabilities, and providing the robust data centre framework necessary to power a secure, resilient African internet ecosystem.
Reflecting on the significance of this year’s awards, Lead Convener of NDSF, Ogbuefi Remmy Nweke, who is also the Group Executive Editor of ITREALMS Media Group, noted that the 2026 honours list represents the perfect intersection of regulation, infrastructure, and identity.
He noted: ‘Achieving true digital trust requires honouring the people who build the networks and the institutions that protect our identity on those networks. Dr. Teniola, Ebeledike, MTN, Digital Realty, the late Gbolahan Awonuga, and the team at NiRA embody the exact multi-stakeholder synergy required to keep the WSIS vision alive and thriving in Nigeria’.
The 2026 NDSF enjoyed robust support from institutional heavyweights and industry pillars, including the Nigerian Communications Commission, IHS Nigeria, Digital Realty, Nigeria LNG Limited, NiRA, ALTON, the Nigeria chapter of the Internet Society, the Guild of Corporate Online Publishers, and the Nigeria Information Technology Reporters Association.
