Toronto, October 25th 2018. The prestigious Excellence Awards gala, presented by the 24-hour Afroglobal Television channel on Saturday, October 20th 2018 in Toronto, Canada, was a tremendous success. Held at The Royalton Event Centre, the glitzy red-carpet affair involved a cocktails reception, dinner, world-class entertainment and award presentations with leaders from all three levels of government in Canada and beyond.
The event will be broadcast on Afroglobal Television, Rogers Cable Channel 708, Bell Canada Channel 2472, Telus Channel 2701 and Eastlink Channel 886 across Canada, as well as on OMNI Television. “This year, we continue with that tradition of bringing together national and international role models to inspire children, youth and adults so they can aspire for higher levels of success,” says Moses A. Mawa, President & CEO of Afroglobal Television and Silvertrust Media.
The Excellence Awards program, formerly Planet Africa, has engaged people of African descent and others of goodwill in celebrating success stories. Headliners and keynote speakers have included Dr. Bernice King, daughter of Civil Rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King Jr; Kevin Williams, President of General Motors Canada; Nobel Laureate, Professor Wole Soyinka; Dr. Julius Garvey, son of Marcus Garvey and South African music superstar Yvonne Chaka Chaka among, hundreds of others.
This year, recipients include Lifetime Achievement Award recipient, The Most Honourable Portia Simpson Miller, First Female Prime Minister of Jamaica; Marcus Garvey Memorial Award, Justice Irving André, Judge, Ontario Superior Court of Justice; Science & Technology Award, Dr. Tosin Aluko, Senior Engineer, Kinectrics (Nuclear) Inc.; Leadership Award, Bishop Lennox Walker, Administrative Bishop, Church of God, Ontario & President, New Haven Funeral Centre; and Global Impact Award, Robert Katende, Subject of the Disney Movie, Queen Of Katwe.
The Professional Achievement Award was presented to Charmaine Tial, Director PwC; Renaissance Award, Hon. Desmond Elliott, Filmmaker, Movie Star & Politician; Nelson Mandela Humanitarian Award, Allen Remley, Co-Founder, Forgotten People Connection; Martin Luther King Jr. Legacy Award, Hugh Graham, President, Barbados Canada Foundation; Media Award, Tammie Sutherland, Journalist & TV Personality, CityTV; and Entertainment Award, Dr. Adewale Ayuba, Legendary Singer.
The Rising Star Award was presented to Aaliyah Cinello, Actress & Model; Enterprise Award, Ikechukwu Nnamani, Engineer, Media and ICT Leader; Heritage Award, Peter Toh, Executive Director, Music Africa as well as Artistic Director, Afrofest; Visionary Award, Leo Johnson, Executive Director, Empowerment Squared; and Community Development Award, Esther Enyolu, Executive Director, Women’s Multicultural Resource & Counselling Centre.
“We turned the spotlight on the distinguished recipients of the 2018 Afroglobal Television Excellence Awards with the theme, ‘Nothing Is Impossible’. At the gala, the new edition of Excellence Magazine, which features recipients of the awards on a special cover was released. The second cover features Cheryl Nembhard, film director and host of Afroglobal’s Standing Ovation reality series. She was the Master of Ceremonies for the prestigious gala.
Sponsors and supporters of the awards program have included Dream Insurance, Ethiopian Airlines, York University, Transformation Institute For Leadership & Innovation, PwC, TD Bank, First Fridays, Afrocan Foods, Thora’s Elegant Designs, Jodal Health Care, Envision Magazine, OMNI Television, Silvertrust Media and others. The gala is set to be showcased on OMNI Television, the Afroglobal Television channel, Excellence Magazine and on other media platforms.
(L) Bisi Owojaiye, George Chukwu, Abby Ayoola and Wayne Williams, AFRO TV’s red carpet host team at the 2018 Excellence Awards gala. (R) Moses A. Mawa, President & CEO of Silvertrust Media and Afroglobal Television with Portia Simpson Miller, Jamaica’s 1st Female Prime Minister.
(L) George Chukwu, Moses A. Mawa and The Most Honourable Portia Simpson Miller at Afroglobal Television’s Excellence Awards cocktails reception. (R), CityTV’s Tammie Sutherland.
(L) Patricia Bebia Mawa with Canada’s Citizenship and Immigration Minister Ahmed Hussen. (R) Robert Katende, who inspired the Disney film Queen Of Katwe with his wife Sarah at the gala.
(L) Some of the 2018 Excellence Awards recipients including Esther Enyolu, Ike Nnamani, Charmaine Tial and Peter Toh. (R) Former Citizenship Minister, Ontario and Transformation Institute Director Dr. Tony Ruprecht with 2018 Leadership Award recipient Dr. Lennox Walker with his wife Dorett.
(L) MC Cheryl Nembhard; Dr. Wale Ayuba who received the Entertainment Award from Bob Marley’s granddaughter Donisha Prendergast; Hugh Graham receives the Legacy Award from Professor Andrea Davis of York University; politician and movie star Desmond Elliot with George Chukwu.
(L) Allen Remley who received the Nelson Mandela Humanitarian Award with his wife Kathie and Dream Maker Corporation Chairman Isaac Olowolafe Sr. (R) Amaka, Kayla and Ike Nnamani, recipient of the Enterprise Award with Monaruz Zaman of The Bullion Mart at the 2018 Excellence Awards.
(L) Birhan Abate, Country Manager of Ethiopian Airlines presents the Media Award to Tammie Sutherland of CityTV. (R) The Honourable Dr. Jean Augustine presents the Marcus Garvey Memorial Award to Justice Irving André at the Afroglobal Television Excellence Awards gala in Toronto.
Leo Johnson who received the 2018 Visionary Award, 3rd from left, with youth and others who participated in the United Voices violence prevention campaign initiative. (R) Mayor Frank Scarpitti of the City of Markham presents the Lifetime Achievement Award to Portia Simpson Miller.
Ngoma Ensemble’s youth drumming at the gala. (R) Dr. Tosin Aluko receives the 2018 Science & Technology Award from Libby Wildman at the Afroglobal Television Excellence Awards gala
