Valentine Okafor
The 17th edition of the annual Nigeria DigitalSENSE Forum (NDSF) on Internet Governance for Development concluded on a high note Thursday, at the Welcome Centre Hotels, Lagos, culminating in the prestigious DigitalSENSE Africa Hall of Fame Awards.
This landmark edition, themed “Sustaining WSIS Vision with Multistakeholder Synergy in Nigeria,” served as a vibrant backdrop for celebrating the pioneering individuals and corporate giants anchoring the nation’s digital evolution.
The high point of the forum was the official induction of industry titans into the DigitalSENSE Africa Hall of Fame; an elite circle reserved for trailblazers who have dedicated decades to defending digital rights, shaping technology policy, and building critical national infrastructure.
Dr. Olusola Teniola, who masterfully presided over the day’s proceedings as the Forum Chairman, was received into the Hall of Fame to a resounding ovation. A veteran with over 32 years of global technology experience, Dr. Teniola, currently the Director of Strategic Business Initiatives at ipNX Nigeria and former President of the Association of Telecommunications Companies of Nigeria (ATCON); was honored for his relentless advocacy in broadband expansion, internet affordability, and his steadfast guidance within Nigeria’s multi-stakeholder space.
Joining him in the Hall of Fame was the highly respected Ebeledike, whose strategic contributions to infrastructure resilience and ecosystem sustainability were formally enshrined. The induction celebrates a legacy of deep institutional dedication, recognizing 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 the late Gbolahan Awonuga, the beloved former Executive Secretary of the Association of Licensed Telecoms Operators of Nigeria (ALTON).
Recognized for his foundational contributions, unparalleled dedication, and decades of structural service to the telecommunications sector, the special posthumous honor was met with immense reverence by industry leaders. The organizers 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 organizers praised NiRA’s leadership for aggressively localizing Nigeria’s online identity, lowering barriers to domain acquisition, and fortifying the underlying Domain Name System (DNS) infrastructure against evolving global threats.
Simultaneously, telecom giant MTN Nigeria was honored with the DigitalSENSE Africa 2026 Mobile Inclusion and Connectivity Award. The accolade recognizes MTN’s unmatched contributions to expanding the Nigerian telecommunications landscape, bridging the digital divide, and ensuring millions of citizens are linked to the digital economy.
Adding to the stellar corporate honors, infrastructure giant Digital Realty was recognized with the DigitalSENSE Africa 2026 Infrastructure Backbone Award: 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 center framework necessary to power a secure, resilient African internet ecosystem.
Reflecting on the significance of this year’s awards, Ogbuefi Remmy Nweke, Lead Convener of NDSF and Group Executive Editor of ITREALMS Media Group, noted that the 2026 honors list represents the perfect intersection of regulation, infrastructure, and identity.
“Achieving true digital trust requires honoring the people who build the networks and the institutions that protect our identity on those networks,” Nweke stated. “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 (NCC), IHS Nigeria, Digital Realty, Nigeria LNG Limited (NLNG), NiRA, the Association of Licensed Telecoms Operators of Nigeria (ALTON), the Internet Society (ISOC) Nigeria Chapter, the Guild of Corporate Online Publishers (GOCOP), and the Nigeria Information Technology Reporters Association (NITRA).
With this successful outing, the forum has once again solidified its position as the ultimate barometer for progress in Nigeria’s digital economy; celebrating foundational triumphs while actively mapping out the policy breakthroughs of tomorrow.