Middlesex University London has awarded the Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi, and his wife, Olori Aderonke Ademiluyi-Ogunwusi, for Ile-Ife's lasting impact on global discourse. The honour came during a ceremony where Prof. Shân Wareing, the university's Dean and Vice-Chancellor, praised the royal couple's role in fostering ties between British academia and Nigerian royalty, focused on sustainable development and cultural preservation. The event featured the 'Time Cube' Dragon's Den, a pitch platform for student entrepreneurs, where Olori Aderonke urged participants to build purposefully, embrace heritage and mentor others. She joined a judging panel alongside Prince Kamari Ademiluyi, CEO of the UK Africa Trade Expo; Limara Haque, an AI and tokenization specialist; and Erelu Olajumoke Adebola, creating a rare blend of traditional leadership and venture capital. Organisers also announced plans for a tripartite partnership between Middlesex University, Ojaja University in Nigeria and the Ile-Ife kingdom, led by Prof. George Dafoulas, to merge academic research with economic initiatives rooted in the Ooni's innovation-driven vision.
Olori Aderonke's direct role on the judging panel signals a deliberate push to merge traditional authority with venture capital. For Nigerian entrepreneurs, this means access to global investors is no longer confined to Lagos or Abuja but can flow from Ile-Ife's cultural corridors.
