2020 TIME100: Funsho, Adeyemi make the most influential list

THE Chairman of Rotary International’s polio eradication programme in Nigeria, Dr. Tunji Funsho; and 27-year-old novelist, Tomi Adeyemi also made the annual list of the 100 most influential people in the world by Time.

Apart from t Tony Elumelu, the Chairman of United Bank of Africa, these two Nigerians are also named in the 2020 Time100.

Funsho, a cardiologist based in Lagos, was recognised for his essential role in ensuring Africa’s certification as wild polio-free in August 2020.

Together with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the WHO, the CDC and UNICEF, Funsho and Rotary helped lead National Immunisation Days, getting millions of doses of the polio vaccine to children in cities and villages around the nation.

Reacting, Funsho, who is the leader of Rotary’s Nigeria National Polio Plus Committee, said, “I’m honoured to be recognised by TIME for my part in ensuring that no child in Africa will ever again be paralysed by wild polio, a disease that once disabled 75,000 African children every single year.”

Adeyemi, a 27-year-old Nigerian-American novelist, who is also a creative writing coach and best known for her #1 NY Times bestselling book – Children of Blood and Bone, was among those listed.

Hollywood actor, John Boyega, who is also Nigerian, described Adeyemi as the god of ideas.

The Time’s list, now in its 17th year, recognises the activism, innovation, and achievement of the world’s most influential individuals.

Only four Africans were included in this year’s list, three of which are Nigerians.