California University Awards Nigeria’s Performance Strategist, Abiola Salami, Doctorate Honours

Esther Akinsola

Dr Abiola Salami, world-class Performance Strategist and Editor-in-Chief/Publisher of The Peak Performer Africa has been in the headline news lately for the very right reasons.

First, he was named among the ‘Global Top 100 Under 40’ by the Most Influential People of African Descent. Afterwards, he was accepted into the prestigious Forbes Coaches Council – an invitation only for leading business and career coaches.

Then he recently launched his latest book on the Magic of Emotional Intelligence that’s positively impacting lives across all spheres. And now, he has been conferred with an Honorary Doctorate by the California Metropolitan University, an-invitation based event to celebrate individuals making a difference in Africa.

Salami’s doctorate award followed swiftly on the heels of a thorough evaluation of his impact, his unrivalled consistency and sustained courage for peak performance in the workplace and the world at large. The organisers had said. 

Fondly called Champ, Salami is a life coach with a peerless passion for raising extraordinary leaders, and global advocates and building brands and improving the productive capacity and brand perception of organisations and governments, top-class career professionals, entrepreneurs and politicians. 

As an alumnus of Harvard University, Lagos Business School (LBS) and the American Government’s International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP), Salami has several books to his credit. They include Get MAD! Who Says It’s A Man’s World, Speak like a CHAMPION, The Magic From Boring TALES to Fantastic SALES.

Having been decorated with his new mileage, Salami expressed delightedly, “I’m humbled, grateful and challenged.” He emphasised,  “Humbled to have been considered for such an honour by the American University, grateful for the appreciation of the work we’ve done over time and everyone who has been in the ecosystem for the past decade. I’m challenged because a good turn deserves another. If I have been deemed fit for this it is high time to deliver splufik results on another level.”

Salami, who is also the Principal Strategist, iamaCHAMP Limited admitted that he wouldn’t be a good judge of what made him deserving of the award. He, however, cited the testament of the President of California Metropolitan University, Sailesraj Bala Murali – “Abiola is deserving of this honour because of his commitment, competence, doggedness and passion”.

Salami’s tale is synonymous with the saying “though pressured, we remain unbroken”. Hence, he recounted that the journey has been one of giving, learning and growing. According to Salami, “Some doors were opened, others slammed and rejections spawned like the duckweed but we remained steadfast for the hope that tomorrow can be better. And regardless of how far people have come, they can go further”.

In his submission, the minds transformed and the lives changed to continue to reinforce the significance of the work done at iamaCHAMP Limited. The Peak Performing Africa, our publication, continues to enable individuals to attain optimum performance through their various initiatives. 

On taking giant strides, Salami noted that the re-launch of their women’s initiative – The Peak Performing Woman (TPPW) is an innovative idea to celebrate the 10th anniversary of “Champ”. 

“The initiative is a response to the effect of the pandemic on women and a disruptive approach to positioning them for the diverse change it has brought. It is designed to enable women to deliver excellence as career professionals, entrepreneurs and nation builders.”

For the GET MAD! author, the intervention will foster engagement and empowerment and celebrate women. “We will release a series of videos on how women can deal with their bosses, transition from a career or business, build the nation, apply emotional intelligence and how ladies can overcome public speaking. 

According to the life coach, the project will also feature live sessions with a few women where we further deepen our learning from the web series and we will be rounding up with a summit and award event we are pushing through the Peak Performing Africa which is our global media platform where we build one mind at a time”.

In her reaction, the Managing Partner of GLG Communications, Omawumi Ogbe said Salami “is worthy of it because he has put in the work for many years and he continues to do that; investing in people, and growing people.” 

Ogbe further highlighted also that doctoral honour is a recognition of what he has achieved and represents. “This is a validation of his work and all that he continues to do. I think what he does is very inspiring.”