Aduke Gomez
Aduke utilises her legal and advisory skills to assist in business and creative development. Commencing her career in legal practice with the law firm of Udo Udoma & Belo-Osagie, she later worked for many years in various leadership roles within Ecobank Nigeria Ltd and Leadway Pensure PFA. Aduke was appointed to the Governor Fashola Administration of Lagos State in the role of Senior Special Assistant/Secretary to the Lagos State Hotel Licensing Authority in 2011. She was also appointed to serve as a member of the Lagos State History Committee and as a member of the Lagos Carnival Committee, where she headed the Junior Carnival Sub-Committee.
Aduke is regularly called to speak and moderate on topics related to her interest in history and culture and these have included sessions at Cornell University, USA; The Institute of Africa and Diaspora Studies at the University of Lagos; the Lagos State Record and Archive Bureau; the annual conference of the Lagos Studies Association; the Ake Festival; the Quramo Festival of Words; and the Lagos Book and Art Festival(LABAF) amongst others.
Aduke’s published collection of poems have featured as festival books for both the LABAF and the Ake Festival. And her children's books have also featured at previous editions of LABAF and Akada Children's Book Festival and at the Pa Gya Book Festival in Ghana.
She is currently the Chair of the Steering Committee of Art4Life – an initiative of the Lagos State Ministry of Health established to introduce art and the practice of art into the entire healthcare process. Aduke was recently appointed to the Board of the Lagos Studies Association - an organisation established for the exploration and dissemination of Lagos history. She is also a member of the Advisory Board of Open House Lagos as well as a member of the Advisory Board of the Lagos Biennial. She volunteers on the Board of Child Life Line - an NGO established for the welfare of street children.
Aduke is a 2024 recipient of the Presidential Distinguished Service Award for the Irish Abroad from the President of Ireland.