Gov. Udom Emmanuel of Akwa Ibom and his Rivers counterpart, Nyesom Wike have been nominated for at the 2017 edition of the prestigious South-South Leadership Advancement Awards(SSLAA) and summit.
Mr Kinsley Amafibe, Project Director of SSLAA, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja on Friday that CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele and Amaju Pinnick, President of Nigeria Football Federation are also on the list of nominees.
According to him, other nominees for the award, scheduled for Dec. 15, includes Sen. Godswill Akpabio, traditional rulers, as well as industrialists, artists and philanthropists from the South-South region.
Amafibe said the names were among the list of nominees made available by organisers of the award, Good Dreams Multimedia Concepts, an NGO that celebrates productivity, excellence and good governance.
He said the nominees would be honoured because of their contributions to the peacebuilding, economic and infrastructural development of the region.
“These Nigerians from the South-South region have, in one way or the other, contributed to its development and peaceful coexistence.
“He added that “we believe that this recognition will always be the push for them to achieve more in their service to society.”
The project director said that since the initiative was non-political, service to humanity, in which ever capacity, was the benchmark that earned the recipients’ nomination space.
He noted that although there were more people contributing to peaceful coexistence and development in the South-South, there was need to honour the outstanding ones in edition of the award.
“Service to humanity and making society a better place for everyone is the essence of leadership.
“Anyone who has notably used his office or profession to serve and touch society positively is a leader that needs to be recognised,” he said
According to Amafibe, the 2017 edition of the award will feature a summit where peace, reconciliation and youth empowerment in the region will be discussed.
He added that militancy, kidnapping and other vices threatening peace in the region would be discussed at the summit.
“The region is very significant to our economic survival as a nation, and we must do everything collectively to sustain peace in the region.
He further said that Brig-Gen Paul Boroh, Coordinator of the Presidential Amnesty Programme, and Gov. Seriake Dickson of Bayelsa would also be honoured for their efforts at curbing youth restiveness in the oil-rich state.
NAN reports that the South-South Leadership Advancement Awards (SSLAA) is an annual award that honours Nigerians, especially those from the South-South who contributed meaningfully to the development of the region.
The awards cuts across different categories, with recipients, picked from various fields and backgrounds.
The categories include South-South Governor of the Year, Award for Peacekeeping in the South-South, South-South Comedian and Entertainment Entrepreneur of the Year.
Others include South-South Traditional Ruler of the Year, South-South Construction Company of the Year and South-South Community Personality of the Year.
The event is scheduled for Emerald Events Centre in Uyo, the Akwa Ibom State Capital.
