Yemisi Izuora.
The Sun Publishing Limited, publishers of The Sun titles, on Saturday, February 24, 2018 conferred the Public Service Award for 2017 on the Governor, Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mr. Godwin Emefiele as part of its 15th Annual Awards ceremony.
The Award, according to the Managing Director/Editor-in-Chief of the Sun Publishing Limited, Mr. Eric Osagie, was in recognition of current policies championed by Mr. Emefiele aimed at strengthening the country’s economy. Mr. Osagie listed Emefiele’s policies to include various intervention programmes geared towards poverty eradication and which have continued to engender sustainability and restoration in the Nigerian economy. He particularly noted that under Mr. Emefiele’s watch, the country had witnessed a massive drop in the volume of rice importation and an upscale in rice self-sufficiency, leading to relaxed pressure on foreign exchange.
Presenting the award to Mr. Emefiele at a ceremony held at the Eko Hotels and Suites, the Governor of Gombe State, Alhaji Ibrahim Dankwambo, lauded the efforts of the CBN Governor and his team for stabilizing the economy and moving the economy forward.
In his brief acceptance remarks, Mr. Emefiele thanked the Sun for finding the CBN worthy of the award and dedicated the award to all staff of the Bank, stressing that the CBN had the best crop of staff capable of competing with those at other Central Banks from any part of the world.
Other awardees included the Governor of Lagos State, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode, who bagged the Sun Man of the Year Award; the Governor of Rivers State, Chief Nyesom Wike, who received the Governor of the Year Award; the Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki, who was honoured as Outstanding Politician of the Year; and the First Lady, Aisha Buhari, who received the Sun Award for being the Most Supportive First Lady of the Year.
Also honoured were Governor Dave Umahi of Ebonyi State and his Jigawa State counterpart, Alhaji Atiku Bagudu, for their outstanding performance in agriculture; the Emir of Kano, Alhaji Muhammad Sanusi, for his courage in Leadership; and Mr. Peter Amangbo, the Group Managing Director of Zenith, as Banker of the Year.
One major highlight of the night was the posthumous conferment of Hero of the Year on the late Sergeant Chukwudi Iboko, who was killed by dare-devil armed robbers in February 2017, while guarding a branch of Zenith Bank in Owerri, Imo State.