President Goodluck Jonathan is among distinguished African leaders that will be honored today Friday 10th October 2014, in recognition of their outstanding contributions to the development of the continent.
The event, organized by an international organization, Millennium Excellence Foundation, is holding at the Le Meridien Ibom Hotel and Golf Resort, in Uyo.
This is contained in a joint statement signed by the Akwa Ibom State Commissioner for Information and Communications, Mr. Aniekan Umanah and the founder of the Millennium Excellence Foundation, Ambassador Ashim Morton.
According to the statement, President Jonathan will bag a Prize for Leadership, National Cohesion and Stability, while a Rwandan economist and President of African Development Bank, Mr. Donald Kabueruka will receive a prize for National Leadership.
The Prize for Democratic Governance and Development will be bestowed on Mr. Jay Naidoo, the Chairman, Partnership for Council of Global Alliance for Improvement Nutrition, with headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland.
Other recipients are a Nigerian economist and banker, Mr. Tony Elumelu, who will receive a Prize for Sustainable Development in Africa, while a business mogul, Mrs Folorunsho Alakija will go home with a Prize for Action for Africa, alongside the Chief Executive Officer of a London-based international finance service group, Tidjani Thiam.
Also at the event, a former Malian Prime Minister, Cheick Modibo Diaraa is to receive a Prize for Scientific Research in Africa, while a United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navanetham Pillay will bag a Prize for Humanitarism and Equity.
A Prize for Media Development in Africa will go to a member of the International Advisory Board of Africa Press Organization, Amadou Mahtar, while that of Entrepreneurial Excellence in Africa will be presented to the Managing Director of Mara Group, Ashish Thakkar.
The Prize for Economic Development in Africa will bestowed on a Co-founder of Zenith Bank, Jim Ovia, along with a Kenya businessman, Manilal Chandaria, while the Prize for Food Security, Agro Processing Development and Quality will go to Mr. Calestus Juma
In the area of sports, a Chelsea footballer, Didier Drogba and a marathon champion, Haile Gebrselassie, will bag a Prize as Black Stars of Africa, just as His Royal Majesty, Otumfuo Osei Tutu, the Second will be awarded with the Prize fpr Traditional Leaders and Governance in Africa.
The Information Commissioner recalled that the Akwa Ibom State Governor, Chief Godswill Akpabio, had in 2012, received the Lifetime African Achievement Prize by the same group, the Millennium Excellence Foundation, in Nairobi, Kenya.
Promising that the 2014 edition would be unique in many ways, the organizers, who have honoured many distinguished citizens of the world, said staging the event in Akwa Ibom, “is in recognition of the monumental achievements of the Akpabio administration in the State.”
[+] Harrison Essien