The Executive governor of Akwa-Ibom, Udom Emmanuel, will be delivering a Democracy Lecture at the 28 July HoG Awards Dinner at the Civic Center, in Lagos.
The HoG Awards which will hold its 9th annual session is dedicated to Nigeria’s Democracy, hence the need to have a Keynote Address on Democracy delivered during the Awards. On the choice of Gov Udom Emmanuel, Mr. Rupert Ojenuwa, the Managing Custodian of the Awards says, ‘You see, we sat down as a Board, which as you may know is headed by the esteemed Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi to discuss. We resorted to have the governor deliver this all-important address because of his unparalleled contribution to democracy.
Ojenuwa said that the decision of the organization not to have an elder statesman or a former president deliver the keynote is deliberate. ‘It would have been good to have an elder statesman or a former president deliver the keynote but I think it is even better to have Gov Emmanuel deliver it and this is because he is relatively young and also a massive performer. The advocacy we hope to achieve with this edition of the awards is to let Nigerians, particularly the ruling elites, know that democracy is vain without democratic dividends. It is okay to honor heroes of democracy because they fought for it but it is equally good to honor those who deliver its dividends because without democratic dividends, democracy would have been for nothing and that is why we choose the governor, to make that statement.
The Managing Custodian also gave hint into other awardees at the event some of whom include the Executive governor of Ondo State, Gov Rotimi Akeredolu for his industrialization efforts. The former head of state, General Abdulsalami Abubakar and Barr Allen Onyema will be honored for their contributions to peace while Rev Esther Ajayi will be honored for philanthropy. Then we shall have post humus awards for the late MKO and Kudirat Abiola.
Entertainment icons like TUFACE Idibia, Uti Nwachukwu and Funke Akindele will also be honored for their contributions to the nation’s entertainment industry.
The HoG Awards continues to establish its cardinal objective of sticking to credibility which is why it has since inception honored very distinguished Nigerians who have been above board, impacting lives and contributing to society. It holds its next session on Sunday 28th of July at the Civic Center, Ozumba Mbadiwe, Lagos by 3pm.
