The Management and Board of Editors of Independent Newspapers Limited,
publishers of Daily Independent, Saturday Independent and Sunday
Independent have nominated Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi of Enugu State as
Governor of the Year 2018 for Grassroots Development.
It would be recalled that the Sun and Vanguard Newspapers have also
recently named Gov. Ugwuanyi as the “2018 Sun Governor of the Year”
and “Vanguard Governor of the Year 2018”, respectively, for
entrenching peace and good governance in Enugu State.
Presenting the letter of nomination to Gov. Ugwuanyi on Tuesday, at
the Government House, Enugu, the Managing Director/Editor-in-Chief of
Independent Newspapers Limited, Mr. Ade Ogidan, stated that the
selection committee took the decision based on “the pragmatism,
commitment and courage” the governor has exhibited since he assumed
office in transforming “the state to the cynosure of all eyes as
regards infrastructural and grassroots development.”
Mr. Ogidan added that the governor has through his purposeful and
responsive leadership “positively improved the socio-economic
condition of the people in the state, despite the dwindling resources
at the disposal of the state government”.
The managing director said that they were impressed “that peace and
security in the state have continued to thrive, with Enugu listed as
the state with the least criminal cases compared with other states of
the federation”, disclosing that “the attention of the nation has been
shifted to the historical state”.
He pointed out that the media outfit was also delighted at “the
steadfastness and multi-dimensional approach of your administration in
addressing issues that affect the people of the state”, especially
those in the rural areas.
Mr. Ogidan also highlighted the governor’s achievements in creating
jobs for the teeming unemployed youths and other empowerment
programmes, qualitative and affordable healthcare delivery at the
grassroots, and sports, among others.
His words: “Worthy of note is your administration’s efforts in getting
the youths engaged through job creation. Only recently, 750 youths
were trained for 12 months on various skills by the Enugu State
Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) office.
“Within the same period, the office of the Special Assistant to the
Governor on Youth Affairs trained and retrained thousands of youths in
various skills/trade in agriculture, soap making, cosmetology and
digital technology.
“The health sector of the state has come alive with the construction
of district hospitals and training of 400 volunteer workers for health
intervention programmes in rural communities.
“Certainly, Your Excellency’s commitment to empowerment programmes
aimed at alleviating the suffering of the people and aiding the youth
and women to be self-sufficient have remained one of the focal points
of this administration.
“It is for the foregoing reasons that we have bestowed on you the
richly deserved award of Independent Newspapers Limited Grassroots
Development Governor of the Year 2018”.
The award ceremony, according to the managing director, is scheduled
for January 12, 2019, at Eko Hotel and Suites, Victoria Island, Lagos.
