Combined photographs of the award plaque of National Waves’ “Most Outstanding Minister” and Prince Clem Agba
By Our Reporter
The immediate past Minister of State for Budget and National Planning, Prince Clem Ikanade Agba, has been presented with the “Most Outstanding Minister [Public Service Award 2023] by the National Waves Newspaper and Magazine.
The Board of Editors of the National Waves Newspaper and Magazine appraised the stewardships of members of the Federal Executive Council (FEC) under the Muhammadu Buhari administration, using some parameters, and concluded that Prince Clem deserved the award.
The award was received on his behalf at an impressive event in Abuja by his former Special Assistant (Media) in the Ministry of Budget and National Planning, Mr Sufuyan Ojeifo.
Publisher and Editor-in-chief of National Waves Newspaper and Magazine, Mr Jimmy Enyeh said the Board considered Prince Clem’s leadership role in the development of the National Development Plan 2021-2025, Nigeria Agenda 2050, and the citizen-based Web app- Eyemark (eyenark.ng) that enables Nigerians in the country and in the Diaspora to track execution of capital projects and report progress to government, as remarkable and commendable achievements.
Enyeh said that Prince Clem was co-chair of GRID3 Nigeria Project, which worked across all states in Nigeria to collect accurate, complete, and geo-spatially-referenced data, relevant to a variety of sectors.
He stated that the immediate past Minister of State for Budget and National Planning was, also, until the expiration of his tenure on May 29, 2023, State Actor Co-Chair of the Open Government Patnership (OGP) in Nigeria.
According to him, “under his leadership, Nigeria was able to achieve, through her commitment to the principles of the OGP, among others, improved budgetary processes, boosting of Nigeria’s anti-corruption fight through the introduction of transparency in company ownership (establishment of Beneficial Ownership Register) and earning of global recognition for Beneficial ownership effort.
Others who were also presented with awards on the occasion of the 15th Anniversary (Lecture/Award) at the Merit House in Abuja in different categories were the Director General of the National Council for Arts and Culture, Otunba Olusegun Runsewe, National President of the Nigeria Union of Journalists, Mr Chris Isiguzo and Constitutional Lawyer, Dr Kayode Ajulo, among others.
Earlier, in his welcome address, Mr Enyeh said the 15th Annual Lectures of National Waves “comes at a time of great national reawakening, cataclysmic changes in our political developments, which among other features have witnessed political transition of governance from one set of political actors to another.”
Accotding to him, “It’s also a period of social and economic pressures on the marginalized, voiceless, and economically dis-empowered majority of Nigerians as a result of economic meltdown.
“In spite of the seeming gloom over the harsh economic conditions, and highly contested elections which have in the past months, widened the geopolitical fault lines, security challenges and sundry national setbacks, there’s a glimmer of hope in the current administration to do the right thing, put the economy on the right footing, heal the wounds engendered by the election fallout, and restore hope.
“It’s in light and context of this that National Waves has decided to use the occasion of its annual lectures to thaw the national tensions by deciding to honour outstanding Nigerians from different walks of life who have done well in private and national life, and have enriched the unending national conversations on the way forward.”
He continued: “The magazine is proud to be associated with the awardees for outstanding contributions they have made to national development.
“The media have been a credible partner in the quest for national development, and for us at National Waves, we are confident that the current administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu will deepen this robust partnership, encourage the media to continue to act as guardians of democracy and national development through friendly body language disposition at all levels of government in form of patronage from ministries, departments and agencies of government through adverts and special projects to showcase their activities and milestones.”
