Uduaghan's CON Award, An Honour To Deltans - Monye, Awosika, Others

Source: thewillnigeria.com
Click for Full Image Size
PRESIDENT GOODLUCK JONATHAN PRESENTING NATIONAL HONOUR AWARD TO GOV EMMANUEL UDUAGHAN (CON) IN ABUJA. SEPTEMBER 17, 2012

SAN FRANCISCO, September 19, (THEWILL) - Special Adviser to the President on Performance Monitoring and Evaluation, Prof. Sylvester Monye has described the conferment of the award of Commander of the order of Niger (CON) on governor of Delta State, Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan as a special honour to the state.

He also described it as a befitting recognition for the achievements of the governor, who is building a Delta beyond oil and gas and has made Asaba a befitting state capital.

He appealed to the government to be steadfast in the development of the state and urged Deltans to refrain from any action capable of distracting the state government.

Similarly, Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Power, Dr. Dere Awosika commended President Jonathan for the award, saying it would have a positive influence on the development of the state.

Also speaking on the award, a member of the House of Representatives, representing Okpe, Sapele and Uvwie Federal Constituency, Honourable Evelyn Ojakovo and a former Federal legislator, Honourable Pascal Adigwe appealed to citizens of the state to reciprocate the Federal Government’s honour by re-doubling their support for peace and development.

Senior Adviser to the Governor on Foreign Relations, Mr. Oma Djeba described the national honour as symbolic, as it is an addition to the Canadian Development Agency’s rating of Delta as the best in human capital and infrastructural development.

He disclosed that a Swiss non-governmental organisation, African Link is set to recorgnise Delta State as foremost in development of basic infrastructure. They all spoke at a reception held in honour of the governor after receiving the CON award, organized by Prof. Monye.

The ceremony, also attended by Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister for the Economy, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, featured the cutting of the award cake by Governor Uduaghan and his wife, Roli.

In his remarks, Uduaghan stated that though the award came as a big surprise, he believes that his strive for peace and development in the nation may have informed the recognition.

He said his commitment to optimal oil production and increased revenue for the nation through the promotion of peace and development must have attracted the Federal Government’s attention.

“My support for peace and development in oil producing communities and security for oil production facilities, which had led to increased oil production, increased gas supply and the resultant improvement in power supply must have counted for me,” he said.

“The positive engagement of oil producing communities and interface with the oil producing companies created the enabling environment, which increased the nation’s oil production to the current 2.5million barrels from the previous abysmal level of about 700,000 barrels per day and prompted President Goodluck Jonathan to personally write me a commendation letter.”

Uduaghan that asides his strive for development of infrastructure to attract investments, he had often told governors in the northern part of the country to shelve their agitation for the revisiting of the Onshore-Offshore oil dichotomy in the interest of peace for oil production and higher oil revenue for the nation.