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Wednesday, 6th May, 2009

GOV ALIYU RECEIVES ZIK PRIZE

The Chief Servant and Governor of Niger State, Dr. Mu’azu Babangida Aliyu, OON (Talban Minna) is to be honoured with The Year 2008 Zik Prize for his meritorious contributions to the service of humanity and the sustenance of democracy.

The award which will be conferred on him in Lagos this week by the Public Policy Research and Analysis Centre (PPRAC) is also in recognition of the Chief Servant’s several programmes and policies tailored to impact positively on the lives of the electorate. PPRAC also acknowledged his servant leadership style and his resolve to inculcate the ideals of the style in Nigerlites in particular and Nigerians in general.

Gov. Aliyu is also being appreciated for his commitment to the triple tenets of democracy namely: rule of law, transparency and service delivery. To buttress these, the PPRAC referred to the Chief Servant’s resort to the judicial process to

settle issues and openness in his administration of the State. It said Dr. Aliyu has, within two years of his administration, executed several projects and embarked on

programmes which have now become measuring standards for other States in the country. It said that some of the State’s programmes which are now being replicated by other states include the grass-roots sensitization and mobilization programme called Jama’a Forum which some states have copied eventhough under different names. In the same way, it added, the ward development strategy which has attracted the attention of United Nations agencies and is now being copied by other States. It said other programmes are the Public-Private Partnership strategies under which mass housing programmes are being executed in the State.

Gov. Aliyu’s programmes and policies on girl-child education and free and compulsory education which are also attracting UNICEF’s curiosity and interest as well as the programmes on maternal and child health care which have improved the quality of life of the ordinary citizen in the State, were described by PPRAC as “unique, novel and ground-breaking.”

 Of particular interest to PPRAC is Gov. Aliyu’s policy on national integration. It said the Governor sees all residents in the State as indigenes because they all add value to the State in their respective ways. It noted, that people of south-west and south-east origin are given political appointments in the State while he has been doing a lot in the eradication of discriminatory policies in areas like education, health and employment. It is also in this light, the PPRAC noted, that Gov. Aliyu appropriated eminent Nigerians who were born or who lived in Niger State to be Nigerlites. It mentioned as examples of these Nigerians Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe, and Dr. Cyprian Ekwensi who were born in Niger State and who Gov. Aliyu therefore, considers as indigines of the State.

Dr. Aliyu’s nationalistic characteristics were also brought to the fore. The PPRAC mentioned. Dr. Aliyu’s series of public lectures and his general acceptance as a “bridge” and “national stabilizer” in parts of the country.

For these and several other reasons, the PPRAC will confer on Dr. Aliyu The Year 2008 Zik Prize along with five other eminent personalities. Other recipients are Mr. John Agyekum Kuffuor (former President of Ghana), Gov. Ikedi Ohakim of Imo State, and Gov. Theodore Ahamefula Orji of Abia State. Others are Dr. Mike Adenuga (Jnr), the Chairman of Globacom Limited and Prof. Umoru Shehu (Chairman, Governing Council of the National Agency for the Control of AIDS).


Bala Ibrahim Abdulkadir,

Director General