The All Progressives Congress Senator (APC) representing Kogi West in Nigeria’s National Assembly, Otunba Dino Melaye, has said he would be dedicating an award to be conferred on him by popular United States-based Exclusive Accolade International Magazine on the missing Chibok girls.

The award ceremony scheduled for between August 21 and 23 at Sheraton Atlanta Hotel, Atlanta Georgia, United States, would be conferred on him in recognition of his strict stance against corruption in Nigeria.

Before his election as a Senator, Melaye was the Executive Secretary of Anti-Corruption Network (ACN), a platform registered with the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) through which he checked the excesses of corrupt government officials and Convener, Citizens Arise Movement of Nigeria (CAMON).

The over 200 female students of Government Secondary School in Chibok, Borno State, were abducted by Boko Haram Islamic sect since April 2014.

A letter dated June 8 2015 signed by the CEO of Accolade Media, Ambassador (Mrs) Ginika Tor and Patron, Mrs. Alanyingi Sylva, said: “This award is in recognition of your outstanding qualities, innovations, immense humanitarian service and demonstration of excellence in your quest and passion to end corruption in Nigeria.”

Reacting to the award, Melaye who is the Convener of ‘Like-minded Senators’, the group which spearheaded the emergence of Senator Bukola Saraki as Nigeria’s Senate President in the newly-inaugurated 8th National Assembly, said his commitment to the fight against corruption is a battle of no retreat, no surrender.

“I thank the organisers of the award and accept in wholeheartedly. I dedicate the award to the missing Chibok girls. I also use this opportunity to pray for their return and this award can only propel me to do more in the anti-corruption fight in Nigeria.

“The battle to rescue Nigeria from economic cankerworms and financial scavengers is a battle of no retreat, no surrender. I use this opportunity to call on Nigerians to join the battle against corruption that has become the bane of our development because in an unjust society, silence is a crime,” he said.

The 2nd award ceremony is jointly organised by US-based Southern Barter Club (SBC) led by its President, Laurie A. Sossa and the State of Georgia.

The event, according to its promoters, was “conceptualised to recognise men and women of distinction in their various areas of endeavor as well as those who have positively impacted our society in very remarkable ways.”

•Photo shows Senator Melaye.

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