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 the 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, the 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 constructions 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.

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