Delta State Governor, Senator Dr Ifeanyi Okowa, has assured that the series of awards being conferred on him will spur him to continue with his selfless service to Deltans and humanity.

He gave the assurance on Friday night in Lagos shortly after receiving the “Governor of the Year 2018 Award” at an annual personality award organised by Vanguard Newspapers Limited.

Governor Okowa, who was accompanied by his wife, Dame Edith, had on Thursday night, received Independent Newspapers “Governor of the Year Award” and today, Saturday (January 19, 2019), he has been tipped to receive “Governor of the Year (Infrastructure and Human Capital Development) Award” at an award ceremony organised by DAAR Communications Limited, owners of African Independent Television (AIT), RayPower FM and Faaji FM.

Receiving the Vanguard award last night from the hands of former Governor of Ogun State, Chief Segun Osoba, Okowa said: “I want to give thanks to God Almighty for this award. I want to thank my wife and my children for their support. I commend the sacrifices being made daily by members of the State Executive Council, political office holders which has made us to succeed, but, most importantly, I thank Deltans for their partnership and I am happy to dedicate this award to them.

“Deltans are wonderful, understanding people, through collaborative efforts, we have made great impact on the provision of infrastructure, development of our people to achieve prosperity for all Deltans; in the next four years, we hope to build on the successes we have made thus far, with God, effective partnership, we can.”

Two other Deltans, Mr Tony Elumelu (Personality of the Year 2018) and Chief Rita Lori-Gbebor (Lifetime Achievement) received awards at the ceremony where such personalities as Aminu Tambuwal (Governor of the Year), Udom Emmanuel (Governor of the Year), Peter Amangbo (Banker of the Year), Lateef Jakande (Lifetime Achievement Award), among others, bagged different categories of awards.

Chairman of the occasion, Sir Arthur Mbanefo, had congratulated all the award recipients, observing that “they are all leaders in their respective fields of endeavour.”

The elder statesman used the occasion to challenge Nigerians to get it right through the ballot box in the general elections, saying: “Nigeria is not working; it is in our hands to mend the brokenness of Nigeria and make it work again.”

•Photo by Jibunor Samuel shows Governor, Senator Ifeanyi Okowa/Governor of the Year (2nd left); his wife, Dame Edith (left); former Governor of Delta State, Chief James Ibori (right); Segun Osoba (2nd right) and Commissioner for Finance, Olorogun David Edevbie, during the Vanguard Personality of the Year Awards 2018 held on Friday night at Eko Hotel and Suites, Victoria Island, Lagos.

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