President Muhammadu Buhari has awarded the Nigerian National Order of Merit (NNOM) Award for the years 2020 and 2021 to three Nigerians who distinguished themselves in the field of medicine and science.
This was stated by the president when presenting the award to the winners: Oluyinka Olutoye, Medicine (2020); the late Charles Chidume, Science (2020) and Godwin Ekhaguere, Science (2021) at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, on Tuesday.
While expressing the belief that Nigeria’s collective future rests on active participation in science and technology, Mr. Buhari said he was very proud to welcome the new Laureates to the prestigious League of Highly Honored Citizens. .
He said the nation would continue to celebrate and herald the achievements of scholars as a shining example worthy of emulation by the nation’s next young men and women.
”Please strive, at all times, to serve as beacons of hope and aspiration for the younger generation of Nigerians, reminding them that our collective survival and future as a nation ultimately depends on us being active participants in global development efforts. especially in science and technology. technology,” he told recipients.
He noted that since the Nigerian National Award of Merit (NNMA) was established 43 years ago, the addition of the three winners would bring the total number of winners to 79.
The president confirmed the high standards of the award and the undeniable testimony of the strict adherence to quality and merit-based evaluation procedure to select the awardees.
According to him, “the integrity of the Prize also underscores the nation’s high expectations that the new winners, like their predecessors, continue to hold high the standard of creativity and intellectual excellence.”
While congratulating the three winners, the president expressed the government’s gratitude for the patience of the 2020 Prize winners, who had to wait nearly two years to receive their prizes due to the outbreak of COVID-19 in 2020.
The president said that the total closure of the country in 2020 made it difficult for the evaluation process to take place at that time, but then it was carried out simultaneously last year along with the 2021 applications.
He urged the country’s youth to emulate the good deeds of the laureates by devoting themselves to “excellence and striving to contribute their share to the arduous task of placing Nigeria in the top group of outstanding nations.”
He recognized families, friends, associates and supporters, who were present in the Council Chambers at the State House to share in the joy of the awardees.
The President also congratulated the members of the NNMA Governing Board under the chairmanship of Shekarau Aku, Professor, as well as the members of the Four Specialized Committees of Evaluators and External Evaluators for their integrity and transparency, and for the excellent work accomplished. .
“The noble idea of establishing the Advisory Committees, whose membership is not disclosed to the public, ensures a credibility that could be emulated by other government agencies performing similar functions,” Mr. Buhari said.
”The fact that transparency and love for the nation have been the hallmark of his administration is well confirmed by the fact that the NNOM Award is one of the enduring national legacies held in high esteem globally and nationally. and his decisions have been well acclaimed and free of controversy over the years.
“Let me assure you that the Nigerian government and people appreciate your efforts and I ask you all to keep up the good work.”
At the request of the Chairman of the Governing Board regarding the decrease in the budget allocation to the agency and how it is restricting the agency in carrying out its mandatory functions, Mr. Buhari promised that the Federal Government would provide a special intervention as was done. in the year 2020 for the NNMA within the limited resources available.
He recognized the central place that NNMA occupies and the caliber of all the laureates produced by the agency.
The president assured that the federal government will do everything possible to maintain and sustain the agency.
“I want to assure you that this administration is fully committed to giving NNMA the recognition it deserves by immortalizing its recipients who have taken this country to greater heights both in Nigeria and in the diaspora.
“We are a nation interested in fostering excellence in all areas and we will continue to celebrate those who have achieved measurable levels of excellence in their professional lives,” he said.
Selection process
Meanwhile, the Minister for Special Duties and Intergovernmental Affairs, George Akume, said that the three intellectuals were awarded the 2020 and 2021 Prize following the selection process of more than 1,200 applications received by the NNOM Governing Board during the period under consideration. .
“It is important to note that Professor Charles Ejike Chidume died after being selected and recommended for approval by Mr. President and will be awarded the prize posthumously,” he said.
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The minister called on Nigerian universities to rise to the challenge and continue to lead innovative research aimed at providing solutions to the myriad of problems plaguing the country, especially after the COVID-19 era.
In his remarks, the Chairman of the NNMA Governing Board, Mr. Aku, announced that the recipients of the prestigious award given by Nigeria to its citizens for creative, intellectual and scholarly contributions that are of national and global significance will receive a reward in cash of N10 million each.
The prize winners are divided into four areas: medicine, science, engineering and technology, and the humanities, including education and culture, Professor Aku said.
Awarded
NAN reports that Mr. Olutoye, winner of the 2020 NNOM Science Prize, is credited with leading a team that performed groundbreaking surgical procedures on fetuses before they were born.
In 2016, in a feat that has been hailed as the first by an African, he performed a surgical procedure on a fetus with a sacrococcygeal teratoma, which is a tumor that develops before birth and grows from a baby’s tailbone.
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Mr. Olutoye received his medical degree from the University of Ife (now Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife) in 1988 with distinctions in anatomy and pathology, he interned at Lagos State University, before moving to the United States for specialized training in surgery.
He is currently the Chief Surgeon at Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus, Ohio, USA.
Mr. Chidume, winner of the 2020 NNOM Posthumous Science Prize, was Acting President of the African University of Science and Technology in Abuja before his passing on October 7, 2021.
The works of the world-renowned mathematics professor span several fields, including nonlinear functional analysis, nonlinear operator theory, and differential equations, nonlinear optimization.
He earned his Bachelor of Mathematics from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka in 1973, his Master of Science in Mathematics in 1977 from Queen’s University Kingston, Ontario, Canada, and his Ph.D. in Mathematics from The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio, United States. . state
Mr. Ekhaguere, winner of the 2021 NNOM Science Prize, is Professor of Mathematical Physics.
He created and pioneered the theory of quantum stochastic differential inclusion (QSDI) which has greatly improved the entire scientific community’s understanding of pathological quantum systems whose governing equation involves a discontinuous coefficient.
Mr. Ekhaguere, Professor, has a BA in Physics from the University of Ibadan, 1971, DIC in Mathematical Physics from Imperial College of Science and Technology, London, UK in 1974, and Ph.D. in Mathematics Physics from the University of London (Bedford College), London, UK in 1976.
(YAYA)