President Muhammadu Buhari has said, to move Nigeria forward, it would require men and women who will continually refuse to engage in all forms of mediocrity and stick to their guns no matter the challenges.
Addressing laureates of the Nigerian National Order of Merit (NNOM) at the 12th Forum of Laureates of the Nigerian National Merit Award (NNMA) in Abuja, the President said: “My years as President of this magnificent country has only succeeded in convincing me all the more that it would require men and women like these ones gathered here today, to move us to our next phase of being at the frontline of global restructuring and advancement.”
Represented by the Minister of Special Duties & Inter- Governmental Affairs, Senator George Akume, the president added, “These indeed are men and women who will continually refuse to engage in all forms of mediocrity and stick to their guns no matter the challenges confronting them. They are gathered here, to enlighten us and collaborate with like minds on policies that will move us, as a nation, forward.”
He said the laureates being celebrated were well-known for their productivity and intellectual might as they soar far above the hurdles of archaism and embrace fully, the gains of contemporary technology and refined art.
Buhari said the main focus of the Forum of Laureates of the NNOM was to deliberate on salient issues of national interest, and as a result, create an enabling environment for the body of Laureates to channel views in policy making thereby contributing to national discourse.
Earlier in his welcome address, the chairman, governor’s board of NNMA, Prof. Shekarau Yakubu, stated that the board has bestowed the award on 76 distinguished Nigerians from 1979 to date.
