The Chief of Army Staff, Lt.-Gen Tukur Buratai and the Minister of State for Petroleum, Dr Ibe Kachikwu have been nominated for the 2017 edition of the Peace Achievers Awards.
Mr Kingsley Amafibe, the Project Director of Peace Ambassadors Agency, organisers of the annual awards, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja on Tuesday.
The event has been scheduled to hold on Sept. 23.
He said that Mike Okiro, former Inspector General (IG) of Police, Raymond Dokpesi of DAAR Communications and Dr Paul Orhi, former Director-General of NAFDAC, were among the nominees too.
Other nominees for the award included Amb.Tony Benson, President of Niger Delta Peace Agitators; Dan Nwanyanwu; Alex Okoroji, veteran radio host and Oba Adetola Olaonipekun.
According to him, the Chief of Army Staff is to be honoured with the ‘Award for Excellence in Peacekeeping’ for his efforts at maintaining peace across Nigeria.
He noted that since the inception of Buratai as the Army Chief, peace has returned to hitherto troubled areas, especially in the North East, Niger Delta and other regions.
“Gen. Buratai has proven that he is committed to Nigeria’s Peace and Unity, by leading his men to fight and curb the activities of insurgents in the North and other forms of criminalities across the country.”
Amafibe explained that Kachikwu was listed in the 2017 ‘peace honour roll’ because of his “unrelenting commitment to restoring peace in the oil-rich communities of Niger Delta.’’He added that South Africa High Commissioner to Nigeria, Amb. Louis LuLu Mnguni, will also receive the Peace Achievers Award.
“The award is for men and women from different sphere of human endeavours, who through innovation, hard work and exemplary leadership contributed in the peace and nation building process.
“In line with the objective of promoting peace by our organisation, they have been specially picked for honour, and we believe this will spur them into doing more for the peaceful co-existence of our great nation.
“Having looked critically at the various contributions of these patriotic Nigerians in different ways, towards promoting peace, we decided to celebrate them,” he said.
Amafibe explained that although there are lots of patriotic men and women who have contributed meaningfully in the peace building project in Nigeria, it was imperative to honour the ‘outstanding’ ones.
“If your investments or humanitarian works tell of you as an agent of peace, then you are supposed to be honoured.”
He added that there were entrepreneurs and corporate bodies, who through their commitment to nation building and social responsibilities have empowered most Nigerians, and thereby promoting peace.
The Peace Ambassador Agency is a NGO that advocates and promotes peace and national unity.