Twelve state governors yesterday won different laurels for excellence in governance at the second edition of the BusinessDay States’ Competitiveness and Good Governance Awards. They are governors Romiti Amaechi of Rivers State, Ibikunle Amosun of Ogun State, Theodore Oji of Abia State, Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso of Kano State and Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola of Osun State.
Others are Emmanuel Uduaghan of Delta State, Ibrahim Dankwambo of Gombe State, Gabriel Suswam of Benue State, Sule Lamido of Jigawa State, Seriake Dickson of Bayelsa State, Abdulfattah Ahmed of Kwara State and Babatunde Raji Fashola of Lagos State.
The BusinessDay States’ Competitiveness and Good Governance Awards is a yearly programme of BusinessDay, West Africa’s premier business newspaper. The project is anchored by BusinessDay Research & Intelligence Unit (BRIU) – the research arm of BusinessDay, and BusinessDay Conferences & Enterprise Unit.
The awards are meant to honour state governors and other public officials who have significantly contributed to the development of their states.
Governor Rotimi Amaechi won the Excellence in Governance and the Fastest Growing State economy awards. These awards were based on the fact that during his regime in Rivers, the state recorded appreciable growth in its internally generated revenue (IGR) and is among the top three states in the country with the highest per capita IGR in 2013.
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Governor Ibikunle Amosun of Ogun State, won the Transparency in Good Governance Award, just as his counterpart from Abia State, Theodore Oji, won the Best State in Education and Youth Empowerment awards.
Amosun was adjudged as the best by the Award Committee in view of the open door policy that he operates with regards to Ogun State finances, while Governor Theodore Oji was recognised for his immense contributions to the development of education and youth empowerment in Abia State.
The urban and rural infrastructure development being embarked upon by the governors of Kano and Osun states were duly acknowledged by the Award Committee. Consequently, the Award for Urban Infrastructure Development went to the Governor Rabiu Kwankwaso of Kano State, while Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola won the Best Governor for Rural Infrastructure Development Award. Aregbesola also won the Best Governor Award for ICT Development.
Governor Ibrahim Dankwambo of Gombe State won the Best Governor Award for Housing Development; Governor Gabriel Suswam of Benue State won the Awards for Agriculture Development and the Most Improved Security State, while Governor Sule Lamido, of Jigawa State won the Best State with Ease of Doing Business Award.
Governor Seriake Dickson of Bayelsa State was rewarded for having invested heavily in the development of tourism in his state. As a result, he went home with the Award for the Best State Governor in Tourism Development, whereas Governor Abdulfattah Ahmed of Kwara State won the Best Governor in Youth and Sports Development Award. Governors Babatunde Fashola of Lagos State and Rotimi Amaechi of Rivers jointly won the Special Recognition Award for Exemplary Leadership.
TELIAT SULE
