-By Eddy Ochigbo
The Honourable Minister of State For Petroleum Resources, His Excellency Timipre Sylva has congratulated Engr. Simbi Kesiye Wabote, Executive Secretary of the Nigerian content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) on the conferment of “Distinguished Capacity Development Award” by President Muhammadu Buhari GCFR.
The minister acknowledged Wabote’s ‘work ethics, transparency and innovation’ as the secret behind NCDMB’s rapid and sustained successes since Wabote came on board.
Presenting the award, President Muhammadu Buhari remarked: “This award is in appreciation of the giant strides in the transformation of Nigeria. I thank you for your contributions and I expect this to serve as a motivation for you and others to continue doing more”.
The NCDMB under Engr. Simbi Kesiye Wabote, amongst other stellar achievements, has championed the development of Local Content across the continent and provided guidance to several African countries on the implementation of Local Content policies in their jurisdictions.
The award was bestowed on Engr. Wabote at a colourful ceremony held at the State House Conference Centre, Abuja on Friday and was for the outstanding strides he accomplished, particularly in human and Infrastructure development since he was appointed as the helmsman of NCDMB in September 2016 and got reappointed in 2020.
Other recipients of awards in different categories included former President Goodluck Jonathan, President of the Senate, Dr. Ahmad Lawan, Speaker of Federal House of Representatives, Rt. Honourable Femi Gbajabiamila, some serving governors, ministers, heads of performing agencies and service chiefs.
Delivering his address, President Buhari said the national recognition is intended to motivate other public officials to dedicate themselves and perform diligently in office. He noted that the awardees were being recognised for exhibiting transparency and accountability in the discharge of their responsibilities.
He said: “This award is in appreciation of the giant strides in the transformation of Nigeria. I thank you for your contributions and I expect this to serve as a motivation for you and others to continue doing more.”
Earlier in his speech, the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Mr. Boss Mustapha explained that nominees were selected independently and professionally by the team of assessors constituted by the Best Strategic Media (TBS). He added that the Nigeria Excellence Award in Public Service (NEAPS) was set up to recognise distinguished public service to Nigeria, through either contributions to individuals, state or local community or the public through excellence in leadership, service and humanitarianism. Noting that recipients could range from federal, state and local governments as well as from non-profit organisations or persons in academia, he noted that all must have made significant contributions as career public servants.
He challenged public officials to rededicate themselves towards providing quality service to Nigerians irrespective of political, religious or regional differences, nothing that the challenges that faced were huge and should be tackled by all persons in positions of authority.
Engr. Wabote and the Group Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC Ltd), Mr. Mele Kolo Kyari were the only recipients from the oil and industry. The GCEO was recognised for outstanding reform initiative.