Vice President Yemi Osinbajo has said that the array of laureates from all over the nation awarded the Nigerian National Merit Award shows that the Nigerian genius for achievement can be found in every corner of the country.
Osinbajo spoke on Tuesday at a dinner organised in honour of the 2020 and 2021 Nigerian National Order of Merit recipients –Prof. Olayinka Olutoye and late Prof. Charles Chidume (2020); and Prof. Godwin Ekhaguere (2021).
Senior Special Assistant to the Vice President on Media and Publicity, Laolu Akande, disclosed this in a statement he signed on Wednesday titled ‘There is genius for achievement in every corner of Nigeria, says Osinbajo’.
The Vice President, who said Nigeria has tremendous human capital and talents across all its regions, added that the current regime, in partnership with the organised private sector and other civil society organisations, must provide opportunities on a mass scale to enable citizens to actualise their highest potential.
According to him, the idea of merit and representation (by regions) are not mutually exclusive concepts because “the Nigerian genius for achievement” can be found nationwide.
“Often in our national discourse, we tend to juxtapose the idea of merit with that of representation as though they are mutually exclusive concepts, and it is suggested that there is an inherently natural disparity in the geographical distribution of talent.
“Yet what the distinguished array of laureates from all over our country that have been assembled over the years shows us is that the Nigerian genius for achievement can be found in every corner of our country,” he said.
The Vice President stated that opportunities must be provided on a mass scale to enable “all of our citizens actualise their highest potential.”
Emphasising Nigeria’s human capital potential and the urgency of the attention to girl-child education, Osinbajo stated that “in so doing, we will renew our pantheon of world-beating achievers in every generation and continually rediscover the human capital for perpetual national growth.”
He noted that the Awards’ representation over the years was a telling reminder of the need to pick Nigeria’s ‘first eleven’ for national tasks, irrespective of federal quota, tribe or religion.
He added that the glittering cast of Nigerians who have received the award over the past four decades was reflected not only by the variety of achievements but also by their diversity of origin.
“The Award selection process is entirely indifferent to the confessional persuasions, ethnic origins or partisan allegiances of the recipients. It is sensitive only to the rarity and quality of their accomplishments.
“Today’s awardees and their predecessors represent the zenith of accomplishment; their exploits tell us what we are truly capable of as a people and the heights to which we would soar if we would set ourselves free from the gravitational pull of parochialism and prejudice.
“If the pantheon of Order of Merit laureates reflects a representative meritocracy, is it not possible to apply the same standards in selecting those that we choose for leadership at all levels?
“Democracy grants us not only the right to choose our leaders freely but the opportunity to choose the best of us irrespective of any sectional or sectarian considerations,” he said.
Congratulating the Award Laureates and their families, as well as the Chairman and members of NNMA Governing Board and associates, the Vice President also recognised some past NNOM laureates present at the event: Prof. Augustine Esogbue (2006 NNOM Award Recipient in Engineering/Technology); Prof. Oye Gureje (2008 NNOM Recipient in Medicine); and Prof. Samuel Ohaegbulam (2012 NNOM Award Recipient in Medicine).
Also speaking, the Minister of Special Duties and Intergovernmental Affairs, Senator George Akume, congratulated the Awards Laureates for their overall economic, scientific and technological contributions to the nation’s development.
In his remarks, the Chairman, Governing Board of the Awards, Prof. Shekarau Aku, said the award recipients had done exceptionally well in their various fields of endeavour.
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