Chief (Dr.) Gabriel Osawaru Igbinedion (The Esama of Benin Kingdom), President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf of Liberia and three state governors, Olusegun Mimiko of Ondo, Ibrahim Shema of Katsina and Peter Obi of Anambra have won the 2011 Zik Prize in Leadership.
The award ceremony is scheduled to hold on Saturday, 3 March, 2012 at the Muson Centre, Onikan, Lagos State, southwest Nigeria.
Other recipients of the award are: Alhaji Aminu Dantata, Chairman Dantata Group; Mr. Stephen Olabisi Onasanya, Group Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, First Bank of Nigeria and Professor Barth Nnaji, Minister of Power.
The award was set up in 1994 by the Public Policy Research and Analysis Centre, PPRAC, as part of its annual activities in honour of Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe, the First President, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, Federal Republic of Nigeria.
The recipients according to Prof. Jubril Aminu, Chairman, Advisory Board, PPRAC, emerged from a stringent competitive selection that eliminated about 50 other nominees following a rigorous criteria adopted by the Centre.
They were also adjudged to have excelled in their various fields of human endeavours by the Advisory Board of the PPRAC.
The award, meant to encourage the development of patriotic leadership among Nigerians, Africans and all black people of the world, has drawn notable world leaders in the past, who recognise it as a veritable platform to earn national and international reputation in political and corporate governance, especially in an era of severe leadership crisis and organisational deficiency across the globe.
Liberian President, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, was selected by the organisers for her demonstration of political leadership since she was first elected president four years ago, during which she brought significant transformation in Liberian politics resulting in widely acknowledged transparency in governance.
Sirleaf, who has just been re-elected for another four years in office, has also used her leadership position to consolidate peace in her country which has suffered prolonged years of civil war.
The centre stated that Governors Mimiko, Shema and Obi emerged recipients following evidence of astute talent in their management of human and material resources, coupled with sustained people’s confidence which they earned on the platform of their consistent drive towards grassroots development, matched with unusual vigour for transparency and accountability in governance.
It stated that Igbinedion was chosen for humanitarian services which he has consistently pursued over the years as a personal ‘mission statement’ anchored on a personal philosophy of making life worth living for others, and demonstrably insisting on it.
