NIGERIA, like most nations of the world, has a system of award and recognition for outstanding service and selfless contributions to the society, and these honours are often given only to deserving people. The honours, established by the National Honours Act No. 5 of 1964, have remained the highest level of recognition for Nigerians and each year, citizens who have contributed to the progress of the country are recognised by the president.For the 2011 version of the national honours, a name came up that may not surprise many Nigerians, Chief Godswill Obot Akpabio, and he has been pencilled to receive the honour of a Commander of the Order of the Niger (CON), a category which only a few Nigerians enter every time the award takes place. Chief Akpabio's honour would come to many as no surprise due to his achievements in office in the past four years and four months.For Akwa Ibom State, a land once known for its high production of errand boys and girls in the homes of Nigerians, the coming of Chief Akpabio has become the decimal of change.Voted into power like any of the first-timer governors in 2007, Akpabio could be said to have hit the ground running, as he took the auspicious step of completing some of the projects initiated by the previous government while at the same time beginning a chain of developmental changes, recording first-of-its-kind achievements in the state and the country, which have become major turning points for the state.Based on his achievements, torrents of awards and recognition continued to trail the governor, while his popularity soared among Akwa Ibom people, earning him the popular accolade of a promise keeper in the land of promise.It was therefore no surprise that he won the April 2011 gubernatorial election by a wide margin and has continued to floor the opposition at every round of litigation against his reelection, taking them to the cleaners and thereby establishing that Akwa Ibom people had given him the mandate to continue the good work.After his re-election, not only did the governor continued where he stopped in his first term, he began a fresh series of unprecedented developmental projects which have a potentiality to change the fortune of Akwa Ibom, the Land of Promise, forever. Akpabio's actions in his second term in office, in the past few months have been a clear departure from what largely obtains in the country, where most governors who won a second term are often accused of laxity in their second term in office.In his four months in office after re-election, Akpabio has slated up to 717 projects for commissioning to commemorate the state's 24th anniversary, a development that has drawn the who-is-who in the country to Akwa Ibom in the past weeks. Some of the projects include the construction of a modern Banquet Hall in Uyo, building of a power plant, a divisional library, Ukana Bridge/Palm Oil depot and so on, while he has also continued to touch lives with human development initiatives such as the approval of N500 million for the empowerment of additional 2000 women in the state, introduction of chaplaincy in schools to instill moral discipline and sound values in children, and a host of others.It would be recalled that Akpabio had given the state an airport of international standard as its 22nd 'birthday gift.'As the governor marches on in his drive to transform the state, not only does he continue to set examples in governance, he also continues to attract recognitions and awards like he did during his first term in office. In the last four months, Chief Akpabio has received two landmark awards in recognition of his excellence in governance and service to humanity. In August 2011, the governor and his wife received a United States Congressional Award for service to humanity and a month later, the governor became the first Nigerian governor and one of a few leaders to be recognised by the Nigerian Defence Academy (NDA) with a honorary degree inManagement Science, also in recognition of his developmental efforts in Akwa Ibom.While the awards flow in, Chief Akpabio, like a man whose eyes are set on a goal, continues to pursue his vision for the state, but like a golden fish without a hiding place, his name popped up again on the list of people to be awarded with a national honour by President Goodluck Jonathan. On Saturday, Chief Akpabio will become a Commander Order of the Niger (CON) for his positive redefinition of governance, a factor for which three successive presidents of the country had commended him, and a factor that continually makes him to stand out among his colleagues.
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