Group Managing Director and CEO of
Diamond Bank Plc, Dr. Alex Otti, has received the 2013 Zik Prize in the Professional
Leadership category, at an award ceremony organized by the Public Policy
Research and Analysis Centre (PPRAC) recently.
Delivering the welcome address, Prof.
Jubril Aminu, Chairman, Advisory Board of PPRAC, said that late Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe,
who the award was instituted in his memory, needed no introduction as his
nationalist legacies loom large in the national psyche. Continuing in his
strides, Aminu said the Zik Prize has become a national institution to
celebrate notable Nigerians for their contributions to the society.
Chief Emeka Anyaoku, former Secretary
General of the Commonwealth and Chairman of the occasion, extolled the virtues
of Azikiwe, noting that he has become an institution whose legacies would
transcend generations.
“Dr. Azikiwe is no doubt a legend that has
contributed a lot to the development of the country and we are here to
celebrate distinguished Nigerians who have proven themselves in public service
and professional leadership like the late Zik. We hope that those present here today
will draw inspiration from the late African giant,” he added.
Responding on the award, Dr. Otti
said, “The shoes of the late Dr. Azikiwe cannot be filled, so we are only
trying our best to follow in his footsteps. Like Chief Anyaoku noted, the
current situation whereby we spend about 80% of our national revenue on
recurrent expenditure leaving very little for capital investment is
unsustainable. This is why we continue to face problems of youth restiveness,
among others.
“At Diamond Bank, we are trying in
our own ways to reduce the burden of youth unemployment. We have instituted the
Building Entrepreneurs Today (BET) project, where we try to help young people
with great ideas but no money to execute them. We reach out to these people from
all over the country and select fifty with the best ideas for training at the Enterprise
Development Centre of the Pan Atlantic University. After the first round of
training, the best fifteen go through a second phase of business training with
top consultants. The final five participants are given free grants of three
million naira each to pursue their ideas. So far, Diamond Bank has invested
over one hundred billion naira into the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises
sector.”
Executive Secretary of PPRAC, Prince
Emeka Obasi, described Dr. Otti as an intellectual banker and quintessential
leader who, “after graduating with a first class degree and as the best
graduating student in his set at the university, came into banking and has been
making strides for others to follow.”
Other awardees include Senator Liyel
Imoke, Governor of Cross Rivers State; Gov. Ibrahim Dankwambo, Governor of Gombe State; and Comrade Adams Oshiomhole,
Governor of Edo State.
Others are: Dr Bamanga Tukur, Chairman,
Nigerian Railway Corporation; Aare Afe Babalola, Founder, Afe Babalola
University Ado-Ekiti (ABUAD); Dr ABC Orjiako, CEO, SEPCOL; Dr. Ernest Obiejesi,
GMD of Nestoil Plc and Ms. Evelyn Oputu, former MD/CEO, Bank of Industry.
No comments:
Post a Comment