The Secretary to the Nigerian Government, Boss Mustapha said the conferment of the National Productivity Order of Merit Award on himself and other citizens by President Muhammadu Buhari is a clarion call for more service to humanity and the nation.
Mustapha stated this while speaking to State House Correspondents, soon after the award was conferred on 48 individuals and organizations in Abuja.
Mustapha, who bagged an award for his selfless service during the outbreak of COVID-19, said: “Well, it puts an additional moral burden of doing more for the nation and the government. It comes with a lot of feelings. You know, my award is within the category of the Special Award for COVID-19. And most of you were active participants in the response.
“And I believe that this award is dedicated to all the people that were involved and the national response to COVID-19. My colleagues on the COVID-19 production that was awesome of you in the media, who worked assiduously in very difficult, hard times and Dangerous in itself.
“Because we were dealing with a virus that was unknown to ensure that lives and livelihoods of Nigerians were protected. And in the process, we were able to deal with the adverse effects of COVID-19 one that deals with the economy.”
Mustapha said the effort of the Nigerian government and some of its agencies fast-tracked the country’s exit from recession, as the pandemic came with a lot of other challenges that have since been surmounted.
“The Economic Sustainability Plan was able to cause us to exit the recession in a very quick time, addressing the changes in governance, because COVID-19 came with his difficult ways of oppression, we had to do a switch to virtual meetings, virtual way of running government activities, with very little face to face contact. So, I believe that this award will spur us was to greater achievements in the future, as the events of government and the world dynamics keep changing,” he said.
A member of the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria, Mathew Azoji, who also spoke to Journalists, called on the Nigerian government to set up a special intervention fund to enable them access to foreign exchange, stressing that 90 per cent of input materials for manufacturing in the country are imported.
Azoji, who is the Managing Director of a pharmaceutical company in Nigeria, made the call while responding to a question on what challenges government needs to address to enhance productivity, said:
“The challenges we would like the government to pay attention to, we (Neimeth International Pharmaceuticals Plc), are a local manufacturer of pharmaceutical products. And the foreign exchange is a major issue for us.
“We want to ask the government to support the pharmaceutical manufacturers in Nigeria by improving access to foreign exchange because it has been a major problem, more than 90 per cent of input materials for manufacturing in Nigeria are imported.
“If there is a special intervention that the government can do, for local manufacturers particularly, pharmaceutical manufacturers that are improving access to medicines for the ordinary Nigerians.
“So, if you have better access to foreign exchange, it will improve the availability of medicines and in a cost-effective manner, because the foreign exchange has become a major cost of increasing cost of pharmaceuticals in Nigeria.”
While thanking President Muhammadu Buhari for the award, he said it will cause all recipients to work harder and pursue excellence for the benefit of all Nigerians.
Another award recipient, Mr Chinedu Francis, who is the clerk of the Nigerian Senate, expressed delight at the recognition of his service to the nation, leading to the conferment of the award to him.
“I feel greatly honoured by my country by the conferment of this award. I am grateful to God and my country for this great privilege.
“As the award implies productivity, I can only be spurred towards doing more in the course of my work at the National Assembly. My advice is for every Nigerian to remain steadfast, do your work the best way God gives you the enablement and surely reward will come,” he said.
Dominica Nwabufo
