PROTOCOL:

I stand in total gratitude to the Almighty Allah and with a deep sense of humility on behalf of my colleagues, the awardees, particularly my brothers, the Executive Governors here present to accept, on our collective behalf, the honour of service and recognition bestowed on us through the good offices of the African Independent Television and Project for Excellence.  It is a privilege to do so before you, our very distinguished eminent personalities, royal fathers, elder statesmen, trusted patriots of the North and guardians of our cherished values and heritage.

2.         We are gathered here tonight under the roof of the prestigious and historic Arewa House. This house, you would agree, symbolizes the unity and resilience of the North, as one indivisible family.  It is the indestructible monument of all that our great founding fathers lived, stood and died for, in the development of the North.

3.         Ladies and Gentlemen, we are here this evening for a common cause, not so much to relish the honour being conferred on us, but to bring out the essence of development and the imperatives of service to our people as exemplified by the legendry icon of our region, a man of happy memory, Sir Ahmadu Bello, the Sardauna of Sokoto. No doubt, the Sardauna would have been further fulfilled that the cause of development for which he had laid a solid foundation for posterity is being pursued with renewed faith and commitment by our generation.

4.         While it is gratifying that we have been found worthy of recognition and honour by the African Independent Television and Project for Excellence, the point to note, however, is that the awardees were not assessed subjectively.  As external examiners, the assessors toured our respective states and depended on the views and judgments of the masses of our people at whose service we are. This approach makes the joy of the awardees sweeter and more rewarding.

5.         The Africa Independent Television (AIT) and Project for Excellence deserve our profound appreciation for their creative imagination, innovation and commitment to the values of good governance.

6.         I need to point out, on behalf of my fellow awardees, that this special recognition has inspired us to double our efforts in the provision of purposeful leadership to our people.  We make this solemn commitment because of our conviction that our people deserve a better lease of life through good governance.

7.         We also wish to express our profound appreciation and gratitude to the Northern elders who, in their wisdom, morally endorsed the institution of these pro-people, non-partisan and achievement-based awards.

8.         We believe that these awards are a product of God-inspired wisdom, the benefits of which are multi-dimensional;

a)      To us, the recipients, we feel not only honoured but also greatly encouraged to aim even higher in giving our best in the service of our respective communities,

b)      To our electorate, the exercise provides an evaluation benchmark for them to assess our worth as servant-leaders and, therefore, our faithfulness to the electoral mandate they gave us,

c)       To our critics and fellow contenders, I am sure the unsolicited result of this exercise will be seen as a testimony of impartial umpires and as a basis for re-evaluation, self-reassessment and  reconciliation of our differences in the higher interest of our people,

d)        To the Northern Community, it is our hope that this award exercise will enhance confidence in the new crop of Northern leadership.

9.         In accepting these awards tonight, we have collectively dedicated the awards to the inspiring leadership of His Excellency, the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Alhaji Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, GCFR, whose passion in public office is driven by his philosophy of the servant-leader. We equally dedicate the awards to the Northern Governors Forum, our elder statesmen, our royal fathers, our legislators, our women, youths, and all the people whom we serve.  We thank you all for your support, cooperation, understanding and partnership, which have made our modest achievements possible in the past one year.

10.       In conclusion, we want to specially express our gratitude to the African Independent Television (AIT) and Project for Excellence (PFE) for considering us worthy of the awards. To our esteemed guests, family members, friends and well-wishers – we thank you for finding time to share the glory of this day with us.

10.       Thank you and God bless.