For their contributions to the development of the maritime industry, President Goodluck Jonathan and 10 other personalities and organisations were recently honoured with the Evergreen Merit awards at a well attended ceremony held in Apapa, Lagos.
Apart from Jonathan, those honoured include Executive Vice Chairman/CEO of Sifax Group, Dr. Taiwo Afolabi, who clinched the Maritime Man of the Year award and Director-General of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, Mr Patrick Ziakede Akpobolokemi, who won the Maritime Industry CEO of the Year award.
The award for the Legislature of the Year went to Honorable Ifeanyin Ugwuanyin; Chief Ologbese as Freight Forwarder of the Year; Barrister Osuala Emma Nwagbara, Maritime Lawyer of the Year; Otunba Kunle Folarin, Maritime Expert of the Year and Comptroller Charles Edike as Customs Area Controller of the Year.
Sir Mike Jukwe won Freight Forwarding Practitioner of the Year award; Steve Okonmah was Customs PRO of the Year; APM Terminals Apapa won Terminal Operator of the Year award while Ships & Ports Communications Company was Best Maritime Media Company of the Year.
In his welcome address, the publisher of the Peoples’ Forum Newspaper, Tunde Ojudun, said that the National Evergreen Maritime Merit Awards (NMMA) was instituted in 2008 by the organization to reward and promote excellence and selfless service to Nigeria with a view to encouraging rapid development of the maritime industry in particular and the national economy as a whole.
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