AWARDEES
PRESIDENTIAL SPECIAL AWARD FOR BRAVERY AND PATRIOTISM
Joseph Blankson (POSTHUMOUS AWARD)
Joseph Blankson also known as Joe Blankson was a Nigerian contractor who died while saving 13 victims of a boat accident. On Saturday 28 July 2018, a boat carrying 25 passengers left Abonnema Wharf for Bakana. Blankson and his sister were traveling to Bakana for a funeral. It was raining heavily during the boat’s passage and the river was full of debris and eventually the boat capsized. Blankson swam in and out of the river 13 times to rescue the passengers. Suffering from exhaustion, he drowned on the 14th rescue attempt. It was reported that Blankson was the only fatality in the boat accident.
On 29 July 2019, The Joe Blankson Foundation and swimming academy was set up by his wife and family in his honour to teach swimming and safety procedures for maritime travel.
Kunle Gab
Pastor Kunle Gab is a missionary in Igbokofi community in Yewa North Local Government Area of Ogun State. He was arrested and jailed by the Benin Republic government and stood trial for organising a protest against encroachment of the Benin government into Nigeria.
The Nigerian Military (Army, Navy & Air Force To be received by the Minister of Defence
A tribute to the Nigerian soldiers who have died and those who are still fighting Boko Haram.
THE WRITER OF NIGERIAN PLEDGE POSTHUMOUS AWARD
Mrs. Felicia Adebola Adedoyin
Felicia Adebola Adeyoyin was a University of Lagos professor and a princess from the Iji ruling house of Saki, Oyo State. In 1976, she wrote the pledge published in the July 15 edition of the Daily Times in an article titled “Loyalty to the Nation, Pledge”. Then-Head of State Olusegun Obasanjo modified the pledge and introduced it as the national pledge, decreeing that school children should recite it during assembly.
THE SUPER EXCELLENT GOALKEEPER (MERIT)
Ikechukwu Ezenwa
Ikechukwu Ezenwa is Super Eagles goalkeeper. He is one of the most promising and skillful football players of Nigeria. His persistence and skills have brought a lot of achievements to Nigerian world of football and raised it to the higher level in the world of football.
THE DESIGNER OF THE NIGERIAN FLAG (MERIT)
Michael Taiwo Akinkunmi OFR
Michael Taiwo Akinkunmi OFR is a retired Nigerian civil servant. He is famous for designing Nigeria’s national flag, and he is commonly called “Mr. Flag Man”. He took an appointment as an agriculturist at the Western Region Secretariat in Ibadan as a civil servant. He would then work some years before gaining admission to the Norwood Technical College in London where he studied electrical engineering. While studying there, he designed the Nigerian Flag.
THE FIRST FEMALE NIGERIAN PROFESSOR OF LAW IN HARVARD (MERIT)
Prof. Dehlia Umunna
According to Harvard Law Today, Dehlia Umunna was made a Nigerian Law professor in 2015 and made history as the first nigerian woman to achieve such a feat in Harvard University. Prior to her appointment, she was a lecturer at Harvard Law School since 2007. She is currently the deputy director and clinical instructor at Harvard Law School’s Criminal Justice Institute (CJI).
POSTHUMOUS LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT FOR PHILANTHROPY
Maryam Babangida To be received by Aisha Babangida
The Better Life Programme for Rural Women or BLP was a project in Nigeria started in September 1987 by Maryam Babangida, the wife of Former Head of States, President Ibrahim Babangida. The programme was discontinued after a change in government.
The idea of BLP originated at a workshop organized by Maryam Babangida with the scope of discussing the relegation of rural women in discourse affecting national development and the invisibility of positive actions towards causes favoring rural women. When the project started, the objectives were to reduce maternal and child mortality rate by increasing basic healthcare facilities for women, provide income-generating opportunities in agriculture and cottage industries, integrate rural women into national development plans and develop educational training for women.
