The Zamfara State governor, Bello Matawalle, has bagged the ‘2020 Man of the Year’ award from the Sun Newspapers Limited.
A statement by the governor’s Special Adviser on Media and Communications, Zailani Bappa, said the award was presented to the governor by a team of the newspaper’s management in Gusau, the state capital.
Led by its Managing-Director, Onuoha Okeh, the newspaper management said Mr Matawalle’s nomination was arrived at after considering a myriad of nominees.
According to Mr Okeh, the governor’s excellent achievements in 2019 in the area of security, human empowerment and agriculture were superlative, hence the recognition.
Mr Okeh mentioned Rotimi Amechi, Aliko Dangote, Mike Adenuga and Nuhu Ribadu as some of the past winners of the award.
Mr Okeh added that the governor “significantly reversed the name of Zamfara State” from a banditry-ravaged to a peaceful state where most people now go about their normal lives.
Receiving the award, Mr Matawalle expressed his delight, dedicating the award to the victims of banditry in the state.
He said the award was a generous energiser to his administration to do more for the benefit of mankind in the state.
Mr Matawalle, therefore, advised the media in the country to be more committed to peace, nation-building and development.
According to him, lavish reports of exploits energise criminals to do more, stressing that black-out on them would go a long way in dampening their morale.
The brief award ceremony was attended by former Minister of Finance, Amb. Bashir Yuguda, the Secretary to the State Government, Bala Bello-Maru, the Head of Service, KabIru Balarabe, as well as a number of commissioners and special advisers.
