Date posted: July 18, 2014

For Mr. Femi Adesina, Managing Director/Editor-in-Chief of The Sun Publishing Limited, meritorious awards kept coming. Among the series of awards, some are really special, especially when it is about peace-building or in recognition of efforts aimed at cementing the fragmented, polarized Nigeria.

On Thursday, July 10, Adesina added another feather to his cap when Ufuk Dialogue Foundation honoured him for his perspectives on how to foster the unity on the country amid the present state of insecurity in the land. The Foundation is an international peace-building group that originated from Turkey and USA with offices in over 50 other countries, including Nigeria.

The choice of Adesina, according to the President of the Ufuk Dialogue Foundation in Nigeria, Mr. Oguzhan Dirican, is for his exemplary work as a columnist, through which he has focused on different aspects of the problems of Nigeria and proffered solutions to them in very objective and unbiased tradition.

Other personalities honoured during the function held at the Sheraton Hotel, Abuja, include the President of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Nigeria (CBCN), Ignatius Ayua Kaigama; Secretary General, Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs, Prof. Ishaq Oloyede; the Executive Secretary, Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFUND), Prof. Suleiman Elias Bogoro; wife of the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Aisha Bala Mohammed, among others.

Speaking exclusively with Abuja Metro, Dirican said those honoured alongside Adesina, are exceptional people that work for the peace of the nation in many fields.

Peace, Dirican added, and dialogue are not only for religious groups or leaders, hence, the ceremony was organized to encourage people that work for peace and dialogue in Nigeria and all over the world.

The Ufuk Dialogue chief executive hinted: “We want to encourage them. We have over 400 people here. They appreciate them; they appreciate what they are doing.

“So, this is to encourage these people and others that want to do good things. They would sow seeds that send the message that if you work for good things, others would appreciate them. This is the main purpose.”

On Adesina, Dirican said: “As you know, he has been given awards in the past as an outstanding columnist, and he has a wide range of thoughts and impacts from his deep experience in his profession. He had in the past, focused on different aspects of the society that touch on peace. And he is very objective. So, this objectivity engenders peace dialogue between different groups and different ideologies in Nigeria.

“That is why we want to encourage Mr. Adesina to do more. And we want to encourage other media people to be like him.”

Dirican also bared his mind on his mission in the country, saying he is achieving his mandate in Nigeria.

He described Nigeria as a very exciting place where people appreciate good deeds. “But we should encourage the people who do good things for the society,” Dirican appealed.

He encouraged that the future of Nigeria is very bright, even as he stated that the country would surmount its present security and other challenges.

And for Adesina, the Foundation is doing great things worldwide and in Nigeria especially. He called on the Foundation not to relent, but do more in working out peace in the world especially at times like these when the entire world is threatened by crises.

The award, Adesina said, is great, very delightful, and showed him that some people are watching and reading what one does or writes even when the person feels nobody notices. He said the award which came unsolicited for, but through a phone call by the group was a lesson to him that whatever contribution one makes to the society, for good or bad, is recorded and assessed by the people one way or the other.

Adesina informed: “I didn’t know the Foundation. I just got this invitation from out of the blues so to speak and I was quite surprised. And to come here and see that it is a very big event, I am quite delighted.”

To whom much is given, much is expected of him. And Adesina said as the Managing Director of The Sun, the award would challenge him to use his position to continue to work more for the peace of the country.

Source: The Sun New , July 16, 2014

Tags: Africa | Dialogue | Nigeria | Peacebuilding |