Ex-Special Adviser to former President Olusegun Obasanjo on National Assembly Matters, Senator Florence Ita-Giwa, has expressed happiness over her emergence as winner of The Sun Lifetime Achievement Award for 2018, saying the award energises her.
The Sun Awards ceremony holds on Friday, January 25, 2019, at the Expo Convention Centre, Eko Hotels and Suites, Victoria Island, Lagos with a total of 22 people billed for recognition.
Ita-Giwa, who spoke in Lagos when the Managing Director/Editor-in-Chief of The Sun Publishing Limited, Mr. Eric Osagie, led a delegation to present the letter of notification on the award to her, said she would remain grateful to The Sun for the award because it came at a time she was no longer holding any political or public office.
According to her, “the world over, people only remember you when you are still on the stage. But The Sun has chosen to be different. I will remain grateful to The Sun for this recognition because I got it at a time I am not in government. I thank you for the recognition.
“I have watched with keen interest over the years the calibre of the people you give your awards. I am pleased to be among them this year.
“I may not have done so much, but the fact that I am getting this award shows that the little I have done is being appreciated. I will continue to fight for the rights of my long suffering people of Bakassi. The struggle still continues. This award gives me hope in Nigeria.”
Earlier, The Sun Managing Director of The Sun said The Lifetime Achievement Award was only bestowed annually on “persons not less than 70 years old, whose achievement and track record over the years have become a reference point.”
He said the Board of Editors of The Sun chose Ita-Giwa in recognition of her uncommon achievements in politics, activism and social welfare.
Osagie said: “You were elected senator on the platform of All People’s Party (APP), to represent Cross River South Senatorial District, in 1999. While you serve, between 1999 and 2003, you were a member of various committees: Rules and Procedures, Environment, Foreign Affairs, Women, Niger Delta and Drug & Narcotics.
“On leaving the Senate in 2003, you joined the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and became President Olusegun Obasanjo’s Special Adviser on National Assembly Matters. You championed the cause of your people living in Bakassi, wherein you put your life on the line so much that elderly people, who, ordinarily, you are supposed to call ‘Mama,’ are now the ones calling you ‘Mama Bakassi.’”
He said by dint of hard work and dedication to selfless service, Ita-Giwa had recorded extraordinary accomplishments, which has earned her the Lifetime Achievement Award.