I value Anglican award more than CFR, says Ekweremadu

At the 11th Synod of the Church of Nigeria, Anglican Communion, held at the Cathedral Church of Good Shepherd, Enugu, the church honoured some prominent Nigerian personalities, including foreigners, in recognition of their tremendous contributions to the growth and development of the gospel and the church in the nation.  The awards were in three categories […]

At the 11th Synod of the Church of Nigeria, Anglican Communion, held at the Cathedral Church of Good Shepherd, Enugu, the church honoured some prominent Nigerian personalities, including foreigners, in recognition of their tremendous contributions to the growth and development of the gospel and the church in the nation.  
The awards were in three categories namely “Award of Excellence in Christian Stewardship,”  “Award of Premartial Proclamation,” and “Premartial Posthumous Award.”  Seventeen persons got the first category of, 19 personalities received the second category while eight were given the posthumous awards.
Some of the recipients of the awards included Senator Ike Ekweremadu; former Vice President Alex Ekwueme; former Chief of Army Staff and Defence Minister, General Theophilus Danjuma; Deputy Speaker, House of Representatives, Chief Emeka Ihedioha, and Minister of Power, Professor Chinedu Osita Nebo. Others were Prof. Jerry Gana;  Chief Tunde Ogbeha; Chief Emma Udensi; Chief Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu; Chief Tunde Afolabi; Vice Chancellor, Abia State University, Uturu,Prof. Chibuzo Ogbuagu,  among others.
But eight persons who were honoured with the Primartial Posthumous Award, included Rt.  Bishop Ajayi Crowther, Most Rev. C.S. Patherson, Most Rev. Gordon Vinning, Most Rev. Omatayo Olufasoye, Chief Alex Ibru, Most Rev. Joseph Adeliloye, among others.
The Primate of the Church of Nigeria, Anglican Communion, Most Rev. Nicholas Okoh, who pronounced the validity of the  awards, emphasised that the recipients “ have exhibited commendable Christian Stewardship, hence their being recognised and honoured with the awards.”
However, Senator Ekweremadu, while addressing reporters shortly after the grand ceremony, said although he had received awards in the past, including national honours, he valued the one given to him by the Christian community, represented by the Anglican Communion in the country.
He said: “I thank God for a day like this. I received some awards in the past including the Commander of the Federal Republic (CFR), but I believe that I value this one more than anyone else. Because as the deputy President of the Senate, I am entitled to national honours but this one is not on the account of my office but in recognition of the Christian faith of the work I ‘ve been able to do in public service.”
The DSP said he was humbled by the honour and advised the church to continue to encourage the faithful to contribute to the growth of the church by appreciating their valuable contributions to its development.
“I feel humbled and honoured that the Christian community, represented by the Anglican Church, has recognised the humble work I’ve been able to do today and has appreciated this. It’s a lot of encouragement for us. It’s  not just the recognition, but we’re encouraged to go ahead to do more, and is going to be some kind of motivation or impetus for others to do more. I think that this is very significant and I would like to encourage the Anglican Communion to continue in this stride,” he said.
According to him, the lesson one could learn from the award is that one should be committed to whatever good work one is doing, because people are always watching. “The greatest lesson here is that whatever you do, people are watching you. So you need to be conscious of this in your public service carrier and even in your private life,” he said.