The Indigenous Correspondents Chapel of the Nigeria Union of Journalists, Delta State council on Wednesday presented award to deserving Deltans, one of whom was Prince Ned Nwoko, former member of the House of Representatives and a philanthropist par excellence.
The event was the one year anniversary of the inauguration of the executive of the chapel under the chairmanship of Andy Emephia. It was well attended by journalists including state chairman of the NUJ, Mike Ikeogwu, his vice, Salvation Ogono, his Secretary, Patrick Ochei.
The chapel made the presentation to Ned Nwoko on the strength of his philanthropy, his search for malaria vaccine and the building of a first class sports university in his Idumuje Ugboko country home in Aniocha North local government area of Delta state.
Going through his résumé, Nwoko has impacted society much and especially with his role in the Paris club refund to Nigeria which is in billions of dollars. That money has helped the federal government, state government and the 774 local government areas of the country.
Represented by Patrick Ochei at the ceremony, Nwoko was excited at the award presented to him by the chapel, a subsect of NUJ in Delta state.
Speaking through Ochei, Nwoko said he has contributed to the growth of humanity and the Nigerian state. For the single term he served in the House of Representatives, he made a mark in the law making process.
Considering his good gestures, virtually every organisation recognises his benevolence, hence they fashion out ways of partnering with him to make society a better place.
According to him: “It is said that when you recognise hardwork, you tend to motivate the person to do more. Ned deserves every award that is giving to him. He has done so well.
“If you look at the history of Nigeria, it cannot be complete without a mention of Ned Nwoko. Of particular interest is his role in the Paris Club refund to Nigeria. That money is in billions of dollars.
“That not enough, he is the first man to build a sports university in Sub Sahara Africa. He is also the only Nigerian who has traveled to Antarctica, the coldest region in the world, to make research on how to eradicate malaria from Nigeria and Africa.
“As at present, he is sponsoring over five professors from different universities who are into research on malaria vaccine. He is poised to eradicate malaria not just from Nigeria but from the African continent.”
He said the malaria eradication project is in stages. The professors are on their research, the next stage will be clean up of Nigeria which will be carried out through the aerial space. There will also be fumigation of the entire country and a physical cleanup in conjunction with the government of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
He added that it’s a whole long programme which will cover a period of time. He added that organisations are endorsing the malaria eradication project, saying “one day Nigeria will be free from malaria.”
