The Anambra State Government on Monday dissociated itself from an upcoming awards ceremony in the State, tagged the Anambra Awards.
Scheduled to take place on July 1st, 2023, at the Stanel Dome in Awka, the awards, according to the organizers, will bring together, distinguished individuals who have demonstrated outstanding leadership, innovation, and positive impact in various fields.
They also said the event aims to celebrate their remarkable achievements and share their inspirational stories, motivating others to strive for excellence and contribute to their communities.
However in a statement on Monday, the Chief Press Secretary to Governor Chukwuma Soludo, Christian Aburime, said the phantom awards being promoted by some groups or NGOs with a bogus caption as ‘ANAMBRA Awards’, confuses or deceives the public.
According to him, many respected Anambra people have inundated the government with calls to inquire about the awards, with the understanding that the state government has a hand in it.
He made it clear that the state government is not involved in the event and queried the caption of the event, which makes many to believe it is a state event.
“The Government has received several calls from unsuspecting persons who assume that the Government is involved in the awards.
“We respect free speech and the right of any individual or group to express their opinions about anyone through recognitions or awards, and for whatever purpose.
“But the title of such awards or recognitions, must not leave anyone in doubt that such represent the personal/subjective opinions of the awarding group or NGO.
“Reputable newspapers and organizations give their annual man of the year awards but they are sincere to appropriately caption them as ‘The Sun Man of the Year’, ‘Vanguard Man of the Year’, etc.
“They do not caption their awards in a manner to confuse them with Nigeria’s National Honours— exclusively awarded by the Federal Government, as approved by the National Council of State,” he explained.
Aburime emphasized that the state has the State Awards, and they have the imprimatur of the State Government.
“The Government therefore clarifies that it is not aware or associated with the so-called Anambra Awards.
“The State Government has a responsibility to guard against any misuse of the name of the state, especially to the unsuspecting public,” he said.
