Professor Jega, on Wednesday, 30th September 2015, was also given an Integrity Award by U. S.-based Nigerian Higher Education Foundation (NHEF) at the Waldorf Astoria, New York.
In his remarks before presentation of the award to Professor Jega, IFES President and CEO, William R. Sweeny, described the Nigerian 2015 elections as “an important statement about the viability of democracy in countries experiencing transition.”
He said: “From the time Professor Jega took his oath of office as chairman of the Commission in late 2010, he introduced a new level of integrity to the public institution, and introduced new policies and measures to improve its efficiency. Despite a highly politicised and polarised environment in Nigeria, he managed to maintain a reputation and gained the trust and respect of the civil society, the media, the political parties and the people of Nigeria. This year’s elections in Nigeria were a significant step in the right direction for democracy in Africa. They represent a sign of hope for all of us. These elections were an important statement about the viability of democracy in countries experiencing transition. There are more elections scheduled in Africa in the next two years than on any other continent, and African voters have a clear choice between the ballot and the bullet. Thanks to Professor Jega’s leadership and the leadership of the Nigerian people, Nigeria offers others an example to follow.”
Present at the Washington awards were frontline U.S. Congress members and Obama Administration officials; democracy icons and ex-officials, including former Assistant Secretary of State Ambassador Johnny Carson; and Nigerian officials, including the Acting Chairperson of INEC, Mrs. Bala Amina Zakari.
Professor Jega, on Wednesday, 30th September 2015, was also given an Integrity Award by U. S.-based Nigerian Higher Education Foundation (NHEF) at the Waldorf Astoria, New York. Other awardees were Hakeem Belo-Osagie, who got the NHEF Leadership in Business Award; renowned U. S.-based Nigerian medical scientist-couple, Professors Sola Olopade and Olufunmilayo Olopade, who got the Jonathan F. Fanton Leadership in Education Award; and the State Comptroller, State of New York, Thomas P. DiNapoli, who got the U.S. Leadership in Africa Award.
Speaking at the New York award, the former INEC Chairman expressed joy that Nigeria had become a role model for other African countries in the conduct of elections. He said: “I was privileged to be invited to chair INEC, and we put in our best to salvage the Commission – being an institution that had a very bad name in terms of conducting elections on our continent. We saw it as a challenge, we seized the opportunity given to us by our country, and we did our best.
“Among other things, we promoted stakeholder involvement, participation and collaboration; we undertook training and retraining of INEC staff with the support of development partners; and we also introduced the use of technology to help us deal with persistent fraudulent activities that were associated with Nigerian elections. We improved the Register of Voters, because we knew that the integrity of any election is co-related with the integrity of the voter register. We did biometric registration of voters, and for the 2015 general election, we introduced the use of the Smart Card Reader to ensure that only those who actually registered were able to vote. Thank God that all these efforts resulted in elections that have been recognised as the best in Nigerian history, and certainly ones that many other African countries may draw lessons from.”
NHEF President and Founder/CEO of Kuramo Capital Management, Wale Adeosun, said Professor Jega was chosen for the Integrity Award because a key consideration among American businessmen seeking to invest in Nigeria is political stability, and the ex-INEC Chair contributed largely in promoting that through the 2015 general election.
The New York event was attended by prominent Nigerian and American business as well as political figures, including former U. S. Ambassador to Nigeria, Ms. Robyn Sanders.
Kayode Robert Idowu
Chief Press Secretary to the former INEC Chairman
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