The executive vice chairman of the National Agency for Science and Engineering Infrastructure (NASENI), Prof. Mohammed Haruna has bagged the Business Day Excellence in Public Service Award 2021 in recognition of his outstanding performance in the development of science and engineering infrastructure in Nigeria.
Haruna distinguished himself and stood out amongst over 100 ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) of government assessed by a special panel set up by the newspaper.
The award is an annual recognition event that celebrates functionaries occupying strategic positions in the federal administration; people who, in the performance of their responsibilities, embody the best values of responsible policy formulation, operational delivery of excellence and broad stakeholders.
The awards are open to federal MDAs. The 2022 edition of the prestigious Excellence Award-giving ceremony, the fourth in the series, had 2021 activities of the MDAs in focus with the judges considering the respective remarkable successes achieved in fulfilment of the institution’s mandates.
Also, the panel considered the individual institution’s means employed to deliver the mandate such as stakeholder coalition-building and sustainability considerations.
According to Business Day panel’s assessment in 2021, NASENI under Haruna’s leadership recorded impeccable achievements in inventions, innovations and product development through multi-sector interventions.
The verdict of the judges was that the executive vice-chairman of NASENI distinguished himself as an administrator per excellence through the various innovations introduced to NASENI.
“Thanks to the leadership of Prof. Haruna, NASENI rose from an obscure agency in the Federal Ministry of Science and Technology to an agency that has contributed immensely to national development,” the panel said.
Also, Business Day affirmed that, due to the activities of its helmsman, NASENI has contributed to the development of local content in the critical areas of education, agriculture, water and health, aviation and transport sectors of the economy.
Notable also among several achievements of the EVC is the research and fabrication in 2019 of the equipment (disinfectant sprayers) used in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, the initiation of the first made-in-Nigeria helicopter, e-voting solution, smart prepaid energy metre (SPEM) and many more.
A statement by NASENI’s deputy director, information, Mr. Olusegun Ayeoyenikan, said Haruna received the award alongside other winners like the Minister of Interior, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola; Managing director, National Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA), Dr. George Moghalu; Managing director, North East Development Commission (NEDC), Mohammed Alkali; Chairman, National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), Rtd. Brig. Gen. Buba Marwa; Federal Commissioner, National Commission for Refugees, Migrants and Internally Displaced Persons (NCFRMI), Imaan Sulaiman-Ibrahim; Executive Director, Rural Electrification Funds (REF), Dr. Sanusi Ohiare; Commissioner for Insurance, National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) Sunday Thomas and the permanent secretary, State House, Presidential Villa, Abuja, Mr. Tijani Umar.
