Ex-President Mogae arrives for African of the Year Award

Former President of Botswana, Mr Festus Mogae, has arrived Nigeria for the Daily Trust African of the Year Award ceremony, which holds today at the Shehu Musa Yar’ Adua Centre in Abuja.

President Mogae is the chairman of the selection committee.

The event would be attended by members of the diplomatic community, civil society organisations, among other prominent personalities.

Ghana’s 34-year-old Mutaru Mumuni Muqthar was named African of the Year for 2017 by the award jury.

Muqthar was selected for his exemplary works on counter-terrorism which led to de-radicalization of would-be extremists in Africa.

The award jury also named 82-year old Professor Magdi Habib Yacoub for a LifeTime Achievement Award to commemorate the tenth year anniversary of African of the Year project.

The Egyptian was named for his indelible global accomplishments as well as his humanitarian and exemplary offer of heart surgeries to children across Africa.

The African of the Year award, supported by the United Bank for Africa, UBA Plc, was inaugurated in 2008 by Daily Trust, Nigeria’s foremost independent newspaper, in fulfilment of its commitment to African unity and sustainable development across the continent.

The maiden award was presented to a Congolese gynaecologist, Dr Denis Mukwege, in recognition of his exemplary humanitarian offer of free reconstructive surgery to victims of rape in the wartorn Democratic Republic of Congo, DRC.