An entrepreneur, Dr. Okechukwu Okafor, has applauded the Federal Government for conferring Dr. Chinedu Eze with the honour of Officer of the Order of the Niger (OON).

Okafor, who described Eze as a gem to Igboland, said the recognition was an honour well deserved, lauding President Muhammadu Buhari for his good gesture towards Ndigbo.

In a statement made available to The Guardian, Okafor said: “With the development, I think President Buhari has shown that as Ndigbo are making progress, they are being watched and being recognised. This is a very remarkable achievement by this administration, as it will calm the frayed nerves of angry Igbo who have been crying marginalisation. 

“People seem to associate Igbo land now with unknown gunmen, but the narrative is being changed as the Federal Government understands that we have illustrious sons and daughters who are doing exploits worldwide. 

“Eze is a personal friend, who was my classmate. He is a man who has proven himself in Enugu State, and has what it takes to resolve most crises in the country.”

He was with Enugu State government, under UNDP, and was the special adviser to the government. He made a lot of difference, and he has been doing so many development programmes and projects for so many states. He is well recognised because of his capacity to deliver lectures on topical issues both at home and internationally. I am happy that government has seen his potential and the impact that he is making globally. He is a young man with multiple competences; such people are needed in government so that things would improve positively.”

Okafor further said: “The Federal Government didn’t make a mistake by his nomination for the honour. He really got his nomination on merit. He was nominated for the honour based on what he has been doing in communities, societies, churches, the academics, even internationally.

“He is more of a professional than a philanthropist, but, to some extent, he does philanthropic duties. We can as well qualify him as a philanthropist. I would encourage other sons and daughters of Ndigbo to emulate his good character and gestures, as he has brought pride to the South East and Nigeria in general. He is a pride to our nation.”

Eze, a Barrister at Law, is an associate chartered insurance personality from institutes in the United Kingdom and Nigeria.

In the past 20 years, he has been involved in over 200 consultancy assignments for major international development agencies in Nigeria and other African countries. The assignments cover governance assessments and technical support in planning, budgeting and expenditure management, domestic revenue administration and other aspects of public financial management (PFM). 

From 2007 to 2013, he supported the Office of the Special Assistant to the President on Millennium Development Goals in the design and implementation of Nigeria’s MDGs Conditional Grants Scheme.

Eze also led the Federal Government’s Green Bond Programme Advisory Team that prepared project appraisal reports for the green bond issued by the Nigerian capital market to fund climate change projects.

He participated in the development and deployment of a suite of PFM toolkits used by state governments to achieve the Disbursement Linked Results of the World Bank State Fiscal Transparency Accountability and Sustainability Programme, a $1.45 billion budget support to state governments in Nigeria.