Spirit of Lagos to honour outstanding citizens

TO ensure that the selfless, civic responsibility and neighbourly acts of some Lagos residents and corporate organizations do not go unnoticed, the Spirit of Lagos, a behavioural transformation initiative, has concluded plans to honour different categories of persons and organizations at an award ceremony slated for May 27, 2015.

The Project Director of Spirit of Lagos, Olaniyi Omotoso, who disclosed this at a press briefing, said the event, tagged Citizens’ Day, is part of ongoing activities to encourage Lagos residents to restore, share and protect the values that made Lagos great.

According to him, the awards, which will be in three categories – individual, public service and corporate organizations – will be chaired by Governor Babatunde Fashola, at a grand event to commemorate the 48th year of the state.

Providing insight on each of the category, he said the individual category includes Lifetime Achievement Award – for an elderly citizen, living or dead, who has impacted positively on the state; Award for Community Development – for a citizen who has impacted positively on his/her community; Award for Exceptional Community – for a community that has been able to do exceptional things through collaborative efforts; and Award for Exceptional Youth– for a young resident between the ages of 18 and 25 with a strong commitment to societal good.

The Public Service categories include Lifetime Achievement Award, Role Model Award and Rising Star Award to be awarded to civil servants who have demonstrated dedication and excellent performances in the discharge of their duties.

The corporate organizations category will recognize and honour socially responsible corporate bodies – multinationals, emerging corporate bodies and small and medium scale enterprises – that have, in very tangible ways, given back to the society in which they operate.

Omotoso maintained that the award is to inspire and acknowledge good behavior as well as engender and sustain attitudinal change among Lagos residents.

He said the search for the exceptional citizens and organizations will be in all the 57 LGAs/LCDAs of the state, adding that residents of any of the communities could identify and nominate those who they feel are worthy of the awards in their localities.

He said that a panel of judges made up of men and women of impeccable character and standing in the society will be appointed to screen and shortlist the prospective nominees who will subsequently go through a voting process by the public to determine the awardees.