By Onwa Ekor
Cross River governor, Prince Bassey Otu, has been honoured with the prestigious Most friendly MSME Governor’s Award, by the Presidency.
The award was presented at the recently concluded 8th National MSME Awards in recognition of Otu’s unwavering commitment to revitalizing the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) sector, as clearly reflected and demonstrated in the speedy growth of small businesses across the state.
In what was viewed as a twin victory, Cross River also clinched the Award of Excellence for MSME Clinics Participants (Female Category), after a keenly contested competition that celebrated outstanding performers across various sectors including tax compliance.
The awards ceremony coincided with the global commemoration of the World MSME Day, which appreciated the resilience, innovation and vital economic impact of micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises worldwide.
Organised by the Office of the Vice-President, the event also featured the public presentation of the compendium titled ‘Building Nigeria, Empowering MSMEs,’ a publication which chronicles the scorecards of the federal government in strengthening MSME development across the nation, under the Renewed Hope Agenda of President Bola Tinubu.
It brought together top-tier government functionaries, private sector leaders as well as key stakeholders within the enterprise ecosystem.
The Cross River delegation to the ceremony was led by the Commissioner for Commerce, Hon. Abigail Duke, Director-General/CEO of Cross River Microfinance and Enterprise Development Agency, Great Ogban; and the Board Chairman, Essessien Edem.
Dignitaries in attendance were; Minister of finance and coordinating minister of the economy, Taiwo Oyedele; his counterpart in the Information and national orientation sector, Muhammad Malagi; as well as the Deputy Chief of Staff to the President in the office of the Vice President, Sen. Ibrahim Hadejia; Special Adviser to the President on job creation and MSME, Temitola Johnson; including Director-General/CEO Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria, Charles Odii.
Others at the event were; Managing Director, National Credit Guarantee Company, Mr Bonaventure Okhaimo; Director-General and CEO, National Information Technology Development Agency, Kashifu Inuwa and Special Assistant to the President on Social Media, Taiwo Dada.
