Minna, Nigeria-Liberia’s President Dr. George Manneh Weah has won an award as the “Most Outstanding President on Pro-Poor and Sustainable Development Crusader in Africa,” the Liberian Embassy here said on Saturday.
The Center for Peace and Environmental Justice (CEPEJ) based in the Federal Republic of Nigeria awarded the Liberian leader for his pro-poor and development crusade at its 9th Annual Conference that held on November 6, 2018 at the Honorable Justice Idris Legbo Kutigi International Conference Center in Minna, the Capital of Niger State, according to a press release from Liberia’s mission in Abuja.
President Weah was inaugurated on January 22, 2018, succeeding former President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf who served two terms spanning 12 years.
President George Weah delivering his Inaugural Address last January
“Center for Peace and Environmental Justice Presents: Peace & Environment Africa Award to President George M. Weah as the Most Outstanding President on Pro-Poor and Sustainable Development Crusader in Africa, This 6th Day of November, 2018,” the inscriptions on the award from the CEPEJ to the Liberian leader says.
Liberia’s Ambassador to Nigeria, Professor Al-Hassan Conteh who served as the conference’s keynote speaker, received the award on behalf of President Weah, the release adds.
Ambassador Conteh received the Liberian President’s award on ‘Most Outstanding President on Pro-Poor and Sustainable Development Crusader in Africa” during an evening gala after the conference.
Prior to the presentation of the award, a citation was read, detailing President Weah’s football and peace accomplishments, as well as his recent historic election as president for the country’s first transition from one elected president to another in over seven decades.
Tagged Minna 2018, the conference’s theme was, “Good Governance and Security: Panacea for Sustainable Development in Africa”.
Immediately following his election in December of 2017 as president, the then newly elected president of Liberia announced that his new administration would run on a pro-poor agenda.
Recently, President Weah launched the Liberian Government’s Pro-Poor agenda dubbed the ‘Pro-Poor Agenda for Prosperity and Development’ (PAPD). The PAPD is expected to drive the country’s developmental agenda for the next five years.
The four-pillared national development agenda has been categorized as: Power To The People; Economy and Jobs; Sustaining The Peace; and Governance and Transparency.
Prior to the launch of the PAPD, the President, under nine months of his new administration, commenced several pro-poor initiatives in and around Monrovia and other parts of the country, the release concludes.