Chairman/CEO, CDV Properties & Development Limited, Charles Mba, and chairman, Vixa Pharmaceuticals Limited, Ebuka Okafor, have exuded excitement over The Sun awards they would receive on Saturday, May 7, 2022.
Mba and Okafor would be honoured with The Sun Investor of the Year and The Sun Industrialist of the Year awards respectively at the Expo Convention Centre, Eko Hotels & Suites, Victoria Island, Lagos.
Speaking in Lagos when the Managing Director/Editor-in-Chief, The Sun Publishing Limited, Onuoha Ukeh, led Management teams to visit them, Mba described The Sun awards as most prestigious, while Okafor praised The Sun for sticking to professionalism in picking award winners.
Describing his recognition as an honour he would live to remember, Mba commended the Sun for sustaining the high standard of the awards.
He said The Sun awards are the most prestigious in Nigeria and saw himself as most privileged to be considered and nominated for one of the categories.
Mba said: “I’m privileged to be nominated for this award. I appreciate the management and the team of The Sun that have found me worthy for this award.
“So I’m deeply happy and I appreciate you. I want to assure The Sun that we will continue to form a synergy; we will continue to work together.
“I believe this award goes to every staff in our company for their doggedness and commitment to duty. We will continue to work hard to bridge the housing gap in Nigeria.”
Expressing delight at being chosen as Industrialist of the Year, Okafor, on his part, said: “I thank you so much for this award. On behalf of Vixa Group, I say thank you so much.”
The Vixa Pharmaceuticals chairman said he was pleased that the efforts of his company at offering quality products were being recognised.
He said: “In Vixa Group, we are known with quality. We value quality and we deliver quality. We don’t play with the standard of our products.
“Our factory is GMP certified. Apart from pharmaceutical and cream factories, we are also starting up four other factories. We are waiting for final approval.”
He thanked The Sun for its professionalism as well as thoroughness in the selection of The Sun Awards winners.
Earlier, The Sun MD said the selection of Mba and Okafor as Investor of the Year and Industrialist of the Year respectively was based on merit.
On Mba, Ukeh said his company’s outstanding contribution to the housing subsection and provision of jobs were salutary.
While articulating some of the things Mba has done in the business world and the reasons he was nominated for the award, he said the Management of The Sun noted that as a chief executive officer of CDV Properties and Development Limited, Mba has carved a niche for himself in the real estate industry.
He said: “You have, through hard work, resilience and doggedness contributed immensely to the development of real estate sector and the Nigerian economy. As a world-class developer, you have initiated and developed quality and functional estates in prime locations in Lekki and other urban centres across the country at affordable prices.
“These include CDV Mini Estate, Whiteoak Estate, Southlake Homes Phase 1, 2 and 3, Diank Terraces, and Applewood Estates, among others.
“Your intervention in real estate has, in no small measure, helped to bridge the country’s housing gap.
Ukeh said that aside Mba’s achievement in real estate, construction and education sector, he, through his philanthropic gestures, “helped many indigent students to realise their educational dreams in diverse fields such as engineering, pharmacy and nursing through a scholarship scheme.
For Okafor, The Sun MD said: “When you set up Vixa Pharmaceuticals Limited to produce drugs in partnership with similar licensed companies in India and China, nobody thought that it would grow into a multibillion-naira outfit; but some years down the line, it has become one of the Nigeria’s leading pharmaceutical companies.”
According to him, Vixa Pharmaceuticals is “famous for its wide range of products among which are high quality anti-fungal, anti-malaria, anti-hypertensive and anti-psychotic drugs, among others.
“We are also aware that the company places emphasis on efficient delivery system, quality and constant feedback from customers.
Apart from Mba and Okafor, the other award winners, are Chairman, BUA Group, Alhaji Abdulsamad Rabiu (Man of the Year), Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos State, Governor Bala Mohammed of Bauchi State and Governor Hope Uzodimma of Imo State (Governor of the Year), Dr. Ahmad Lawan, Senate President (Political Icon), and Governor Babagana Zulum of Borno State (Courage in Leadership).
Also to be honoured are Dr. Adesola Adeduntan, MD, First Bank Nigeria Limited (Banking Icon of the Decade), Emmanuel Mbaka, MD, Platinum Mortgage Bank (Banker of the Year), Senator Uche Ekwunife and Mrs. Toyin Saraki (Humanitarian Service Icon); Dr. Chris Ngige, Minister of Labour & Employment (Public Service Icon), wife of Abia State Governor, Dr. Nkechi Ikpeazu (Most Supportive First Lady) and star actress, Destiny Etiko (Nollywood Personality).
In the business categories, the following are also winners: Emmanuel Iheagwazi, Chairman, Climax Lubricants Industries (Industrialist of the Year), and Chief Okey Nzenwa, Chairman, Pan-Marine Investment Limited (Investor of the Year) as well as Chief Benson Madubuko, Chairman, De Chico Group (Entrepreneur of the Year)
Other winners are High Chief Raymond Dokpesi, Chief Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu, Chief Bisi Akande and Col. Sani Bello (retd) (Lifetime Achievement), Daniel Igali, Bayelsa State Commissioner for Sports (Sports Personality) and Augustine Okoro, chairman, Corinthian Hotel & Suites (Hospitality Personality).