The President and Commander-in Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, President Mohammadu Buhari, GCFR, has approved the conferment of the prestigious Nigerian National Order of Merit (NNOM) Award on two distinguished Nigerians.
The winners are:-
i. Professor Adesina Adeniran- Engineering/Technology
A researcher of repute whose contributions to the global engineering community over the past three decades are particularly relevant to human development efforts. He has focused on the exploitation of biotransformation chemistry to optimise efficient reactor design for biofuels production from agrowastes. This is demonstrated in the patented extractive reactor technology for the continuous flow production of biodiesel from spent cooking oil. Among other advantages, this new process uses dilute ethanol solution (15%) rather than expensive 95% rectificate employed in current practice while concurrently removing glycerol by-product from the reacting phase to produce high purity (>99%) biodiesel. As a result of the novel integration of the reaction and separation steps into a single unit, the overall plant economics for the new technology is about 50% cheaper (footprint and capital costs) than existing industrial biodiesel manufacturing process. He is credited with nearly 450 refereed publications, patents and books.
ii. Mr. Paul Obomeyoma Onobrakpeya Bruce – Humanities
An outstanding scholar who through a Hydrochloric Acid accident during an etching process discovered plastography a technique which is a process where designs are engraved on resin or plastic, inked and printed on another receptive surface. Other breakthroughs include innovations like Additive plastography, Metal foil, Ivorex etc. These techniques are widely used by artists in Nigeria and abroad. His Innovations and breakthroughs in Printmaking has won him over 30 national and international awards and appointments which including the MFR (Member of the Order of the Republic of Nigeria) 2002. His contribution of the Harmattan Workshops series initiated in 1998 has also given artist both formal and informal veritable skills and opportunities to collaborate with each other, and also revive dying at forms like tradition black smith and stone carving
.
The Chairman Governing Board of the NNMA, Professor Shekarau Yakubu Aku, FAEng disclosed this during a press briefing in Abuja recently. He said the Nigerian National Order of Merit (NNOM) Award is a separate order of dignity in the highest Honour category in the field of Science, Medicine, Engineering/Technology and Humanities, including the Arts and Culture.
The Chairman explained that the nominations usually go through a rigorous process before a winner eventually emerges. Adding that it goes to the four Specialized Committees of Assessors and sometimes when the need arise it goes to external assessors before their recommendations are considered by Committee of Chairmen and then the Governing Board of the NNMA before it is transmitted to the President for his approval.
Professor Aku said that this year’s NNOM Award Investiture will be statutorily performed as stated in the Act setting up the NNMA on the first Thursday of December 7th December, 2017 by President Mohammadu Buhari, GCFR at the Presidential; Villa in Abuja.
He said the NNOM Award comes with a medal, a cash price of N10million naira to enhance research capacity of the candidate and a joint certificate signed by the Chairman Governing Board and the President.
The Chairman on behalf of the Governing Board of the NNMA congratulated the two awardees for this great achievement.
Alheri Davo(Mrs.)
HOU/PPPR
