TheCable

The Nigerian army has awarded Abdul Samad Rabiu, founder of BUA Group, for his support to the institution through his company’s foundation and his private philanthropy, the Abdul Samad Rabiu Africa Initiative (ASR Africa).

The award was presented by President Muhammad Buhari at the 2022 Nigerian army ‘chief of army staff’ conference in Sokoto.

Faruk Yahaya, chief of army staff, joined Buhari during the presentation.

In a statement on Monday, Rabiu thanked the Nigerian army for the recognition, saying it was a call to do more.

“Personally, I am very honoured to have received this recognition award today,” he said.

“Our security agencies are doing so much and have sacrificed a lot to keep us safe. We must acknowledge visible progress and support where we can as individuals and the private sector.”

Rabiu further urged others in the private sector to join hands in supporting visible government efforts in the security and social development space.

According to the statement, the billionaire’s contributions include a N2 billion donation to the army, plans to refurbish and equip science laboratories as well as libraries in six command secondary schools across the various regions in Nigeria, infrastructure development and refurbishment of barracks, provision of kits, equipment, amongst others.

Speaking on the award ceremony, Yahaya highlighted the numerous achievements of the Nigerian army and thanked eminent Nigerians, security agencies, and the government for supporting the institution in its quest to defend the country’s territorial integrity and sovereignty against external aggression while also giving aid to civil authorities in mitigating internal security challenges in the country.

Meanwhile, at the 16th annual Africa CSR awards (SERAS), the BUA founder was named the chief executive officer (CEO) of the year 2022, while BUA Group and ASR Africa bagged three awards namely: ‘best company in social impact and human capital advancement in Africa’, ‘impact investor of the year’, and ‘best company in infrastructure development’.

The awards were given for the firms efforts in driving impactful change and sustainable development through various ASR Africa and BUA foundation projects in the year 2022.