In what appears to be a region-wide endorsement of his social impact initiatives in the Niger delta region, a group, the Niger Delta Media Practitioners of Nigeria (NDMPN) has conferred the award of ‘Distinguished Company Director of the Year 2023/24’ on Real Estate Success Strategist, My-ACE China.

Presenting the award to him on at the weekend in Port Harcourt, Rivers State on behalf of the group’s Board of Trustees, the Rivers State Coordinator of the NDMPN, Joseph Asomeji, said Mr. China was picked for its highest award in business and investment in the oil region.

He explained that the choice of the real estate success strategist was not difficult because of his track record in wooing investors to come to the oil region.

NDMPN said the group’s decision was on account of the Mayor of Housing’s aggressive corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities, his pro-youth programmes, and his massive campaign for return of investments and businesses to Rivers State and the Niger Delta.

Asomeji said the idea behind the recognition was to correct the impression that journalists were adversaries who usually called for negative reasons, asserting “Not so! Journalists are the friendliest persons you can ever relate with”.

“We are pleased to inform you that your being chosen for this award was easy after screening and investigating you through a committee.”

“Your nomination was made possible due to your immense contributions to the development of Rivers State especially in the real estate development sector as well as for your footprints in Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). This earned you the recognition as ‘Distinguished Company Director of the Year 2023/24’.”

“We also thank you for choosing Rivers State as your base, a decision that has given countless job opportunities to our people. We make bold to say that posterity will be kind to you and your unborn generation.”

The Mayor of Housing and, was full of bright stars last weekend when he bagged an award from a sensitive group in the Niger Delta.

In his response, Mr. China, who is also Chief Executive Officer of Housing and Construction Mayor Limited, said, as an advocate of regional development, he was excited by the honour from the Niger Delta region, especially, from the Niger Delta Media Practitioners.

“I believe that this is the manifestation of the thought I hold dear. If there is something you must take home today, it’s my quote that: ‘The most powerful force on earth is a sustained thought’.”

“Any good thought you ever have, please do not discard it. The power of any thought is in the sustainability. Fact is that thought is as powerful as the Earth because the Earth was created from thought; but thought can be as useless as wind, when they are not sustained or acted upon.”

“I have had the thought of not only the Niger Delta region but every other region of Nigeria to have some sort of regional economic plan and drive to develop their region by themselves. This is the only way the regions can help themselves.”

“And, from what I learnt long time ago, help can never come for you. The only person that can help you in this life is you. Even God Himself cannot do anything for you without you or without your consent.

“That led me to a quote that says: ‘Help can make or mar you.’ Seeking to be helped will mar you; seeking to grow to help will make you.”

He said he and his group, ‘The Mayor of Housing’, seek to grow the capacity to be able to help. “In fact, we are one of the few companies in Nigeria that believe that the future of Nigeria does not depend on the government but on courageous private sector-driven individuals that scale their services beyond business into regional development service delivery objectives.”

He said this is one of the awards that give encouragement. “There are two kinds of award; awards of appreciation for what someone has done; and award of encouragement for what someone should do.”

“I have not done anything yet, but I promise you, if there are 100 persons that will transform Nigeria, it is the Mayor of Housing and 99 others; if there are 10 persons that will transform Nigeria, it is Mayor of Housing and nine others; if there are two persons that will transform Nigeria, it is Mayor of Housing and one other. Now, if then there is only one person that will transform Nigeria, it is the man you are looking at. If there is no person that will transform Nigeria, that means I have died.”

“We are to ensure that we partner with the Niger Delta Media Practitioners of Nigeria (NDMPN) to reach the region. It is not because we have all it takes but because we are the only company with an organic corporate social responsibility (CSR) agenda and drive. It means that though we are starting and if you have one naira, there is something we can accomplish in the CSR space with that one naira. As we grow, we grow our CSR size and our reach.

“We are not afraid of starting small and we are not afraid of making our small effort go regional. With this little we can do, we ensure we use your group (Niger Delta Media Practitioners) to reach the region in the smallest way we can start it. And because we know we don’t grow arithmetically, we grow exponentially, and geometrically, we are sure that no year will meet us at the same level, and so our impact will not be same level.”

Highpoint of the event was the presentation of the Mayor of Housing, My-ACE China’s profile, which was compiled by one of the board members and an award plaque by one of the leaders of the association, Kennedy Wedeh.