(Bwari, Nigeria, April 5, 2018:)The Students' Representatives Council (SRC) of the Nigeria Law School in Bwari, few kilometres outside Abuja, has presented to the Liberian Vice President, Her Excellency, Mrs. Howard Taylor-Jewel its ‘Life Time Achievement Award’.

A release from the Liberian Embassy in Abuja quotes the Nigerian Law School’s SRC as stating that the award was presented to the Liberian Vice President “In recognition of her development-driven leadership and commitment to Africa's Progress.”

Liberia’s Ambassador to Nigeria, Professor Al-Hassan Conteh received the award on behalf of Vice President Taylor, the release continues. Honorable Mrs. Onyejeocha Nkeirucha, a member of the House of Representatives of Nigeria from Abia State presented the award, after reading the inscription on the award: "Students' Representatives Council, Nigeria Law School, Abuja: Life Time Achievement Award. Presented to: Her Excellency, Mrs. Howard Taylor Jewel, In recognition of her development driven leadership and commitment to Africa's Progress. Presented to her at the 2017/2018 SRC Week on April 4th, 2018.”

Graduating students, some faculty and invited guests, including the erudite Nigerian Human Rights Lawyer, Dr. Chidi Anselm Odinkalu, and Mr. Linus Okorie, a popular Nigerian Inspirational Speaker attended the ceremony.

Vice President Taylor also served as the guest speaker for the event, lecturing on the theme “The Legal Profession: A Key to National Unity and Development.”

On the award bestowed on her, she said, “I am humbled to be an awardee of the Lifetime Achievement Award from this prestigious Institution of Higher Learning. As I receive it today, though in absentia, I will cherish it for as long as I live, and will regard it each day as a reminder of a lifetime mandate to continue to struggle and advocate for the rights of women and girls, not only in Liberia, but Africa and beyond. I am grateful for this honor bestowed on me, and I thank you from the bottom of my heart.”

Amidst applause from the students, she then, on behalf of President George Manneh Weah, and the great people of the Republic of Liberia, lauded “the inter-woven family relationship and solidarity” between Liberia and Nigeria and their peoples: “It is our prayer that this cordial relationship will last beyond time. For on this bilateral and regional relationship of cooperation and collaboration lie the peace, security and development of our region, Continent and One World.”

Vice President Taylor used the occasion to pay tribute to the late Winnie Madikizela-Mandela of South Africa, who she described as a female icon, an activist, a politician, and a positive role model for all women of Africa.   

Other speakers included the Nigerian Human Rights Lawyer, Dr. Chidi Anselm Odinkalu, and Mr. Linus Okorie, a popular Nigerian Inspirational Speaker who respectively discussed the underlying causes of development failures in Nigeria, and systems of global, productive leadership.

At the end of the lectures, awards were presented to the guest lecturers.