Emperor Naruhito of Japan has conferred one of the country’s highest national awards on the immediate past Nigerian Minister of Health, Professor Isaac Adewole.
This was contained in a statement by the Ambassador of Japan to Nigeria, Mr Kikuta Yutaka, to the effect that this year’s foreign recipient of the 2020 Spring Imperial Decorations is Professor Adewole.
The Ambassador said Professor Adewole will receive The Order of the Rising Sun, Gold and Silver Star, one of the highest order awarded in the name of His Majesty the Emperor of Japan, in recognition of his contributions towards strengthening bilateral relations between Japan and Nigeria, inter Alia, in health sector.
Professor Adewole becomes the second Nigerian to receive such Order from Japan, following Senator Udoma Udo Udoma who received it at the 2019 Autumn Imperial Decorations.
Adewole served as the Vice-Chancellor of University of Ibadan from 2010 to 2014. He also served as Nigeria’s Minister of Health from 2015 to 2019. During his tenure as the Minister of Health, he made outstanding contributions towards fostering bilateral relationship between Japan and Nigeria, inter alia, in health sector.
According to Ambassador Yutaka, Adewole’s contributions have yielded much positive impact on Nigeria’s healthcare system, which is of critical importance to the lives of Nigerian people.
Ambassador Yutaka said some of the notable achievements of Prof Adewole include reinforcing the Japan-Nigeria partnership in the area of health and the procurement of polio vaccines for the National Polio Immunisation Campaign for children under 5 years in Nigeria with support from the Japanese government.