(i) Governing Board;

(ii) Committee of Chairmen of Specialized Committees;

(iii) Committees of Assessors and;

(iv) NNMA Secretariat.

(i) The NNMA is statutorily run by an 8-man Governing Board, comprising of a Chairman and seven other eminent Nigerians, appointed by the President. Amongst the seven eminent Nigerians, the Secretary to the Government of the Federation or his representative is included, while the NNMA Secretary serves as the Secretary. Members of the Governing Board are usually appointed for an initial period of three years with option of renewal for a second term of another three years.

(i) Committee of Chairmen of Specialized Committees namely:

Science, Medicine, Engineering/Technology and Humanities;

(ii) The Committees of Assessors are made up of twenty-nine (29) credible Nigerians, mostly Professors, Vice Chancellors and other distinguished Nigerians and are usually selected by the Board. During the tenure of the members, their identities are usually not disclosed and this is to avoid undue and unnecessary interference and pressures from the public.

THE NNMA SECRETARIAT
The NNMA Secretariat is under the Secretary, who is also the Chief Executive and Accounting Officer of the Board. The Secretary is responsible to the Board through the Chairman of the NNMA. It has three departments namely:
(i) Administration and Supplies;
(ii) Award, Planning, Research and Statistics; and,
(iii) Finance and Accounts.

FACILITIES OF NNMA

The NNMA now has a permanent Secretariat named Merit House, whose foundation stone-laying ceremony was performed by President Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida, GCFR, on Friday, 17th May, 1991. The building project was completed in October, 1999 and was officially commissioned by President Olusegun Obasanjo, GCFR, on the 24th January, 2000.

The Merit House is made up of the following facilities:-

(a) Auditorium with sitting capacity of between 500 to 700 people;

(b) Banquet Hall with sitting capacity of between 200 to 250 people;

(a) Committee/Symposium Rooms:

* Symposium 1, with sitting capacity of between 100 to 150 people;

* Symposium II, with sitting capacity of between 30 to 50 people; and,

* Symposium III, with sitting capacity of between 70 to 80 people.

* Two Library space have a capacity to accommodate about 500 readers at a time.

* Provision for Virtual Library and can be accessed by millions of Nigerians and other interested persons all over the world.

It is noteworthy to state that before the commissioning of the Merit House, the NNMA operated from a single room office on 3rd Floor, Political Affairs Office, in the Office of the Secretary to the

THE ACTIVITIES OF THE NNMA

Each Laureate of the NNMA is mandatorily required to deliver an Award Winners’ Lecture on a topic of his choice. The lectures are normally held in connection with the quarterly meetings of the Governing Board in various parts of the country.

HOW NNMA IS FUNDED
The sources of NNMA funding activities include:
* Funded primarily by FGN through annual budgetary provisions and endowment;
* Other sources from State Governments, Corporate and public spirited individuals;

* Gifts/Donations, yields from Investments;

* Revenues from facilities.

WHAT ARE THE FUTURE PLANS OF NNMA

The NNMA Board hopes in future to expand its scope of activities to include promotion of Research & Development for national development, acting as Think-tank in support of government’s reforms and creating awareness of the need to enthrone the ethos of integrity as the basis of scholarship and intellectual development.