The Maldivian government has conferred highest state honors to four individuals.

President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu conferred them with the Order of the Distinguished Rule of Izzuddin (O.D.R.I) and a Medal of Honor at the celebration ceremony for the 61st Independence Day held at the Social Center this morning.

Individuals who received the state's highest honor:

Dr. Latheef was conferred the O.D.R.I for 40 years of service to the state toward the education sector.

Dr. Latheef served a majority of his time serving the education industry of Maldives, specifically the development of the industry and for his important efforts in bringing about modern changes.

Dr. Latheef took on the position of Education Minister in 1993 during former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom's third term. Of the 22 years he spent in service of the education industry, Dr. Latheef played an important role in curriculum development and in establishing the Educational Development Center that works to train teachers. He focused his efforts in coming up with the Educational Master Plan from 1995 to 2005 in his capacity as the Education Minister, and played an important role in the establishment of the Civil Service Commission.

Dr. Latheef played an important role in expanding the higher education sector, training teachers, curriculum development, teaching at an unofficial capacity, developing the infrastructure of schools, writing textbooks and providing them all over Maldives, training teachers and other education staff and acquiring funding for various education industry projects.

Dr. Latheef also contributed quite a lot to Maldives' higher education, where he played an important role in establishing Maldives first college, the Maldives College of Higher Education in 1998. After that, Dr. Latheef served Maldives' foreign sector as well. He served as the third secretary at the Maldivian embassy in Sri Lanka, and has also served as the Permanent Secretary for Maldives in the United Nations.

He also worked to remove Maldives from the list of least developed countries and to uplift Maldives to the level of a "middle income developing country" and played an important role in establishing the "Association of Management Development South Asia".

Ibrahim Rasheed Moosa has served Maldives in various ways, the most notable being increasing awareness regarding Islam, teaching religious knowledge and writing faith-based literature.

After receiving higher education from Egypt and returning to Maldives, Ibrahim Rasheed Moosa first served as a teacher for Majeedhiyya School as a Maths and Technical Drawing teacher. He is one of the most prominent mathematicians in Maldives.

He served at the highest position available at the Ma’had al-Dirasat al-Islamiyya school, which was established during former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom's administration. After taking on the position, his priority was to build people up in the industries that were lacking in Maldives at the time. He expanded teaching in Arabic from early education up until higher secondary education, and facilitated opportunities for many students who wanted to pursue a foreign education in Arabic and Islamic education.

In 1980, the Ma’had al-Dirasat al-Islamiyya began training imam's and khatheeb's. The subject "Fiqh" was taught in the refresher course for imam's, along with authoring books named "Islaamy Ahulaaq 1, 2, 3", trained imam's all over Maldives, conducted refresher training programs for imam's and improving the quality of imams were done by Ibrahim Rasheed Moosa, with him pioneering these efforts.

Hussain Afeef (Champa Afeef) received state honors in 2013 as well, and is one of the pioneers of Maldivian tourism. In addition to tourism, he has served in his capacity as an entrepreneur toward the hospitality industry, aviation industry, banking industry and the medical industry.

Hussain Afeef has had notable efforts toward the introduction of tourism to Maldives.

Hussain Afeef worked together with Italian George Corbin, the late Mohamed Umar Manik, Ahmed Naseem as the four founders in introducing tourism to Maldives, with their efforts being started to see whether tourism could be an industry Maldives could thrive on. The first group of tourists came to Maldives on 16th February 1972.

The first resort in Maldives, "Kurumba Island Village" was opened on 3rd October 1972. Hussain Afeef was managing the resort at the time, and when the effort to bring tourists to Maldives first started, he worked in the resort's kitchen, in tour groups and in the management industry as well.

The results of following his vision toward developing Maldivian tourism was the introduction of the "International Hospitality Brand" for the first time in Maldives. Hussain Afeef received the honor of inaugurating the first travel agency to have been established in Maldives, "Voyagers Maldives", and has conducted many efforts in promoting Maldives to Europe and various international markets.

A notable change to Maldives tourism industry was the introduction of the first solar resort in Maldives that opened in 2014 at Gasfinolhu island in North Male' Atoll. This was seen as a revolutionary and optimistic change brought about by Afeef toward the tourism industry.

Afeef established the Maldives Association of Tourism Industry (MATI) and served as the Vice Chairman and Chairman.

"Tree Top Investments" was also established with Hussain Afeef's involvement. When the hospital was built and service started, Maldives' health sector saw a revolutionary change. The inauguration of a tertiary-level hospital with 210 beds resulted in higher quality medical services that were not previously available in Maldives. The hospital introduced the first fertility clinic in Maldives as well.

In 2010, he was conferred the title of State Dignitary for his service to the state.

Champa Mohamed Moosa (Uchchu) has served Maldives in various ways within the economic industry and the social sector. 

After completing his education at Majeedhiyya School, he wanted to study abroad but was unable to due to his young age, with him facing difficulties in acquiring such an opportunity from the government. He was finally able to travel to India's Coimbatore to receive an education with the help of his family.

After receiving an education in Coimbatore, he worked in different Indian industries in order to gain experience and returned to Maldives in 1966. He began working as a wireless operator for the government at the age of 21, which was a profession with very few locals in Maldives at the time. He went on to teach the profession to the youth, and began learning how to make soap, and continued that work extensively.

Mohamed Moosa was able to work in various sectors due to his interest in various fields. He has worked in agriculture as well, and expanded his efforts and taught it to many people. He also provided aid to many farmers across Maldives.

He was conferred with the Green Leaf Award by the state in 1996 for his agricultural efforts towards plant life. Under Maldives' Five Million Tree Project, fruit and vegetable trees are being grown in two islands, with Mohamed Moosa having actively participated in planting the trees, and gifted fruit and vegetable trees to the Agriculture Ministry's nursery.

Mohamed Moosa is a notable businessman in Maldives. He has also focused his efforts in the progress of Maldivian tourism, along with patriotic efforts as well.

His efforts toward society include financial and other aids.

Mohamed Moosa continues to cooperate with government efforts and programs, and aids the MNDF and the police in many different areas. In memory of his father, Mohamed Moosa has sent many individuals abroad for higher education every year from the Ali Fulhu Thuthu Foundation.