The awarding of National Honors to 447 Nigerians and friends of Nigeria in various categories for the year 2022 has been approved by Muhammadu Buhari, GCFR, President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Nigeria. It is quite a magnificent number. The National Honors were officially bestowed at a ceremony held at the International Conference Centre in Abuja on Tuesday, October 11. At the conclusion of the ceremonies, which had been expertly run by the National Honours Awards Committee, which was composed of members from the six geopolitical zones and was presided over by His Royal Highness, Hon. Justice Sidi Bage, the Emir of Lafia, ten different categories of National Honours recipients were confirmed.
The procedure was under the direction of Senator George Akume’s Office of the Minister of Special Duties and Inter-Governmental Affairs. It is remarkable, therefore, that President Buhari gave the ceremonies his seal of approval, which made sense given their legal, historical, and political circumstances. In fact, the discussion around the procedure and its results brought attention to how important the privileges that the National Honours have continued to represent are. Therefore, those who receive such national consideration must be thought to fundamentally merit it. This is the reason public validation is usually applied when considering nominees.
The Nigerian public can examine the nominees’ profiles and determine whether or not they are deserving candidates for national honors by carefully examining the people who have seemingly made it through the character “deconstruction” process. Perhaps more importantly, the National Honours Act No. 5 of 1964 provides a solid legal foundation for the institutionalization of the Nigerian National Honours, which consist of a series of orders and decorations awarded annually to Nigerians and allies of Nigeria. The Act established the awards ab-initio under the First Republic to honor Nigerians and friends of the nation who have contributed to the betterment of the country.
Thus, the scale or standard of measurement—that is, providing service for the good of the country during the nomination and awarding processes for National Honors—was writ large. Nigerians may readily connect with and participate in the process based on that, drawing inferences about the nominees.
Against the background of the scenario described above, some of the emotions that had followed the process’s conclusion were appropriate. There have been rumors circulating that the initial nomination list, which included 437 celebrities, was sloppily handled and leaked before it was ready. The final list of 447 nominees was then withdrawn, and on Sunday, October 9, 2022, it was made public via an advertisement in several national publications. This means that while some nominees were dropped from the initial list, others were added.
For example, Governor Kayode Fayemi of Ekiti State was removed because, although he was mistakenly nominated this time, he had already been granted the Commander of the Order of Niger (CON) several years prior. The exclusion of Dr. Bukola Abubakar Saraki, a former Senate President of Nigeria, from the 2022 list of recipients of the National Honours may have contributed to the list’s episodic appearance. Saraki’s emergence as Senate President in the 2015 race upset the All Progressives Congress’s (APC) initial calculations. By forming a calculated alliance with the Senate Caucus of the Peoples Democratic Party, or PDP, Saraki was able to secure the coveted seat by ensuring that the opposition party would hold the office of Deputy Senate President.
Because of this unusual arrangement, Saraki, as Senate President, had to work essentially against the APC-led Federal Government. As a result, the party was frequently held accountable for its failure to accomplish many policy deliverables, which necessitated legislative support for Saraki’s oppositional politics within the APC government. However, this is all academic. In the political context of evaluating and appreciating Saraki’s role in government from 2015 to 2019, would it be fair to say that the Sidi Bage Committee’s screening process for selecting nominees was unfair if this was the reason Saraki failed the integrity test?
It is understood that the Office of the Minister of Special Duties and Inter-Government Affairs exercised through the Sidi Bage Committee the responsibility of identifying Nigerians and friends of Nigeria that were deserving of national honours, of course sifting through names of Nigerians submitted by members of the public for the award of national honours, whereas it is the prerogative of the Office of the President to endorse the list as produced and submitted to it; and/or as amended by it for final action. In other words, the president has the right to celebrate anyone whom he believes fit and dismiss anyone whom he thinks is not deserving of national honours, which are the greatest distinctions that a citizen can get for his or her service to the country.
The range of activities that make up service(s) to the country is unmatched. They must undoubtedly be achievements that the nation is proud of, such as inventions and success on a significant task or assignment. The National Honors Program seeks to recognize the recipients’ patriotism and devotion to their country, honor their selfless contribution, and inspire others who have received recognition to continue their outstanding work and meritorious service to the country. It is a privilege to not only acknowledge such accomplishments but also to promote a performance-based culture in both public and private sectors of the economy. It is a blatant sign that the country recognizes the efforts of its rising heroes and heroines at various turning points in the history of the country. The fact that none of the nominees declined the privileged consideration is something else about the 2022 National Honours that merits more investigation.
Under the auspices of the Commander of the Order of the Federal Republic (CFR), the Grand Commander of the Order of the Niger (GCON) presents the Senate President, Ahmad Lawan, the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Olukayode Ariwoola, the retired CJN, Justice Ibrahim Tanko Muhammad, the World Trade Organization (WTO) Director General, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, the Deputy Secretary General of the United Nations, Ms. Amina J. Mohammed, Chair of the UN Sustainable Development Group, and Professor Tijjani Muhammad-Bande, the former President of the United Nations General Assembly of the 74th Session from 2019 to 2020. As of the time of publication, no one had rejected their nomination. There were 55 recipients, 64 nominees for Commander of the Order of the Niger (CON), 70 recipients for Officer of the Order of the Federal Republic (OFR), 108 nominees for Officer of the Order of the Niger (OON), 74 recipients for Member of the Order of the Federal Republic (MFR), 55 nominees for Member of the Order of the Niger (MON), four nominees for Federal Republic Medal I (FRM I), four nominees for Federal Republic Medal II (FRM II), and seven nominees for Foreigners. That actually speaks volumes about the sheer hard effort, character scrutiny and sense of judgment that went into the process
Additionally, as the Buhari administration has demonstrated, the recipients of honors are always determined by succeeding administrations. Even though opinions on who should receive national honors may differ, some nominees may choose not to accept them. This was the case with Professor Chinua Achebe, the late literary great who received three national awards in 1960, 1979, and 1999, as well as President Olusegun Obasanjo and President Goodluck Jonathan in 2004 and 2011, respectively. In a 2011 statement obtained by The Guardian (UK), Achebe stated that the reasons why the offer (CFR) was initially rejected had not been addressed, much less resolved. You shouldn’t give it to me again. He went on to say, “I have been watching developments in Nigeria with fear and dismay for a while now. I have observed in especially the anarchy in my own state of Anambra, where a small group of outlaws, openly bragging of their ties in powerful circles, appear intent on transforming my country into a lawless and bankrupt fiefdom. The arrogance of this group and the President’s silence, if not outright complicity, disgust me.
Professor Wole Soyinka was nominated in 2014 for a centennial award, but he turned it down because he couldn’t share the honors with the late General Sani Abacha, whom he called a “murderer and thief of no redeeming quality.” “I can’t think of nothing more grotesque and derisive of the lifetime struggle of several on this (honours) list and their selfless services to humanity,” Soyinka stated in a statement headlined “The Canonisation of Terror.” She also declared, “I reject my share of this national insult.”
The fact that the Buhari government and the country have avoided these kinds of situations is a compliment to the National Honours Awards Committee, led by Sidi Bage, and the Ministry of Special Duties and Inter-Governmental Affairs, managed by Senator George Akume. The opposition would have devoured such razzmatazz in this political frenzy era as part of the build-up to the 2023 electioneering and polls in an attempt to undercut the administration’s claim to a sizable measure of public approval.