2012 national honours list comes under scrutiny

The organised labour, civil rights groups and opposition parties on Monday flayed  the 2012 national honours list released on Sunday by the Presidency. They said  the awards were  fast losing  respect and credibility.

The list is made of  149 honourees from diverse fields with the highest honour, the Grand Commander of the Order of Niger, going to the Chairman of Globacom, Mike Adenuga.

Although they agreed that the 2012 list contains names of some honest and credible Nigerians, they said that people that were being probed by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission for fuel subsidy fraud and other infractions ought not to have been  considered  as honourees.



They also queried the rationale behind awarding the top national honours to businessmen while honest and hardworking Nigerians of modest economic means could not be decorated. See full list here

The organised labour specifically urged President Goodluck Jonathan to give deserved recognition through the awards to Nigerians who have contributed to national development.

Such individuals, according to them, include the  winner of the June 12, 1993 Presidential election, the Chief MKO Abiola; his late wife, Kudirat;  erudite lawyer and foremost human rights crusader, Chief Gani Fawehinmi; labour activist, the late  Chima Ubani;  and Afrobeats legend, Fela Anikulapo-Kuti.

The Trade Union Congress and the Nigerian Labour Congress said that national honours were not meant for only wealthy Nigerians (I agree with that).


The Acting General Secretary of the NLC, Mr. Chris Uyot, wondered why key figures who had made efforts in the protection of the Nigerian workers and activists who laid down their lives for the country did not make the list.

He said that the awards had become avenues exploited by the ruling class to take care of their colleagues and the super rich in the society.

He said, “Our view generally is that the ruling class are only taking care of themselves in terms of giving awards to their colleagues, their partners, money bags and the rest of them,

“A country that is so corrupt, where people are stealing billions of Naira and awards are giving to people who are maintaining the status quo of corruption.”