Barrage of criticisms has trailed the investiture of national honours to 355 Nigerian during the week by President Goodluck Jonathan.Some were of the opinion that majority of the beneficiaries do not merit it while others hinged their argument on the numbers of awardees. Some referred to it as a ritual meant to service individuals who are loyal to the government of the day.The general consensus was however that Nigerians do not attach importance to the award because as Nigerian Compass gathered,those who merit the award never gets it.There was unfortunately a shortage of medals and certificates and as a result of the shortages; many of the honorees were unable to get their medals and certificates.The event, which held amid tight security at the International Conference Center in Abuja, saw President Goodluck Jonathan conferring various classes of national honours on 355 Nigerians.Of the 335, one person received the award of the Grand Commander of the Order of the Niger(GCON); 65 people were conferred with the honour of Commander of the Order of the Niger; 38 persons received the award of Commander of the Order of the Federal Republic; 74 Nigerians received the award of Officer of Federal Republic; 69 were conferred with the honour of Member of the Officer of the Order Federal Republic; 71 people received the award of the Order of the Niger; while 28 others were conferred with the honour of Member of the Order of the Niger. Also, two persons received the First Class Federal Republic Medal, while three others got the Second Class Federal Republic Medal.Another twist to the development were the refusal of some awardees to accept the honour. Prominent among these are renowned poet and writer, Professor Chinua Achebe and Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila, a member of the Federal House of Representatives. To Achebe, who is refusing the award for the second consecutive time, the problems that had caused him to reject same in 2004 were still unresolved.'The reasons for rejecting the offer when it was first made have not been addressed, let alone solved. It is inappropriate to offer it again to me. I must therefore regretfully decline the offer again,' Achebe is reported to have said in a letter sent to the Nigerian Ambassador to the United States.The Professor had, in 2004, rejected the same offer of a national award from the administration of former President Olusegun Obasanjo in protest of the political situation in Nigeria and his native land Anambra State.This year, Femi Gbajabiamila, the Minority leader of the House of Representatives, who said he doubted the criteria used in selecting the recipients of the 2011 National Honours also rejected the award.President Goodluck Jonathan expressed regret at Achebe's decision to, once again, reject the conferment of the national honour of Commander of the Federal Republic (CFR) on him.Jonathan said he was surprised by Achebe's claim that the issues which caused him to reject the same award seven years ago were still unresolved.In a press statement signed by the Presidential Spokesman, Dr Rueben Abati, the President acknowledged that though Nigeria was still faced with challenges, it cannot be said to be where it was in 2004 politically.'Coming as it does, against the background of the widely acclaimed electoral reforms undertaken by the Jonathan Administration, the claim by Prof. Achebe clearly flies in the face of the reality of Nigeria's current political situation,' he said. 'As reflected in the immense improvements recorded in the conduct of the last general elections which were applauded within and outside the country as the most credible elections in Nigeria in recent years, the Jonathan administration has made tremendous efforts to positively change the political architecture complained about by Prof. Achebe and other Nigerians.'Abati said politically, Nigeria cannot be said to bewhere it was in 2004 as the Jonathan administration had embarked on extensive electoral reforms to institute a regime of electoral integrity that all Nigerians can be proud of. 'While President Jonathan acknowledges that there are still challenges in the path of Nigeria's attainment of its full potentials as a nation, he believes that his Administration is moving the country in the right direction and therefore deserves the support, encouragement and cooperation of all citizens,' he said.He said the President continued to hold Achebe in very high esteem despite his regrettable decision which may have been borne out of misinformation as to the true state of affairs in Nigeria. He also hoped that Achebe would 'find time to visit home soon and see the progress being made by the Jonathan Administration for himself'. 'Prof. Achebe remains in President Jonathan's consideration, a national icon, a Nigerian of high attainments, indeed one of the greatest living Africans of our time,' Abati said. Top on the list of the recipients were Alhaji Aliko Dangote who bagged the second highest award, (GCON), while the Speaker of House of Representatives, Hon. Aminu Tambuwal was among the 38 CFR recipients. The nine governors of Akwa Ibom, Anambra, Cross River, Edo, Kaduna, Katsina, Niger, Rivers and Jigawa states and nine former governors were among the 65 recipients that got CON.About nine Nollywood stars, including Stephenie Okereke and Genevive Nnaji and Osita Iheme (pawpaw) among others, led by Kanayo O. Kanayo and Olu Jecobs were also honoured.President Goodluck Jonathan, however justified Federal Government's decision to confer business mogul, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, with the second highest national honour award of the Grand Commander of the Order of the Niger, GCON, saying that the recipient deserved the feat because of his contributions to Nigeria's greatness.Dangote, the President of the Dangote Group, and member of the National Economic Management Team, NEMT, becomes the first Nigerian who is not a top politician or political appointee to bag the prestigious honour.The President gave the explanation after decorating 355 distinguished Nigerians with various national honours, in the 2010/2011 sets, thereby bringing the total number of recipients so far to 3,924 since it began in 1963.Reacting to a noticeable state of confusion that some young Nigerians find themselves in the criteria used by the government, Jonathan said there was no need for such confusion.He said: 'Today, I am having the GCFR the highest in the land by virtue of the fact that I am the President of this country, but if I am not the president another person must be the President of Nigeria, but if Aliko did not have that business acumen to build that empire probably we wouldn't have had somebody to employ thousands of Nigerians.So those who by their innate abilities and creative energies have been able to make impact in our society even deserve more honour than those of us holding political offices. So we would continue to encourage enterprise, creativity and Nigerians who have excelled in whatever form. A welder, electrician or anybody who by virtue of what you do, you've done it with much dedication and impacted society significantly can be honoured by the president'.He however pointed out that government was not unaware of the complaints in some quarters but promised to look into them. 'One thing I am aware of is that there have been criticisms of the National Award nominations and selection process.I have since directed the appropriate departments to note the concerns that have been expressed and to take steps to ensure further improvement so that the National Honours award can continue to serve its purpose', he said.According to him, 'this is what guides the selection of this award and that is why you see a mixed group of people being recognised. You can see today that we have recognized Aliko Dangote with the highest on the GCON series because we must recognise enterprise. This is a man who has been able to employ thousands of Nigerians as we heard it from the citation'.The President reassured that 'as I have mentioned even the most celebrated Nobel peace prize is being criticized to definitely you will expect criticisms. But in Nigeria you have three awards, two are parallel, and we gave two today, the GCFR and GCON series and of course the Nigerian National Merit Award'.The Nigerian National Merit award, he said, 'is meant for scholars and not just scholars but scholars with distinction and the committee that will selects those who will receive hat award are among the eggheads. The President plays almost no role in selecting who wins the merit award, because that is for academic division. The President plays the ceremonial position of just decorating or presenting the award to those scholars'.Speaking on those qualified for the honours, Jonathan said 'the traditional birth attendant that probably works in area where there is no doctor and successfully delivers hundreds of babies can be awarded and recognised by the president. So is a sports man who is illiterate, but a good footballer, wrestler or a boxer and projects the image of this country globally and wins laurels and bring us to lime light could be recognized in this honours series'.Besides, he stressed that 'also in the case of the military an officer, a corporal or even a private soldier could be given a medal that probably a colonel or general might not have for show of gallantry and that guided the National Honours'.
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