Mr. President, in the beginning (in 1964), the national honours were introduced to be conferred on Nigerians and non-Nigerians who have rendered selfless service(s) and contributed SELFLESSLY and HONOURABLY (without any iota of doubt) to the attainment of those cardinal objectives as enshrined in the Constitution.(Apologies to Taofeek Ramat) It was for selfless contributions to service, promotion of good governance, and welfare of all Nigerians. Mr. President, I was pained by reactions to the current list of awardees of the national honours, especially on Facebook. For instance, Mr. Olugbenga Akanmu of the 'Facebook Republic' remarked tersely, ''a look at the list and previous awardees shows those who have contributed to the mess we are in ' monopolists, looters, and a very few good men.' Another succinct reaction from the same 'Republic' was from Emmanuel Ibe-Anyanwu. He said, 'At times, I'm convinced that the award is conceived as a satire on political rottenness.' Mr. President time and space will not permit to narrate the controversies that greeted the list last year. If you failed a test last session, I expected you to 're-sit' and do better this session. But once again, you failed me. Mr. President, having gone through the list, the thrust of this piece is to juxtapose the value of SELFLESSNESS with the present personalities of some of the awardees this year. What is selfless about a Speaker who was voted into power just recently, and has about four years to 'deliver'' What happens if, either by omission or commission, we are faced with a 'Gate'' A la 'Ethegate/Bankoleism.' (God forbid! Pardon me, Mr. Speaker). Mr. President, why not wait for a generous display of selflessness' There is still time. Mr. President, what is selfless about an IG of Police, and other Service Chiefs, who were appointed by you, to help push back the frontiers of insecurity, etc. Mr. President, there's still much time and much more to be done as regards security in Nigeria at this moment, or don't you think so' Again, what is selfless about the Ministers you just appointed some of whom are yet to 'dust' their seats let alone sit in them' Are we not counting the chickens before they are hatched' Let's come home to Nollywood. The diminutive Aki got his last year, and now, it is the turn of Pawpaw. That's fine with me, but on what basis' They both make us laugh! So do Ukwa, Mr. Ibu, A.Y, I Go Dye, Basketmouth, etc, and we are paying for it, or are there free Nollywood movies' (Though I am not concerned about 'who' in Nollywood, they are not part of the 'bad' ones). My grouse about the Nollywood awardees is that apart from Olu Jacobs, you seem only to have favoured 'Igbohood.' Or, should we watch out for part two' Mr. President, I think that decision is likely to fan the embers of discord in an already polarised industry. I know those that campaigned for you, but I don't want to believe it is 'payback' time. You are wiser than that, aren't You' My fear is this: The bane of this nation has been corruption, but we all fail to realise that the 'father' or even 'mother' of corruption is a skewed value system. This generation values wealth ' whether ill-gotten or 'well-gotten' (i.e. if 'well' is the opposite of 'ill'). Just get rich and you will literally be worshiped by all, including some religious leaders. You will be given titles that are even longer than your full name. The impressionable young ones are watching! If we extol dishonesty and lack of integrity, then, 'honesty' will no longer be the best policy. Mr. President, I trusted you with my vote and prayers, but you keep disappointing me: you disappointed me when you went to CHOGM with the highest number of delegates and three private jets; you disappointed me with the timing of the single term issue when there were other burning issues; you disappointed me with subsidy removal without private refineries that are working at full capacity; and now, I'm hurt with this list. You are breaking my heart! Well, I hereby congratulate all those who truly deserve the honours. I would have asked you to reject them, like Professor Chinua Achebe, but I know this plea will be a futile gesture. Enjoy your moments!
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