In order not to sound like a killjoy, let me begin by congratulating all the distinguished citizens of Nigeria, and “Friends of Nigeria,” who were decorated with national honours of various categories on Tuesday this week at the International Conference Centre, FCT, Abuja. In point of fact, this year’s list of honourees is refreshingly diversified across professions including musicians, star writers like Chimamanda Ngozi-Adichie, foremost Humanities scholar, Professor Toyin Falola, influential diplomats Amina Mohammed and Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, alongside achievement-oriented public servants like Professor Ishaq Oloyede and Boss Mustapha. So, the regime of Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.) has upped the ante in terms of the widespread and value-setting nature of the awards.
It is not just that. We should be thankful for small mercies such as the fact that under Buhari, the nation transcended for once the conception of the national honours as a jamboree to be given annually to politicians and officeholders some of whom reportedly pay huge sums to be put on the list. Under his watch, and as Buhari himself remarked in his speech on the occasion, this is probably the second time in seven years in which national honours will be given at a public ceremony.
That said and the improvement in ethos and conception noted, there are still some reservations about the exercise as well as some musings on how to improve even further the quality of the event. Is it not possible, for example, to create better synergy between outstanding achievement and the appearance of one’s name on the list of awardees?
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