Olushola Omogbehin
President Bola Tinubu has approved the conferment of 959 national honours and endorsed reforms to strengthen the funding framework for the Nigeria Police Force.
This came on Thursday as he presided over marathon meetings of the National Council of State and the Police Council at the State House, Abuja.
The Permanent Secretary of the Cabinet Affairs Office, Dr. Emanso Umobong while addressing State House correspondents after the meetings, said the President approved the report of the National Honours Award Committee for 2024 and 2025, including special awards that were earlier bestowed by the President from January 2025 to date.
According to Umobong, the current honours committee, reconstituted in August 2021 and chaired by Justice Sidi Bage, screened over 5,000 applications before recommending 824 recipients for the 2024/2025 National Honours and 135 special awardees, totalling 959 honourees.
In her words, “The award of titles of honour and decorations of dignitaries is a yearly event at which the President honours deserving nationals and non-nationals who have distinguished themselves in the service of the nation and humanity.
“After diligent screening and selection by the committee, a total of 824 successful applicants were recommended for the 2024/2025 National Honours and 135 special awards by the President, bringing it to a total of 959 awardees.”
Umobong further said that the Tinubu administration had, in the spirit of inclusive national recognition, already honoured several distinguished Nigerians and friends of Nigeria over the past year such as Bill Gates, for contributions to public health and the Super Falcons and D’Tigress for excellence in sports.
Others include the Ogoni Nine and Ogoni Four, honoured posthumously for their environmental activism, and Professor Mahmood Yakubu, immediate former Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), for his service to Nigeria’s democratic process.
Updated list of awardees according to Umobong would be published soon
