President Muhammadu Buhari on Tuesday conferred national honours to 449 Nigerians and friends of Nigeria.
Vice President Yemi Osinbajo and the President’s Chief of State Ibrahim Gambari were also in attendance at the event which was held in Abuja.
The awardees include the President’s late Chief of Staff, Abba Kyari; Governor Rotimi Akeredolu of Ondo State; Director General of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala; Registrar of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), Ishaq Oloyede; the Minister of Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola; Governor Ifeanyi Okowa of Delta State amongst others.
I thank President Muhammadu Buhari, and the National Honours Awards Committee for my investiture, earlier today, as a Commander of the Order of the Niger (CON) — in recognition of my contributions to the development of the nation. pic.twitter.com/awg3r4wNq0
— Dr. Ifeanyi Arthur Okowa (@IAOkowa) October 11, 2022
Others were awarded the Grand Commander of the Order of the Niger (GCON), Commander of the Order of the Federal Republic (CFR), and Commander of the Order of the Niger (CON).
National Honours List
437 nominees were listed for the national honours today.
Five persons were listed for Grand Commander of the Order of the Niger (GCON) while 54 for Commander of the Order of the Federal Republic (CFR) and 67 for the Commander of the Order of the Niger (CON).
Others are 64 for Officer of the Order of the Federal Republic (OFR), 101 for Officer of the Order of the Niger (OON), 75 for Member of the Order of the Federal Republic (MFR), 56 for Member of the Order of the Niger (MON) and eight for Federal Republic Medal (FRM).
Abba Kyari was honoured posthumously with the CFR, while Mr Adesina and Mrs Okonjo-Iweala were honoured with OON and GCON respectively.
Other recipients of the national honours awards include serving and former governors, serving and former presiding officers of the National Assembly, serving and former Chief Justices of Nigeria and serving and former members of the National Assembly.
Others are serving and former service chiefs, traditional rulers, retired public servants, lawyers, philanthropists, businessmen, ministers and members of the academia.
Read Also: PDP Governors’ Forum congratulates Okowa, Ugwuanyi, Ishaku on national awards
GCON – Second highest national honours category
Apart from Mrs Okonjo-Iweala, the other recipients of the GCON are the Senate President, Ahmad Lawan; Chief Justice of Nigeria, Kayode Ariwoola, his predecessor; Tanko Muhammad and UN Deputy Secretary-General; Amina Mohammed.
CFR
Prominent on the list of recipients for CFR include Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila; Chief of Defence Staff, Lucky Irabor; former Speaker, Yakubu Dogara, and Appeal Court president, Monica Mensem, and former Army Chief, Tukur Buratai.
Others are Inspector General of Police, Usman Alkali, his predecessor, Mohammed Adamu, Emir of Lafia, Sidi Bage, and Tor Tiv, James Ayatse, amongst others.
CON
Some nominees in this category of national honours are the Registrar of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), Ishaq Oloyede and state governors such as Mai Mala-Buni (Yobe), Atiku Bagudu (Kebbi), Simon Lalong (Plateau), Ifeanyi Okowa (Delta), Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi (Enugu), Dave Umahi (Ebonyi) and Nasir El-Rufai (Kaduna).
Others are Babagana Zulum (Borno), Kayode Fayemi (Ekiti), Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives; Idris Wase, Finance minister, Zainab Ahmed and her works counterpart, Babatunde Fashola, amongst others.
OFR
Nominees in this category include the Catholic Archbishop of Abuja, Ignatius Kaigama, CEO of the NNPCL, Mele Kyari, Nasiru Bayero and Muiz Banire.
Others are Ishaq Bello, Aliyu El-Nafaty and Kehinde Aina, amongst others.
OON
Some nominees in this category include National Assembly members such as Alhassan Doguwa, Muktar Betara, Ndudi Elumelu and Nkiruka Onyejeocha.
Others are a former Permanent Secretary, Sunday Echono, NBA President Yakubu Maikyau, Sarki Abba and Sabiu (Tunde) Yusuf, amongst others.
MFR
In this category of the national honours awards are Sanusi Lemu, late DIGJoseph Egunike (posthumous), Haliru Nababa and Burna Boy.
Others are Simon Shango, Billy Okoye, Akwa Okon and Emeka Agbanari, amongst others.
MON
Notable in this category is 2Face Idibia, Shehu Othman, Teni the entertainer and Abubakar Maikano.
