President Buhari Confers National Award On Deserving Nigerians (PHOTOS)

President Muhammadu Buhari has reiterated his administration’s resolve to root out banditry, criminality, terrorism, and insurgence in the country.

The President stated this in Abuja at the award of investiture to deserving Nigerians.

He expressed delight that despite the hardship being faced, a good number of Nigerians and friends of Nigeria had been demonstrating active patriotism to improve living standards.

He stressed that the award of titles of honour and decorations to deserving dignitaries was a solemn and patriotic event to recognise those that had distinguished themselves in the service of the nation and humanity in accordance with the National Honours Act of 2004.

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While congratulating the awardees, President Buhari appreciated non-Nigerian recipients and assured them of the government’s will to continue to provide the enabling environment for them to undertake their lawful businesses.

He appealed to Nigerians yet to receive recognition to be patient and understand that their efforts in nation-building were appreciated and that at the right time, they would be recognised.

The Awards

The award in order of importance are: Order of the Federal Republic, consisting of Grand Commander of the Order of the Federal Republic (GCFR), Commander of the Order of the Federal Republic (CFR), Officer of the Order of the Federal Republic (OFR), and Member of the Order of the Federal Republic (MFR).

Also, in the Order of the Niger, are Grand Commander of the Order of the Niger (GCON), Commander of the Order of the Niger (CON), Officer of the Order of the Niger (OON), Member of the Order of the Niger (MON) and Federal Republic Medal (FRM).

The GCFR and GCON are customarily reserved and bestowed on former Presidents and Vice Presidents of Nigeria, including former military heads of state of Nigeria and Chiefs of General Staff.

The GCON is also customarily bestowed on the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN) and the President of the Nigerian Senate during their first year in office, while the CON is customarily bestowed on Justices of the Supreme Court of Nigeria.

The 2022 list includes politicians, public officers, security officials, diplomats, academia, businessmen, traditional rulers, religious leaders and legal practitioners among others.

The six conferred with GCON are Senate President Ahmad Ibrahim Lawan; Chief Justice of the Federation (CJN), Hon. Justice Olukayode Ariwoola; immediate past CJN, Hon. Justice Ibrahim Tanko Muhammad (Rtd); former Minister of Finance and currently Director General of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), Dr Ngozi Okonjo Iweala; a former Minister of Environment and currently UN, Deputy Secretary General, Ms Amina J. Mohammed and former President of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), Prof. Tijani Muhammad-Bande.

Also honoured are Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila, Speaker of the House of Representatives; Deputy Senate President, Senator Ovie Omo-Agege; Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Mr. Boss Mustapha; Head of the Civil Service of the Federation (HoCSF), Dr. Folashade Yemi-Esan; former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon Yakubu Dogara; late Chief of Staff to President Buhari, Mallam Abba Kyari (Posthumous) and former President of the Court of Appeal, Justice Ayo Salami (Retd) among others.

Others are the 19th Emir of Zazzau, His Highness Ahmed Nuhu Bamalli and Registrar of JAMB, Prof Is-haq Oloyede among others.

Seven Foreigners

Seven persons were given FRM I and FRM II respectively.

Also, seven foreigners Pierre Vandebeek, late George Stavros Coumantaros (Posthumous), Deepak Singhal, Dr. Attia A. Nasreddin, Chief Nabil A. Saleh (JP), Faysal M. El-Khalil and Ronald Chagoury would be honoured with OFR.

Others are the religious leader who hid over 262 Christians in his mosque from attacks in Yelwa Gindin Akwati village, in Plateau State, Imam Abdullahi Abubakar, whom he described as a good example of religious tolerance, Damini Ebunoluwa Ogulu, also known as Burna Boy, who won the Grammy Awards in 2020.

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