Shonekan, Achebe, Mantu Get National Honours
188 others too
From Juliana Taiwo in Abuja
Former Head of Interim National Government, Chief Ernest Shonekan, Deputy Senate President, Senator Ibrahim Mantu and famous novelist, Professor Chinua Achebe are among 191 people to be accorded national honours.
Shonekan is to be conferred with the highest national honour, Grand Commander of the Order of the Federal Republic (GCFR), while Mantu and Achebe are to receive the award of the Commander of the Order of the Federal Republic (CFR).
A breakdown of the list made public by the Minister of Inter-Governmental Affairs, Youth Development and Special Duties, Mr. Frank Nweke Jnr., in Abuja yesterday showed that seven foreigners and 30 women, more than a 100 per cent increase from last year's awardees of 12, are among recipients of the 2004 awards.
There are six recipients of CFR, 23 of Commander of the Order of the Niger (CON), 48 honourees of Officer of the Order of the Federal Republic (OFR), 56 listed in Officer of the Order of the Niger (OON), 46 Member of the Order of Federal Republic (MFR), 13 awarded Member of the Order of the Niger (MON) while 12 received ordinary medals.
Nweke disclosed that a total of 1,504 applications were received this year, an increase of over 404 applications over that of last year.
He, however, said that individuals who nominated themselves for the award were disqualified because their actions were considered immodest since they were supposed to be nominated by individuals, organisations or associations who have seen and identified outstanding contributions they must have made to society.
He said the National Honours Award Committee ensured that all segments of society had equal opportunity for consideration for the awards.
"This year's exercise took special cognizance of gender representation, young achievers, and private sector contribution. Furthermore, achievements by Nigerian nationals resident in foreign lands, as well as foreigners living in Nigeria who have made positive contributions to the nation's development, have been recognised," he said.
Nweke said as part of efforts at sustaining the credibility of the Nigerian National Honours Awards, a new set of clear objective and verifiable criteria were articulated to serve as additional basis for evaluation to the existing criteria set out in the enabling Act, which the committee considered to be largely subjective.
He listed the new matrices as: character, career, education, outstanding achievement, contribution to Nigeria, quality/type of nomination and recognition.
He said in order to avoid a repeat of the situation where certain recipients who had been cleared by the State Security Service (SSS) were found to have cases pending with other government agencies, the committee co-opted the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) into the 2004 screening exercise.
He said the list of successful nominees, who would be conferred with the awards December 16 was circulated to both the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) for additional screening.
He said that at the end of the screening exercise a total of 191 nominees were successful.
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