Tinubu approves national honours for 959 Nigerians
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has approved the conferment of national honours on 959 Nigerians and friends of the country. The decision was announced after the meeting of the Council of State held on Thursday at the Presidential Villa, Abuja. Addressing State House correspondents after the meeting, the Permanent Secretary, Cabinet Affairs Office, Dr. Emanso Umobong, […]
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has approved the conferment of national honours on 959 Nigerians and friends of the country.
The decision was announced after the meeting of the Council of State held on Thursday at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
Addressing State House correspondents after the meeting, the Permanent Secretary, Cabinet Affairs Office, Dr. Emanso Umobong, said the current honours committee, reconstituted in August 2021 under the chairmanship of Justice Sidi Bage, screened over 5,000 applications before recommending 824 recipients for the 2024/2025 National Honours and 135 for special presidential awards — bringing the total to 959 honourees.
Umobong added 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.
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Among those recognised are Bill Gates for contributions to public health, Uncle Sam Amuka Pemu for excellence in journalism, and Nigeria’s women’s national teams — the Super Falcons and D’Tigress — for outstanding performance 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.