A welder, electrician can be honoured by the president’
By Vincent Ikuomola, Abuja 8 hours 35 minutes ago
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President Goodluck Jonathan congratulating the President of Dangote Group, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, who received the gcon award, President Goodluck Jonathan congratulating the President of Dangote Group, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, who received the gcon award,



President Goodluck Jonathan yesterday said national honours could be given to any class of Nigerians, once they are found worthy.

The President spoke in Abuja at the presentations of the national honours to 355 Nigerians.

Jonathan justified why business mogul Aliko Dangote got the Grand Commander of the Niger (GCON), the second highest honour, despite not being a political office holder .

The president said Dangote deserves the honour because of all his contributions to the growth and economic development of the country.

Beside the Vice-president, the senate president and Chief Justice of the Nigeria, who by virtue of their position hold the award of GCON, the second highest in the land, Dangote is the first individual outside government to have received the honour.

He said: “You can see today that we have recognised Aliko Dangote with the highest on the GCON series because we must recognise enterprise. This is a man who has been able to employ thousands of Nigerians as we heard it from the citation.

“Today I am having the GCFR the highest in the land by virtue of the fact that I am the President of this country, but if I am not the president, another person must be the President of Nigeria, but if Aliko did not have that business acumen to build that empire; probably, we wouldn’t have had somebody to employ thousands of Nigerians. So, those who by their innate abilities and creative energies have been able to make impact in our society, even deserve more honour than those of us holding political offices.

“A welder, electrician or anybody who by virtue of what you do, you’ve done it with much dedication and impacted society significantly can be honoured by the president.”

Jonathan continued: “One thing I am aware of is that there have been criticisms of the National Award nominations and selection process. I have since directed the appropriate departments to note the concerns that have been expressed and to take steps to ensure further improvement so that the National Honours award can continue to serve its purpose.

“National Honours are not merely decorative; they remind us of an important part of our responsibilities as citizens. We must always endeavour to do the best for our country even as we realise with deep humility that all human beings are fallible, we must look forward with confidence and hope that our country through each and every one of us can indeed put its God given endowment to the best possible use.

“Let me re-emphasize again, how some of the people are selected because there are comments from very young people who are a bit confused about how people are selected for National Honours.

“As I have mentioned even the most celebrated Nobel peace prize is being criticized to definitely you will expect criticisms. But in Nigeria you have three awards, two are parallel, and we gave two today, the GCFR and GCON series and of course the Nigerian National Merit Award.

“The Nigerian National Merit award is meant for scholars and not just scholars but scholars with distinction and the committee that will select those who will receive those awards are among the eggheads.

“The President plays almost no role in selecting who wins the merit award, because that is for academic division. The President plays the ceremonial position of just decorating or presenting the award to those scholars.

“But the National Honours criteria are different. It is based on what an individual has contributed to his community, his state, his country and how you have projected this country outside. It does not depend on how many certificates you have, it does not depend even on the size of certificate you have and it does not even depend on the status you have in the society and I need to mention that.

“The traditional birth attendant that probably works in area where there is no doctor and successfully delivers hundreds of babies can be awarded and recognized by the president. So is a sports man who is illiterate, but a good footballer, wrestler or a boxer and projects the image of this country globally and wins laurels and bring us to lime light could be recognized in this honours series.

“So the position you occupy does not give an automatic award except for some positions like the GCFR which is given to anybody who becomes the President of this country or the GCON given to anybody who becomes the vice president or the head of the National Assembly or the head of the Judiciary.

These are given by virtue of their positions, but others are given by virtue of what you have contributed to the society not necessarily because of the office you hold.

“So you can also see that some of our traditional rulers by virtue of their hard work done by their ancestors. For you to be recognized and honuored we will want to see what you have used that position to achieve for us. Do you use that office to destroy us or do you use it for the development of your domain. “So also is a youth leader, a woman leader or an elder do you use that position to bring development and peace to your people at your community level, local government level, state level and the national level or use it to bring crisis or destruction to our people. This is what guides the selection of this award and that is why you see a mixed group of people being recognised.”

Responding on behalf of the awardees, Dangote said the award has thrown up further challenge on all recipients to do more for the country.



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