Entertainers Burna Boy, Tuface Idibia and Teni were among prominent Nigerians conferred with national awards by President Muhammadu Buhari Tuesday.
Burna Boy received Member of The Federal Republic MFR, while Tuface and Teni became Member of the Order of Niger MON at the ceremony held at the International Conference Centre in Abuja.
President Buhari noted the contributions of the Nigerian entertainment industry in placing Nigeria in the global map.
“Worthy of mention are our Artistes, particularly, our very own Damini Ebunoluwa Ogulu (Burna Boy), who won the Grammy Awards in 2020. He along with other artistes have repositioned the Nigerian entertainment industry and placed it on the global map. At the just concluded Dubai Expo 2020, Nigeria’s pavilion was a beehive of activities as our musicians’ entertained guests from around the world,” Buhari said in his speech.
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.
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.
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 Tuface Idibia, Shehu Othman, Teni the entertainer and Abubakar Maikano.
