By Akinwale Kasali

President Bola Tinubu has honoured the memory of the late Major General Shehu Musa Yar’Adua.

During his address to the Nation on June 12 to mark Nigeria’s Democracy Day, the President announced the renaming of the Institute of Petroleum Studies, Kaduna, to General Shehu Musa Yar’Adua University of Geological Sciences and Engineering Technology.

Yar’Adua died in captivity while serving a jail term under the late maximum Head of State, for a purported aborted coup aimed at removing him, Abacha, from office.

Among those awarded National Honours was Joe Igbokwe a staunch believer in President Tinubu and an All Progressives Congress, APC, Chieftain, who he seemed to have ignored since his presidency.  Igbokwe, to his relief, is among the over 50 people whose names were contained in the list of awardees.

President Tinubu had during his Democracy Day Broadcast conferred  National Honours on the aforementioned, that includes; Prominent media icons, pro-democracy activists, and retired military officers who fought against military dictatorship during the historic June 12 struggle.

This year Democracy Day marks 27 years of uninterrupted Democratic Rule, in which President Tinunu paid tributes to the late Chief M.K.O. Abiola, the winner of the annulled June 12, 1993 presidential election, and other icons.

He stated that while Nigeria’s democracy is not perfect, it remains the ultimate vehicle for national development.

Igbokwe alongside members of National Democratic Coalition, NADECO, chieftains Chief Ayo Opadokun, Chief Ralph Obioha, and Dr. Arthur Nwankwo (posthumous); media veterans Lade Bonuola, Femi Kusa, Sir Ademola Osinubi, and Dele Alake; and activists Dr. Joe Okei-Odumakin, Richard Akinnola, and Prof. Sylvester Odion-Akhaine.

The President, also, recognized “soldier-democrats” who opposed military junta regimes, including retired Colonels Sambo Dasuki, a former National Security Adviser during the President Goodluck Jonathan Government,  Lawan Gwadabe, Major-General Ishola Williams, the Etsu Nupe, Brigadier Yahaya Abubakar.

Addressing the nation’s security challenges, particularly recent student abductions in Oyo and Borno states, President Tinubu declared that democracy without security is a mirage, revealing that the 2026 budget commits a record 5.41 trillion Naira to defense alongside the recruitment of over 50,000 police officers.

He however warned bandits, kidnappers, and sponsors of terror to surrender or face the full force of the Nigerian State, andbthe wrath of the law, noting that windows of surrender will not remain open forever, though terror-related deaths have dropped by 81% since 2015 with over 13,000 terrorists neutralized in the past year.

Speaking on the economic situationof the country, the President defended his administration’s aggressive reforms as a necessity to salvage public finances, stating that the next phase of his administration is to ensure that democracy is felt in the pocket of everyday citizens by tackling inflation and boosting local production.

He stated that in resolving the chronic electricity crisis, the President announced that the Presidential Power Sector Task Force has been authorized to raise a 4 trillion Naira bond to clear legacy debts drowning the power value chain, adding that the Electricity Act, which decentralizes power generation to states, is already yielding results.

Reaffirming his commitment to grassroots development, while emphasizing his administration’s push for full financial autonomy for the 774 local government areas, attributing the rise in rural insecurity to the collapse of local governance.

He also urged the political class and institutions to protect democratic guardrails ahead of the upcoming Ekiti and Osun governorship elections, the President stated that while the generation of the nation’s founding fathers secured independence and the generation of June 12 secured democracy, the current generation must now secure prosperity.

By Ayodele Oni 

Again, Tinubu Shuns Dele Momodu

Nigerians have started to react to the list of beneficiaries of national Honours as contained in the June 12 national broadcast by President Bola Tinubu.

From men of the pen profession to pro democracy activists, they conclude that the list is incomplete.

Not a few people noted that, as was the case in previous years, the President again, shunned Chief Dele Momodu among  the list of Journalists honoured for their roles in the struggle for democracy.

Momodu was a close ally of Chief M.K.O Abiola, Nigeria’s symbol for democracy. He was forced into exile a situation which brought him closer to Tinubu, who was, also, in exile. Both men worked together while in exile. 

Activist particularly cited the omission of retired Colonel Bello Fadile from the list of military officers honoured by President Bola Tinubu, while men of the pen profession described journalists whose names appeared on the list as “only those from Lagos axis of the media.”

Reacting through his facebook page, Mr Dare Fasube stated that “Not a single Photojournalist like late Baba Adefunpe Ojelabi of Punch, late Dada Osasona of Sun, late Najeem Raheem of Guardian, late Felix Ademola of Sketch that went out to give on the spot coverage of the protests, riots and rallies that were splashed in  the Newspapers has not been recognize till date.

“Even the late Tunji Oyeleru of Vanguard, who died along with Chima Ubani in the same official car of Adams Oshiomole who was the NLC President then was also left out.”

Wale Ademowo, while congratulating his benefitting colleagues, insisted that ” the list is incomplete, it excludes those of Ibadan axis.”

Reacting to the announcement, concerned citizen and pro-democracy advocate, Chief Femi Olugbemi argued that Col Bello Fadile (rtd) deserves inclusion on the same list. 

He noted that Fadile was Accused No.1 in the 1995 alleged coup plot under the Abacha regime, was sentenced to death and later to life imprisonment, before receiving a state pardon in 1999.

The statement said: “In as much as Col Sambo Dasuki (rtd) is on the list with Col Olusegun Oloruntoba, the Olugbede of Gbede, then Col Bello Fadile (rtd) should be included, being one of the major military officers that fought for democracy, which was why he was sentenced along other military officers whose names are on the list.”

He urged the President to correct the omission, stating that doing so would encourage others committed to defending democracy in Nigeria.

 “Let the President correct the erroneous error to encourage others determined to fight for the overall success of democracy in Nigeria,” the statement added.

Col Bello Fadile, a retired Army officer and human rights lawyer, documented his experience in _Nine Lives: The Bello Fadile Memoirs_. 

During his Democracy Day address, President Tinubu noted that the conferment of national honours was “not foreclosed”, indicating that future updates to the list remain possible

President Tinubu had announced national honours for several pro-democracy activists, journalists, politicians, and military officers who played key roles in the struggle to validate the June 12, 1993 presidential election. 

Among the military officers named were Col Sambo Dasuki (rtd) and Col Olusegun Oloruntoba, the Olugbede of Gbede Kingdom.