The Federal Government honoured 100 persons yesterday with Centenary awards as part of Nigeria’s Centenary celebration, the families of late human rights activist, Chief Gani Fawehinmi and afrobeat king, Fela Anikulapo Kuti have rejected the post humous awards for both late Fawehinmi and Fela even as Nobel Laureate, Professor Wole Soyinka also mulls rejecting the award.
Professor Soyinka is on the list alongside the likes of Professor Chinua Achebe, Chief Gani Fawehinmi, Fela Anikulapo-Kuti, Chief Odimegwu Ojukwu, Nwankwo Kanu, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, Chief Mike Adenuga and Pastor Enoch Adeboye, among others.
Soyinka speaks
But Professor Soyinka said: “I would have preferred that the entire day of infamy be ignored altogether. I’m even thinking favourably of just ignoring the obscenity, then turning up at the counter-event.”
Professor Soyinka, however, said he will endeavour, to be at the centenary awards planned in London on June 27 during which diasporans will honour 100 outstanding Nigerians in the UK. At a gala dinner due to take place at Waltham Forest Town Hall in East London tagged Nigerian Centenary Awards UK, diasporans will hand out honours to 100 Nigerians who have excelled in various fields in the UK over the last 100 years.
We won’t accept the award — Femi Kuti
Also, Femi Kuti, son of the late Afrobeat legend, Fela Anikulapo-Kuti, has said that the family would not accept any centenary award in his honour.
Femi who made the statement through a Twitter correspondence while stating that the family has not been officially informed about any centenary award for Fela, noted that the Federal Government should first apologise for killing his grandmother, Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti, and burning of Kalakuta Republic.
“We have not heard such but I can speak for myself, Federal Government should first apologise for the killing of our grandmother and the burning of Kalakuta,” he wrote.
Asked if the family would accept the award if the government apologised for the two wrongs mentioned, Femi said he doubts if the family would accept the award.
“Like I said we have not heard anything from the Federal Government. But I doubt if the family will accept the award.”
Fela Anikulapo Kuti, is being honoured in the ‘Internationally Acclaimed Artistes, Literary Icons and Journalists’ category.
Gani’s family
Likewise, the family of the late human rights lawyer, Chief Gani Fawheinmi has turned down his nomination for a centenary posthumous award.
The family cited the nomination of the former military president, General Ibrahim Babangida, for the same award, the unbridled killing of students by insurgents in the North Eastern part of the country and the incessant corruption reeking across the country, including the alleged missing of $20 billion from NNPC as reasons for rejecting the nomination.
According to the letter sent to the presidency via the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Chief Anyim Pius Anyim, and signed by Mohammed Fawehinmi, for and on behalf of late Gani Fawehinmi family, the family said they acknowledged the receipt of the letter and commended the federal government for considering their father for the honour but cited the reasons above for turning down the offer.
The letter read in part, “We want to thank the Federal Government for considering our late father for this honour. However, for reasons stated here under, our family has decided it would be inexpedient to accept the award.
“Our late father was empathetic to the sufferings of our people, particularly students. In the last 72 hours, 43 innocent students were mowed down by the blood- thirsty Boko Haram terrorists in Yobe State, while 20 other girls were similarly abducted by this same band of terrorists. These girls are still in captivity while their fate is unknown. If our late father were to be alive, would he be wining and dining with all the glitterati at a Centenary celebration under these circumstances? Certainly no.”
“In the past few weeks, the polity has been assaulted with putrid odour of corruption with the alleged $20 billion missing in NNPC, a development that became the Archilles heel of Mallam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, the suspended Governor of Central Bank. As an anti-corruption activist, if he were to be alive, our late father would have confronted the issue head-long and possibly gone to court. With the issue still raging, would our late father have accepted this award at this critical moment? Certainly no.”
The family explained that their late father always championed the unity of the country and would have opted for the money being spent on the celebration of the centenary to have been devoted to infrastructure development instead of deploying the fund to celebrating Nigeria’s centenary.
“Our late father was unrepentantly for the unity of Nigeria. However, with the level of profligacy in some of the events celebrating Nigeria’s Centenary, our late father would have preferred these multi-million Naira expenditures channeled to our decrepit Teaching hospitals, than unproductive razzmatazz that do not improve the socio-economic well being of our people.
“For these reasons, our family respectfully declines to receive the award about to be conferred on our late father by the government,” the family said.
Abiola family
The family of the late M.K.O Abiola also rejected the posthumous Centenary award to the winner of the 1993 Nigeria’s presidential election.
Kola Abiola, the eldest son of the late politician and businessman, told newsmen on Friday that the award was “not appropriate.”
“For us, what the government is doing is laudable. But our family will only accept what is appropriate. If what they are trying to give him is a gold award for the centenary, we don’t consider that to be appropriate,” Mr. Abiola said.
“With a gold centenary award, it means we have not left where we were when they tried to rename the University of Lagos after him. We said then that it was inappropriate,” he added.
The roll call
The list of the awardees includes Sir Samuel Manuwa, Professor John Edozien, Dr Moses Majekodunmi, Professor Olikoye Ransome-Kuti, Professor Oladipo Akinkugbe, Professor Latunde Odeku, Professor Nelson Oyesiku and Dr. Funmi Olopade. Others on the list include Professor Oyin Olurin, Professor Orishejolomi Thomas, Professor Bello Osagie, Dr Beko Ransome-Kuti, Professor Ade Elebute, Dr Akinola Maja, Professor Femi Williams, Professor Ambrose Alli, Dr Dalhatu Tafida, Professor Ishaya Audu, Professor Oladele Ajose and Professor Tola Adebonojo among others.
Other awardees are the British monarch and Head of the Commonwealth, Queen Elizabeth II, Sir Fredrick Lugard, Dame Flora Louise Shaw, Ex-Military Heads of State and Civilian Presidents, Chief M.K.O. Abiola, Literary such as Prof. Wole Soyinka and the late Prof. Chinua Achebe.
Also to be awarded are , Chief Odimegwu Ojukwu, Nwankwo Kanu, Alhaji Aliko Mohammed Dangote, Chief Mike Adenuga, Honourable Justice Maryam Aloma Mukhtar, GCON, Sir Abubakar Sadiq III, Pastor Enoch Adejare Adeboye, amongst others.
The award ceremony is scheduled to hold at the Banquet Hall, State House, Abuja.
At the ceremony, President Jonathan would be presenting awards in 13 categories to 100 distinguished personalities, either alive or dead, who eminently symbolise the tapestry of Nigeria’s first centenary.
Some of the categories include, contributors to the making of Nigeria, heroes of the struggle for Nigeria’s independence/pioneer political leaders, pioneers in professional callings/careers, promoters of democratic transition in Nigeria, internationally acclaimed artists, literary icons, journalists, and so on. Click to signup for FREE news updates, latest information and hottest gists everyday
Advertise on NigerianEye.com to reach thousands of our daily users
Good reasoning.
ReplyDeleteGEJ ,pls ignor all of them, they are two face knife, APc. Pls go ahead wit ur plan and frgt dese peopl dat play tribal politic.we knw them..
ReplyDeleteIf they dont forget the past God who created us forget all our sins reject the award is rubish sentiment....they are part of those who did not want progress for naija Tinubu family...
ReplyDeleteGuy its not about the past, im sure most of this pple are ready to forgive and possibly forget cz they are human and they must ve heard what u are trying to say b4 the point here or the pain is that this set of pple that causes this pains or pple that took power after them refused to change!! They still continue to wallow in their wickedness so what do u expect? We should continue to wine and dine with pharous when they are killing our istrealites abi?
Delete@ anonymous 6:15am u are one of d problem of dis country! if ur family is one of d victims of d yobe attack hw wil u feel! nd it is just a mata of tyme u mit also b a victim. such madnes wil neva hapen in d US or UK shame on people dat reason upside down.
ReplyDelete@anon 7.50, abegi. Na Jona kill Fela abi Na im burn kalakuta. Why shud ge now apologise on behalf of federal govt?
ReplyDeletethe yobe killings is regrettable. Jona wish he cud avoid it. Bt he cant b everywhere. He has appointed people to handle this. Do not forget, in every govt (even the US, Russia, UK and other top world powers) there r insiders who sell information to enemies of the State to perpetrate their evil.
we nid prayers, xtians and Muslims (real ones) to pray for peace and continued peace. Egberi fa oooo
@Anonymous 1:15am and 6:19am....you are both fools. What's there to celebrate, when we have just had fresh waves of killings by a sect called Boko Haram. It just shows that the government is insensitive to the welfare of its citizens. Please refer back to the bombing of Boston in USA, Obama had to cut short his trip abroad to attend to the matter and the culprits were fished out. The money used for this wasteful occasion can be used to better equip the army, police force and other security agencies in Nigeria. Other infrastructures are also in the state of decay but neglected to waste money on things that wouldn't benefit the entire citizenry. Long live Nigeria !
ReplyDeleteWas the 50yrs independence wastage not enough? If u find out what the police nd military needs to upgrade, u will see that its less than what has been wasted on these unrepentant rams whose name occupies 90% of those that were to be honoured. Is that the kind of gathering sumone with conscience want to be?
ReplyDelete@anon 9.31, na ur grandfather b fool. Y didn't he fish out d 9/11 attack within hrs. Why did he take him 10yrs after. Idiot
ReplyDeleteAnon.1:15am, be reasonable, rejecting insignificant awards now makes an APC member? Haha! Nigerians, where are your principles?or what are we taking about, three hundreds + parents lost their child(maybe only one) and you guys are talking about awards /APC/tinubu/celebration. (yes let's celebrate our stupidity) and to you that ask that stupid question about who killed fela, I say you're a moron, don't you know that government is government irrespective of who was or is there? If not, why did he (GEJ) pardoned Alam. and co? (he should have allow OBJ to come and do it).
ReplyDeleteHypocrite, bigotry and greedy fellas
Who are the Abiolas trying to fool, Are they not dining and wining with Babangida that annulled the election. Nigerians are wiser now, so buckle it. GEJ does not give a monkey if the other lots collected the award or not…. Who cares about them.
ReplyDeleteHahahahaha! See nigerians ooo, damn! The end is definitely near, Naija is a country of mostly fools(pardon me) but that what it is, just go through some of the above comments you will understand what I'm trying to say.
ReplyDeleteNormally in the wake of this BH evil, we should be sober cause it could be your child or ur sister etc how will u feel or react? Especially if ur girl child is among the girls that were kidnapped, have any of u seen any women trafficking movies lately?what d traffickers do the girls? The way the girls were raped/treated?I'm sure no one will pray for his/her child to experience this. I'm sure most of u commenting has children or will have one day so mind what u say!!
U all shud go to hell. If u were in Jona's shoe, u won't do anything
ReplyDelete