By Chiemeka ugwowo, Abuja
TINUBU HONOURS JUNE 12 HEROES — ACTIVISTS, JOURNALISTS, SOLDIERS GET NATIONAL AWARDS
President Bola Tinubu has rolled out national honours for a wide list of Nigerians who played key roles in the country’s pro-democracy struggle linked to the historic June 12 crisis.
The President said the awardees paid the price of freedom through persecution, arrests, exile, intimidation and years of resistance in the battle to restore democratic rule to Nigeria.
June 12 remains one of Nigeria’s most defining political moments — triggered by the annulment of the 1993 presidential election widely believed to have been won by the late MKO Abiola, and the long struggle that eventually led to the end of military rule in 1999.
According to the Presidency, the honours cut across activists, lawyers, journalists, academics, civil society voices and military officers who contributed directly or indirectly to the democratic movement.
Big names on the list include Dr Joe Okei-Odumakin, Ayo Opadokun, Oladele Alake, Olatunji Bello, Louis Odion, Sam Omatseye, Richard Akinnola, Joe Igbokwe, Femi Aborisade, Babajide Kolade-Otitoju, and others widely known in media and activism circles.
Also recognised are posthumous awardees Dr Arthur Nwankwo and Ben Charles-Obi, honoured for their sacrifices in the struggle before their deaths.
On the military side, the Presidency also acknowledged officers who played roles during the transition era, including former National Security Adviser Col. Sambo Dasuki (rtd), along with several senior army officers such as Maj. Gen. Ishola Williams (rtd), Brig. Gen. Lawal Jaafaru Isa, Maj. Gen. Chris Eze, and others.
The Presidency said the move is part of efforts to formally recognise those who stood on the side of democracy during one of Nigeria’s toughest political eras.
It also hinted that the full list of awardees and categories will be made public in the coming days.
