Founder of the Athena Centre for Policy and Leadership and former Minister of Aviation, Chief Osita Chidoka, has said Nigeria’s national honours system has been hollowed out by politicisation and no longer reflects genuine service, sacrifice, or the true story of the country’s pro-democracy struggle.
Speaking during an interview with ARISE NEWS on Tuesday, Chidoka argued that national honours, which should symbolise a nation’s values, have increasingly become instruments of political patronage, rewarding closeness to power rather than historic sacrifice.
“Our national honours, I’m not sure if the rules are clear anymore,” Chidoka said. “Proximity to power seems to be very well rewarded.”
Chidoka’s comments come amid renewed debate over recent honours lists, particularly awards granted for pro-democracy efforts, which he said failed to recognise key actors who paid heavy personal prices during the June 12 struggle.
“Last year, the President honoured the people he said were the democrats, the people that fought for democracy,” he said. “A good number of people who fought for democracy were on that list, but I thought there was a missing link.”
He said he initially believed further recognition would follow.
“Initially, I said, well, as we go on, I’m sure the President will recognise more people,” Chidoka said.
However, his concerns deepened after the recent award of the Grand Commander of the Order of the Niger (GCON)to Lebanese-Nigerian businessman Gilbert Chagoury.
“When I saw the GCON granted to another Nigerian, a Lebanese Nigerian, Gilbert Chagoury, recently, I felt that, oh, okay, so this is continuing,” he said. “And there is still no mention of certain people who I know paid a heavy price for the June 12 struggle.”
Chidoka stressed that his intervention was personal and rooted in lived experience.
“I know because I was a participant,” he said. “So I decided to use that as an opportunity to call attention.”
While acknowledging that honours have evolved over time, Chidoka said the country has unfinished business in recognising those who confronted military rule, particularly figures from the Eastern Mandate Union (EMU) and the broader NADECO movement.
“If the president and the government of today talk about democracy and those who fought for this democracy, I think we have an unfinished business of bringing the people from the Eastern Mandate Union axis and a host of others who fought for democracy in Nigeria,” he said.
He noted that many of these figures suffered detention, exile and personal losses, yet remain absent from the honours roll.
Chidoka also questioned inconsistencies in the application of honours rules.
“It’s not supposed to be granted posthumously — that was the rule. But President Buhari broke that and gave Abiola posthumously,” he said.
“Our GCFR is reserved only for presidents of Nigeria, but I saw it given to President Modi of India.”
He added that honours originally limited to presidents and vice presidents had expanded over time.
“Initially, vice presidents and co-governors got the GCON, but I’ve seen that expanded to include businessmen,” he said.
Chidoka rejected suggestions that the omission of Eastern pro-democracy actors was accidental, recounting in detail how NADECO became a national movement through decisive meetings held in Enugu.
“If you look at the list of those NADECO leaders who came to Enugu for that fateful meeting, they travelled all night by bus to beat Abacha’s security network,” he said.
He listed several leaders who attended and have since passed away.
“You had Abraham Adesanya, who is late now. You had Adebanjo, who is late. You had Bola Ige, who is late,” Chidoka said.
He noted that the Enugu meeting transformed NADECO into a national institution.
“It was in Enugu that NADECO became a national institution,” he said.
“Dan Suleiman was appointed vice chairman from the North, and NAHCO became both national and international chairman.”
Chidoka said many Nigerians were unaware that key Eastern figures were detained during the Abacha era.
“Many Igbo people do not know that Tatao Mwang’o was in detention on the night Abacha died,” he said. “He was in detention in Enugu with Udenta Udenta.”
He added that EMU figures played critical roles in the formation of the Alliance for Democracy (AD).
“That was how Udenta Udenta became national secretary of the Alliance for Democracy, which was the platform that nominated President Tinubu for governor,” he said.
Chidoka said the honours system itself needed structural reform to restore credibility, including delaying awards until officials leave office.
“I don’t know why people in the early part of their service are rewarded,” he said. “You shouldn’t sit where decisions are taken.”
Reflecting on his own honour, he said:
“I’m an Officer of the Federal Republic. I was given that after almost five years, and I didn’t reject it. I’m saying it is time we rethink national honours.”
He argued that honours should follow clear criteria, including integrity and freedom from corruption allegations.
“The criteria should be clear: you don’t have any corruption case, you’ve served the country,” he said.
Chidoka dismissed the idea that honours are merely symbolic, insisting they shape national memory.
“It is important that our stories are told correctly,” he said.
He stressed the need for younger Nigerians to understand that June 12 cut across ethnic and regional lines.
“There were Northerners who made sacrifices. There were many Easterners who did that,” he said.
“That our national story is not that of division.”
He recalled the courage of NADECO figure Atowangko, who returned to Nigeria after a Commonwealth meeting despite fears of arrest.
“People advised him not to return,” Chidoka said. “But he elected to come back. And people across all ethnic groups came to the airport to receive him.”
“It doesn’t change reality,” he added. “But it changes the narrative.”
Chidoka warned that failure to reform the honours system risks erasing Nigeria’s shared democratic history.
“Nigeria loses a story of a united nation,” he said.
“Nigeria loses a story of rewarding people who went against ethnic pressure to support what was right.”
He linked the debate to Nigeria’s broader values crisis.
“We can’t build a country without values,” Chidoka said.
He said this was why he supported the restoration of the old national anthem.
“It says we should hand over a banner without stain,” he said. “It asks us to build a nation where no man is oppressed.”
Chidoka concluded that national honours should reflect character, sacrifice and service, not power.
“I need to define those values and use them to determine who gets our national honours,” he said.
Boluwatife Enome
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