Former Anambra State Governor, Peter Obi, has criticized President Bola Tinubu and his predecessors for conferring national honours on politicians rather than individuals who have made tangible, productive contributions to the country.
Obi made the remarks on Thursday during the public presentation of The Chronicles of a Legend, a biography of renowned philanthropist Gabriel Igbinedion.
He called for a revision of the criteria used to bestow national awards in Nigeria.
“The GCFR and GCONs should be entrepreneurs and productive people, not politicians,” Obi said.
“We have to change the way we honour people.”
The former presidential candidate praised Igbinedion’s lasting impact in sectors such as aviation, education, and cultural heritage, emphasizing that the businessman deserved greater national recognition for his work.
“We live in a country where we celebrate people who are supposed not to be celebrated. If we do, the celebration we are giving him today would have been more,” he stated.
Obi further pointed out the potential scale of job creation in Nigeria, noting Igbinedion’s efforts in employment. “If we had been a country that was productive, over 20 million Nigerians would have been employed because Igbinedion employed over 17,000 Nigerians,” he added.
His comments come in the wake of national honours and cash awards recently given to the Super Falcons for winning the African Cup of Nations—an act that sparked debate among Nigerians, some of whom argued that individuals in education and security sectors also deserve such recognition.
Last month, President Tinubu conferred national honours on various Nigerians, both living and posthumously, for what the presidency described as their contributions to the country’s progress.
