@Alkayy: The warden, the steward and the taxi driver (Y! FrontPage)

by Alkasim Abdulkadir

If Nigeria had a credible and consistent poll in the form of the Gallup poll, the measurement index will have shown that President Jonathan’s popularity spiked momentarily in the wake of the recent national honours. Citizens took a momentary break from the regular discontent with his leadership to hail this gesture, which personifies the identification of the toils of the common man. Nigerians are quick to side with the under-dog, having been at the receiving divide of harsh government policies for several years, they have come to distrust the government and other constituted authorities. In actual fact a huge chunk of the population are of the opinion that the government hates them. What did President Jonathan do differently? Or what it is that he did right? He honoured a traffic warden, the Aso Villa Steward, the honest taxi driver and the designer of the Nigeria flag. In the overall scheme of things this might sound too mundane to celebrate, however, in a country famed for celebrating those who stroll only along the corridors of power and nebulous characters whose only claim to honours is being in the good books of those in power, then it is worth not only mentioning but celebrating that indeed common men and women can toil hard at what they do and get rewarded for it.

The Nigerian National Honours are a set of orders and decorations conferred upon Nigerians and friends of Nigeria every year. They were instituted by the National Honours Act No. 5 of 1964, during the Nigerian First Republic, to honour Nigerians who have rendered service to the benefit of the nation. Remarkably this year individuals like Mr. Ime Usuah, returned Eighteen Million Naira left in his taxi to the owner, even though he makes approximately ten thousand Naira everyday. In a society rife with crime and the hustle to get rich in the blink of eye, Usuah is an inspiring model that unequivocally by his actions shows there more to life than accumulating riches. For CPL Solomon Dauda the dancing traffic warden, it takes more than passion to do what he does, directing vehicular traffic from morning till night with such unbridled love and dignity for the job. There is also Mr. Michael Isaac Onuh who has served nine president’s breakfast, lunch and dinner and yet has remained poor without even owning as much as a house. Aside the national honours, the directive to give them a house was issued immediately. What this had done is immeasurable, for it is only through acts like these that the very ethos and values missing in this country can be rebuild.

The award to the steward, the taxi driver and the traffic warden in addition to the life time remuneration to the designer of the Nigerian flag shows the edifying state that we can elevate citizens to, in ensuring that Nigeria changes one day at a time.

Other awards handed out by the President include that of the Commander of the Federal Republic (CFR). The honorees include the four service chiefs: Air Marshal Alex Badeh (Chief of De­fence Staff); Lt.Gen. Kenneth Minimah (Chief of Army Staff); Rear Admiral Usman Jubrin (Chief of Naval Staff) and Air Vice Marshal Adesola Amosu (Chief of Air Staff). Also to be honoured with the award of CFR are the Acting Inspector General of Police, Sulei­man Abba, and the National Security Adviser (NSA), Col. Sambo Dasuki (retd.) The National Chairman of the All Pro­gressives Grand Alliance (APGA) Chief Victor Umeh; MD/CEO of Diamond Bank, Alex Otti; the Secretary of the 2014 National Conference,Valerie Azinge and the Comptrol­ler General of the Immigration Service, David Parradang, bagged the Officer of the Federal Republic (OFR) Award. Also, 53 other persons are to be honoured in the category of Member of the Federal Republic (MFR). They include the publisher of The Guardian, Mrs. Maiden Alex-Ibru, a veteran journalist, Mrs.Moji Makanjuola and the National President of the National Council of Women Societies, Nke­chi Mba. The list of 55 people to receive the Member of the Niger (MON) award is domi­nated by sportsmen and women. Prominent among them are Blessing Okagbare, a gold medalist at this year’s Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Scotland, and the Most Valuable Player (MVP) of the National U-17 football team, Asisat Oshoala. A traffic warden, Cor­poral Solomon Dauda and two presidential stewards, Michael Onuh and Oba Michael Adesina, also made the list.

Others also include the National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC),Chief John Odigie Oyegun; Governor of Ondo State, Dr. Olusegun Mimiko; the defeated gover­norship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the recent Osun gubernatorial election, Senator Iyiola Omisore; eight serv­ing ministers and seven state Chief Judges are recipients of the Commander of the Niger (CON).

The award to the steward, the taxi driver and the traffic warden in addition to the life time remuneration to the designer of the Nigerian flag shows the edifying state that we can elevate citizens to, in ensuring that Nigeria changes one day at a time.

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Op-ed pieces and contributions are the opinions of the writers only and do not represent the opinions of Y!/YNaija.

 

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