National honours: What a running splash of rust and gold? KAYODE KETEFE Monday, November 14 2011 was a day of another national ritual in Nigeria. It was a day an eclectic mix of Nigerians from all callings were conferred with national honours of diverse categories at a grand ceremony held at the International Conference Centre Abuja. Coveted honour insignias in all categories were on offer, such as Grand Commander of the Order of the Federal Republic (GCFR) Grand Commander of the Order of the Niger (GCON) Commander of the Order of the Federal Republic (CFR) Commander of the Order of the Niger (CON), Officer of the Order of the Federal Republic (OFR) Officer of the Order of the Niger (OON) Member of the Order of the Federal Republic (MFR)Member of the Order of the Niger (MON) Those adjudged entitled for the honour last year were combined with this year's beneficiaries at the "great" festival. Thus, in one fell swoop, a whopping 355 awardees smiled home with national medals glittering on their necks-oh no! Minus those who did not have any because of medal shortage! It was John Pepper Clark-Bekederemo, who in his poem on Ibadan, described the ancient city as a place where "Running splash of rust and Gold, flung and scattered among seven hills like broken china in the sun" If Clark-Bekederemo, was at his artistic best with the description of Ibadan incongruities which he succinctly couched in such compelling imageries, last Monday "festival of honour" was an occasion of equally graphic incongruity, where mediocrity mingled comfortably with merits. Over the years, our national awards scheme has come under severe criticisms for having being politicised and liberalised to the extent of being blind to true merits whereupon many deserving persons have been left out while dubious characters have been brandishing the medals with glee. Deliberate attempt will be made in this piece not to zero-in on any individual among the awardees as being unworthy of the honour because that may smack of malice aforethought, and at any rate, it will not be fair to the person. After all, nobody bestows the award on himself or herself, and what is more, it is not everybody that is capable of psycho-analytic self-discovery as to probe his/her person beyond the illusion of self-importance and reach objective assessment of whether or not he has done enough to merit the award. The vitriol will therefore centre on the system that has failed to recognise what constitutes merits; a system that is simply incapable of discriminating between mediocre and superlative performances. This year award elicited another controversy when the popular writer of the evergreen classic, "Things Fall Apart" Prof. Chinua Achebe rejected the award of Commander of the Federal Republic (CFR). The legendarily Achebe who sensationally rejected the award when it was first offered to him during the presidency of President Olusegun Obasanjo, had alleged that nothing had changed in the polity for the better since he spurned the award in 2004. Achebe said "The reasons for rejecting the offer when it was first made have not been addressed let alone solved. It is inappropriate to offer it again to me. I must therefore regretfully decline the offer again," But just imagine the blunder? One should have thought Achebe would have been consulted, having rejected the award once, to ascertain his stance on the unsolicited offer. It should be obvious that a man of Achebe's standing should be presumed to know his mind and would not be swayed by anything contrary to his principles. Both the blunder of offering the honour to Achebe again without consultation and absurdity of shortage of medals which marred the ceremony belonged to the same brand of failing-poor planning and slipshod organisation. But that is not all, what about the blunder of offering the same OFR award to the former Vice Chancellor of Beni, Prof. Grace Alele-Williams-an award already conferred on her 10 years ago! Is this reflective of our poor record keeping compounded by collective amnesia? Prior to Achebe's rejection, the Minority Leader in the House of Representatives, Mr. Femi Gbajabiamila, also had rejected his nomination for the award of Member of the Federal Republic on the grounds similar to Achebe's. He insisted that he had not done enough to his fatherland to merit the award.. According to the National Honour Act, 1964, the only criterion for the eligibility is rendering of "meritorious and distinguished service to the nation. Now, how many of the recipients of the awards this year have indeed rendered quantitatively and qualitatively measurable meritorious services to the nation in accordance with the eligibility criterion? May be just 40 per cent of the lot! National awards, the world over are meant to honour achievers who have posted landmark accomplishments worthy of celebration. But sadly enough in Nigeria, the same question mark which has hovered on the award of National Honours also haunts selections made in other categories of national awards and recognitions like Nigerian National Merit Award, National Productivity Merit Award, and National Creativity Award. It is against the above background that Achebe's "refusal to be honoured" could be contextualized and understood; Achebe did not want to exacerbate the incongruity of "running splash of rust and gold" already plaguing the awards. He also wants to show his dissatisfaction with the stagnation, if not retrogression, in the country despite eleven years of civil rule. We should strive to restore the prestige of the awards and not allow things to fall apart with our national merit scheme. |
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