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Buhari’s Award of GCFR To M.K.O Abiola Illegal — Ex-CJN
The award of Nigeria’s highest national honour on late Moshood Abiola is illegal, a former Chief Justice of Nigeria has told this to newsmen.
President Muhammadu Buhari on Wednesday evening named Mr Abiola, winner of 1993 presidential election that was annulled by former dictator Ibrahim Babangida, a holder of the Grand Commander of the Federal Republic, GCFR, 20 years after his death in 1998.
Alfa Belgore, CJN from 2006-2007, said the national honours cannot be awarded posthumously, much less the GCFR, which is the highest honour in the land.
“It is not done,” Mr Belgore said. “It is for people living.”
“The only thing they could do is to name a place after him, but national honours award, no,” he added.
Mr Belgore, chairman of the 2016 national honours committee, also said he “was not consulted” by the Buhari administration before the decision was taken.
Mr Belgore said under the 1963 National Honours Act, only soldiers or other servicemen could be awarded posthumous medals for their bravery.
The president also declared that Democracy Day would be celebrated on June 12 to further honour the memory of Mr Abiola.
The move has received mixed feelings, with supporters of the government seeing it as a welcomed move while critics dismissed it as a desperate political calculation ahead of 2019 elections in which Mr Buhari has declared he would run for second term.
President Bola Tinubu has signed into law the bill seeking to reintroduce the old national anthem. Senate President Godswill Akpabio announced this at the joint sitting of the senate and house of representatives on Wednesday, May 29.
Akpabio said the president signed the bill into law on Wednesday morning.
The bill received accelerated hearing in both chambers of the National Assembly.
Lillian Jean Williams, a British expatriate who lived in Nigeria during its independence, penned the lyrics for “Nigeria, We Hail Thee,” while Frances Berda composed the music.
The anthem was however dropped in 1978 during Obasanjo’s military administration.
See the lyrics of the anthem below
Nigeria, we hail thee,
Our own dear native land,
Though tribe and tongue may differ,
In brotherhood, we stand,
Nigerians all, and proud to serve
Our sovereign Motherland.
Our flag shall be a symbol
That truth and justice reign,
In peace or battle honour’d,
And this we count as gain,
To hand on to our children
A banner without stain.
O God of all creation,
Grant this our one request,
Help us to build a nation
Where no man is oppressed,
And so with peace and plenty
Nigeria may be blessed.
We supposed the new generation has to go and start learning the old national anthem now.
Ben Affleck believes he was “temporarily insane” when he married Jennifer Lopez and the star actor is reportedly pushing for a divorce after “coming to his senses”.
The pair tied the knot in August 2022, rekindling their romance 20 years after they called off their first engagement.
Less than 2 years later, Ben has allegedly labelled their relationship a “fever dream”.
Page Six reports the actor is keen to end their marriage, claiming the decision to wed was due to “temporary insanity”.
A source told the publication: “If there was a way to divorce on grounds of temporary insanity, he would.”
They added: “He feels like the last two years was just a fever dream, and he’s come to his senses now and understands there is just no way this is going to work.”
People also reported Ben and Jennifer have “very different approaches to fame” leading to clashes.
Although they recently attended Ben’s child Finn’s school production together, the couple are reportedly living separately despite buying a £47million ($60million) mansion together last year.
Divorce rumours were further fuelled when fans noticed that J.Lo liked an Instagram post about “broken relationships”.
A 30-year-old teacher at Landmark School Mgbakwu in Awka North Local Government Area of Anambra State, Faith Nwonye has been arrested for allegedly beating an 8-year-old pupil into a coma.
The state commissioner for Education, Ngozi Chuma-Udeh, who disclosed this while briefing journalists in her office on Monday, May 20, 2024, said that the school has been permanently shut down.
Chuma-Udeh said she had summoned the school’s proprietor and Nwonye to explain the incident that led to the brutal beating of the primary pupil.
“We received this unfortunate incident from an illegal school in Mgbakwu that a child was beaten to a coma over the weekend. On behalf of the State Government, we invited the proprietress of the illegal school as well as the teacher who purportedly beat the child,” she said.
“We’ve handed the matter to the police for further investigations, as we await Mr Governor’s directives. Meanwhile, the school is closed down indefinitely because it’s not supposed to exist in the first instance. Any parent who is enrolling his/her child in an illegal school is doing so at his/her own peril.
“To the proprietors of private schools, anyone running an unapproved school in Anambra is a criminal. It’s a criminal offence to run an illegal school in the state.
“Whether the school is legal or not, it’s criminal to beat a child. According to the doctor, the chances of survival of the child is 20%.”
The commissioner added that the teacher would be brought to book.
“As soon as the police are done, the teacher will face other institutions against child rights. She’s going to have the full wrath of the law brought upon her over her actions,” she said.
“Anambra state abhors violence to children, women, and any other person. It’s not part of this administration and Mr. Governor is against such.”
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