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Reps Pass For Second Reading Bill To Create National Honours Award Commission

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By Gloria Ikibah
The House of Representatives has passed for second reading a bill to enact the Nigerian National Honours and Merit Award Commission.
This piece of legislation which seeks to
establish a Commission to regulate matters related to national honours and merit award was sponsored by the Speaker, Tajudeen Abbas and Rep. Babajimi Benson.
The bill tittled “A bill for an act to repeal national honours act, Cap. N43 Laws of the federation of Nigeria, 2004 and
Nigerian national merit award act, Cap. N122 Laws of the federation of Nigeria, 2004 and enact the Nigerian national honours and merit award commission to, among other things, provide for
establishment of a commission to regulate matters related to national honours and merit award in Nigeria and for related matters (HB.05).
In his lead debate on Wednesday at plenary, Rep. Benson said that the objectives of the bill is to repeal the Nigerian National Honours Act and the Nigerian National Merit Award Act and enact the Nigerian National Honours and Merit Award Act to establish a single commission that will fuse the functions of the respective Governing Boards and regulate matters pertaining to the National Honours and Merit award.
The highlights of the bill are: “Section 1 which establishes one Commission known as the Nigerian National Honours and Merit Award Commission;Section 2 which establishes one governing Board with membership that reflect the federal character of the country;Section 5 which prescribes the functions of the commission;Section 7 which provides for nomination and disqualification.
“The bill which is contained in sub section 3 of section 7 makes it possible for a person to loose and be divested of an honour or award previously given to him if at any time he falls within those disqualified under this proposed Bill.
“Section 22 is the repeal section while section while section 24 prescribes the offences”.
Benson further explained that under the Nigerian National Honours Act, the main objective of the National Honours is to recognize members of the society who have made immerse contributions to national development as incentives to do more and to encourage other members of the society to contribute to nation building.
According to him, it is a way of the leadership of the country tell the citizens that there is no alternative to hard work, honesty, integrity and excellence.
“A National Honour is the highest honour a citizen can receive from his country for service to his country. On the flip side, under section 1 sub-section 1 of the Nigerian National Merit Award Act, the Merit Award is to be given to deserving citizens of Nigeria for intellectual and academic attainments that contribute to national endeavours in science, technology, medicine, the humanities, arts and culture and any other field of human endeavour whatsoever.
“From the provisions of both existing laws that their objectives are to recognize and reward excellence in whatever manner. Both the Nigerian National Honours Act and the Merit award Act established a governing Board with staff who must be paid salaries, allowances and other benefits.
“A careful scrutiny of both Acts established the fact that there is no function so heavy and cumbersome in respect of nomination of persons for national honours and merit award that one governing Board cannot handle especially at a time that all stakeholders are ad idem with the proposal of merging government bodies that perform similar functions to reduce cost of governance thereby making available more resources to disseminate dividends of democracy to the citizens.Also, it does appears that both Acts have become obsolete.
“While the Nigerian National Honours Act was enacted in 1964, the Merit Awards Act was enacted in 1992. It is therefore not surprising that certain provisions that will give credibility to the National Honours and National Merit Award were not contemplated.
“For instance, both Acts did not contemplate a situation where the Honours and the merit award are erroneously given to persons of questionable character or persons whose character has become questionable over time”.
The House passed the bill and referred it to its Commitee on Intergovernmental affairs.
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Insecurity! Bandits k!ll 7 farmers, burn 50 bags of maize in Niger state

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Bandits have k!lled seven farmers, including a vigilante, and burnt 50 bags of maize inside a truck in Bangi, Mariga Local Government Area of Niger State.

Sources on Saturday, November 23, told Daily Trust that the victims had gone to bring the harvested maize home from their farm when the bandits ambushed them, k!lled all the occupants in the truck and set the truck.

Bandits have killed seven of our farmers who had gone to farm to bring the maize they had harvested home. The attackers hid and waited until after the victims had loaded the 50 bags of maize into the truck and were about to take off to return home when they opened fire on them. After k!lling the victims, they also set the truck and the 50 bags of maize already loaded ablaze,” a source said.

He said it was difficult for farmers in Mariga to harvest their crops this year due to k!llings and kidnappings by bandits.

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SAD! Roman Catholic Oldest Priest Monsignor Thomas Oleghe dies at 103

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The Bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Auchi, most Rev. Dr. Gabriel Ghieakhomo Dunia announces the passing unto eternal glory of Rt. Rev. Monsignor Thomas Oleghe, at the Immaculate Conception Cathedral Auchi, during the solemnity of Christ the King

Rev. Monsignor is the oldest Catholic Priest in Nigeria.

Monsignor Oleghe death is very remarkable as the centenarian died during the feast of Christ the King.

The demise of the priest of the order of Melchizedek should be best described as (TRANSITION TO GLORY)

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NECO accredits more foreign schools for SSCE, BECE

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The National Examinations Council (NECO) has given accreditation to more foreign schools to write the Senior School Certificate Examination (SSCE) and the Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE).

The Acting Director, Information and Public Relations, Mr. Azeez Sani, disclosed this in a statement.

The newly accredited schools are in Niger Republic and Equatorial Guinea.

“NECO Accreditation Team visited the Schools to assess their readiness to write the SSCE and BECE.

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“The Accreditation Team inspected classrooms, laboratories, libraries, computer laboratories, workshops, examination halls and sport facilities to determine their adequacy and suitability for NECO Examinations.

“After a thorough evaluation and comprehensive assessment, the schools were granted full SSCE and full BECE accreditation status,” the statement said.

The statement added that the accreditation of additional foreign schools is a testament to NECO’s commitment to providing quality education and assessment beyond the shores of Nigeria.

“With its expanding global presence, NECO is poised to become a leading examination body in Africa, offering opportunities for students worldwide to benefits from its expertise, thus contributing to the advancement of education in Africa and beyond.”

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In another development, the statement disclosed that candidates are participating in the on-going NECO SSCE External in Diffa, Niger Republic.

“The UNHCR School, Diffa, Niger Republic is the first NECO SSCE External Centre outside Nigeria.”

NECO examinations are now written by candidates in Benin Republic, Togo, Cote’ d’Ivoire, Niger Republic, Equatorial Guinea and Saudi Arabia.

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