We have known each other for more than four decades. Way back to the days when I and his expatriate wife worked for the same newspaper. He was always friendly, always polished. Then it turned out we had some mutual friends and that helped improve our social interactions. We must have exchanged phone numbers along the way but they were hardly ever used. Until last week when a call came from him. We exchanged pleasantries as I waited for him to ease into his reason for calling – I suspected it wasn’t just to say hello. I inadvertently made it easy for him by congratulating him on his National Award. He had been recognized with some notable people – some of whom I knew in the media – for their roles in the political struggle that followed the annulment of June 12. I knew he was one of those in the trenches, but I didn’t know he was in deep enough to be among those who would be singled out for recognition. His acceptance of my felicitation was gracious as one would expect from such a polished, debonair person. Then he released what to me, amounted to a bombshell, when he said there had been no contact whatsoever with any government agency regarding the National Award. In other words, he was as surprised on the day as any Nigerian was when the list was read out. Prior to the President’s announcement of the award, there had been, according to him, nothing in the mail to intimate him. Neither was there the courtesy of a phone call. The same silent, almost contemptuous treatment has continued since the announcement. It gets even worse. Last year’s awardees are said to have been given the silent treatment as well. No contact has been made. No official gazette has been shown them. No date has been given to receive an insignia or medal from the President. Any awardee who therefore feels it might all have been a dream should be excused.

For context, let us briefly look at what the process is like for British National Honors- the same Honors that we patterned our own after. Theirs will require nominations after which a technical Committee will scrutinize the merit in each nomination. Then, a Selective Committee does its work by selecting according to merit and stated categories while a Reconciliation Committee reconciles the entries to make sure all is tidy and there are no loose ends. After all these have been done to satisfaction, a formal letter is sent to the potential awardee who is required to deny or accept the award while keeping the notification secret. When the announcement is made, the day for formally receiving the honor is stated giving an adequate notice. So each awardee’s right is respected. Each awardee’s choice is respected. Each awardee’s dignity is respected. These are not only salient to the respect given to the awardees, they are also salient to the respect the Award itself earns. To find out on air without a formal notification, that one has been given any award, let alone a National Honor, is an abuse of one’s choices and dignity. Unfortunately, it is also a reflection on the award itself and the quality of people behind it.

This government should seriously look into the caliber and competence of those running its administration. The faux pas is too much. This is another example of it. We have had people who have been long dead being announced for public positions. We have had citations and genders being mixed up on occasions for people who have been offered appointments. These could have been averted by a simple verification exercise. A call to the person involved before a public announcement is made will correct anomalies. It will also accord some respect and dignity to all concerned. Another example of administrative tardiness is the phantom Agency that was given office space and personnel. The fake Agency even allegedly got some appropriation in the budget. So far, no one has resigned for this national embarrassment and we wait to see whether any head would roll now that the result of an interim investigation which had to be ordered by the President due to public uproar, has been submitted.

President Bola Tinubu needs to look into the caliber and competence of those behind the implementation of his policies. No reform can work if the implementation is weak or suspect – we have seen how several and otherwise laudable government economic interventions have failed to reach the people to whom they were intended. President Tinubu was said to have had smart people around him when he was Governor of Lagos State. We saw how that helped in the implementation of his policies which gave his government the desired direction. Lagos State was the better for it. It is a different story today at the national level. The man who was once touted as having an eye for talent is now being seen as having sympathy for mediocrity. Or at best, putting political exigency over competence.

As for the process for picking recipients of our National Honor, the less said for now the better as it should on its own, be a topic for a full discussion. This much I will say though. The idea of giving national honors to Civil Servants and politicians just for the positions they occupy, defeats the entire purpose and leaves a sour taste in the mouth because very few of them are good role models. And each time a recipient of a National Honor is dragged before the EFCC or ICPC – as had happened before – some respect, some honor end up being taken from the Honor itself.

•Muyiwa Adetiba is a veteran journalist and publisher. He can be reached via titbits2012@yahoo.com

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