Tinubu Confers National Honours On Osinubi, Akinnola, Joe-Odumakin, Babatope, Others
President Bola Tinubu on Friday announced national honours for 50 Nigerians, including former Managing Director of PUNCH Nigeria Limited, Sir Ademola Osinubi.
Others include journalists, lawyers, activists and retired military officers, who he said suffered persecution, imprisonment, exile and in some cases, solitary confinement during the struggle for democracy.
Tinubu’s announcement, made as part of his June 12, 2026, Democracy Day address, includes both living recipients and posthumous awards.
A detailed honours list is to be released in the coming days, the President said.
Among the civilian honourees is the immediate past Managing Director and Editor-in-Chief of PUNCH Nigeria Limited, Sir Osinubi.
Joining Osinubi on the honours list is former editorial board chairman of the now-defunct Concord Newspapers, Segun Babatope and Dr Oladele Alake, who served as Editor of Sunday Concord and National Concord and is now Minister of Solid Minerals Development.
Also honoured is Olatunji Bello, who served as editor of Sunday Concord and who went on to become Chairman of the Editorial Board of THISDAY.
Tinubu named Sam Omatseye, former deputy editor of Sunday Concord, former managing editor of Concord Abuja Bureau, and current Chairman of The Nation’s editorial board, as well as former editors of The PUNCH, Bola Bolawole and Gbemiga Ogunleye. Muyiwa Adekeye, a former media adviser to ex-Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai was also honoured.
The President also honoured a list of journalists who were imprisoned by the Abacha regime.
They include Ben Charles-Obi of Weekend Classique, George Mbah of Tell Magazine, Osa Director of Tell, and Niran Malaolu of The Diet.
Richard Akinnola, former Editor of Vanguard Newspaper, is also among the civilian honourees. Ex-Chieftain of the National Democratic Coalition, Dr Arthur Nwankwo, was honoured with a posthumous award.
Ayoka Lawani, Dr Joe Okei-Odumakin, Chief Ayo Opadokun, who served as Secretary-General of NADECO and Prof. Sylvester Odion-Akhaine of the Committee for the Defence of Human Rights are also on the list.
Other civilian recipients include Tunde Fagbenle, Louis Odion, Lade Bonuola, Femi Kusa, Debo Adeniran, Chief Ralph Obiora, Ose Osayande, Osa Director, Dr Osagie Obayuwana, Titus Mann, Joe Igbokwe, Jenkins Alumona, Femi Aborisade, Ike Okonta and veteran journalist and broadcaster, Babajide Kolade-Otitoju.
Tinubu also announced honours for 17 retired military officers he described as “soldier-democrats of the June 12 struggle.”
They include men who, from within the armed forces, either resisted the military annulment of June 12 or suffered professional and personal consequences for standing on the side of democracy.
On the honours list are Maj Gen MA Garba, Brig Gen Lawal Jaafaru Isa, Col Umar Farouk Ahmed, Col Lawan Gwadabe, Brig Jonathan Ndam Temlong, Col Musa Shehu, Maj Gen Chris Eze, Maj Gen Harris Dzarma, Col Isa Jibrin, Maj Gen Joseph Oshanupin, Col Olusegun Oloruntoba (the Olugbede of Gbede Kingdom), Lt Col Happy Kefas Bulus, Col J. Okai, Col Emmanuel Ndubueze, Lt Col Yakubu Muazu, and Brig Yahaya Abubakar, the current Etsu Nupe, who already holds the Commander of the Federal Republic title.
The President also honours Col Sambo Dasuki, who later served as National Security Adviser under President Goodluck Jonathan.
Announcing the tribute, Tinubu said, “I salute labour leaders, journalists, activists, students, women, professionals, political leaders, and soldiers, both those who have passed and those still with us, for their patriotic contributions.
“As beneficiaries of their struggle, we have a duty to strengthen and deepen the democratic institutions for which they fought.
“The greatest tribute we can pay is to build a Nigeria where freedom is protected, justice is upheld, opportunity is expanded, and government is accountable.”
A detailed honours list with specific award categories attached to each recipient will be announced in the coming days, the President said.
A presidential aide who did not want to be named confirmed to our correspondent that the full honours list, with specific award categories attached to each recipient, will be announced by the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation.
So far, President Tinubu has conferred national honours on at least 1,112 people in the past three years in office.
They include Nigerians, foreign nationals, living and deceased.
The number of conferments exceeds the total awarded by his immediate predecessor, the late President Muhammadu Buhari, in his entire eight years, and is three times more than the conferment made by former President Goodluck Jonathan in his single major investiture of 2014.
