President Bola Tinubu has conferred the national honour of Commander of the Order of the Federal Republic (CFR) on Abubakar Dangiwa Umar, a retired colonel and prominent June 12 advocate.
Tinubu announced the honour on Thursday during the
inauguration of a 300-bed hospital and vocational training institute in Kaduna.
Umar, a former military officer and outspoken critic of
successive governments, was described by the president as a “soldier of
democracy”.
Tinubu said Umar’s name was inadvertently left out of the
list of June 12 honourees announced on Democracy Day.
“Let me use this opportunity to correct an omission. Some of
those people that I missed out during the June 12 broadcast at the National
Assembly is Colonel Dangiwa,” he said.
“Today, let me correct that by honouring him with national
recognition of CFR.”
Umar, who served as military governor of Kaduna and later
became a vocal advocate for democratic reforms, was a key figure in the
campaign against the annulment of the June 12, 1993, presidential election.
His omission from the June 12 honours had sparked criticism
from some civil society actors and democracy advocates.
Tinubu said the national honour was a recognition of Umar’s
courage and steadfastness in the struggle for democracy.
On June 12, Tinubu conferred national honours on 66
individuals who played defining roles in Nigeria’s struggle for democracy.
The president announced the honours while addressing a joint
sitting of the national assembly.
Among the honourees were Shehu Musa Yar’Adua, Humphrey
Nwosu, and Kudirat Abiola, posthumously recognised for their critical roles.
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