PRESIDENT TINUBU CONFERS CFR ON ABUBAKAR UMAR, APOLOGISES FOR OMISSION
BY TAIWO BASIRAT ADELEKE
GREATRIBUNETVNEWS–President Bola Tinubu has awarded the prestigious Commander of the Order of the Federal Republic (CFR) honour to retired Colonel Abubakar Dangiwa Umar, a key figure in Nigeria’s June 12 democracy struggle. The President also extended an apology for initially omitting Umar from the national honours list.
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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 on during the June 12 broadcast at the National Assembly is Colonel Dangiwa. Today, let me correct that by honouring him with national recognition of CFR,” he said.
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.
