By Donu Kogbara
THE internet and newspapers are awash with bitter criticisms from journalists and members of the general public who strongly object to most or all of the names that made it onto the President’s National Awards list.

Complaints about Jonathan’s choices are also being angrily or mockingly aired in social gatherings across the country and throughout the Diaspora.

I’m in London at the moment and have yet to encounter any Nigerian out here who doesn’t regard that list as largely or totally flawed. And friends who are based in other foreign countries have contacted me to say the same thing.

But while I sympathise with 90 percent of the above protests, I don’t agree with the die hard detractors who are insisting that every single awardee is a thief, killer, election-rigger, fool or utterly unimpressive PDP or Presidential crony.

Dangote, Gbajabiamila, Imoke and Prof.Chinua Achebe

There ARE some worthy names on that list…my cousin, Dame Comfort Obi, for example, the successful owner of The Source magazine and a compassionate philanthropist who has done more charity work than many big men. Comfort is the kind of woman I admire; and I’d have praised her even if we weren’t related.

I also think that those who are condemning Alhaji Aliko Dangote’s award are being unfair. I met Dangote a few years ago, but our interaction was fleeting. We barely spoke, so I can’t be accused of defending him for the wrong reasons.

Dangote’s critics say that his business practices are dodgy. And they may be right. But until I see evidence that he has broken the law, I will view him as an immensely talented entrepreneur who is globally respected. Wherever I go in the world, people have heard of him. He has also created a lot of jobs.

And there are others on Jonathan’s list who deserve the recognition they have received. But only God knows why Jonathan decided to also bestow awards on so many downright dubious and inoffensive-but-mediocre individuals this year.

Is it not reasonable to say that you significantly undermine your awards system when you use it to elevate people whose reputations are far from pristine?

And what, may I ask, is the point of honouring a bunch of serving government officials, most of whom have not hitherto achieved anything to write home about or displayed any outstanding qualities…and will, if their track records to date are anything to go by, probably never shine in any way?

OK, some governors, ministers, top civil servants, senior security personnel, etc, ARE above-average or may eventually turn out to be above-average in future.

But would it not have been better to wait until they have completed their tenures?…and to then honestly assess their performance as a whole and to only reward those who had been consistently effective or especially ethical?

Why did Jonathan tarnish his image by jumping the gun and dishing status symbols out to people who have, in some cases, only been in office for months?

The outcry has been so widespread that Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila, the Minority Leader of the House of Representatives, gained an army of fans when he firmly turned his back on the prestigious Order Of The Federation (OFR) award he was offered and made the following points in a letter he wrote to the President:

“…The National Award is a national honours award and not a president’s award…and [it should be] reserved only for the best…You do not give an award to the office but to the person who occupies that office…

“…Any serious question or doubt as to any name on the list taints the whole list and, as is often said, one rotten egg spoils the whole basket…year in year out, we have had many rotten eggs on our honours list. This has reduced what otherwise was a well-intended and noble idea into a national joke…”

Gbajabiamila concluded by saying that while he has done his best to be a good legislator and leader, he does not believe that he has done enough to have earned a national honour but hopes that he will deserve one in future.

It is very rare for a Nigerian VIP to be so modest, so reluctant to accept applause that isn’t tied to concrete attainments, so keen to accomplish as much as possible for his constituents and so willing to deprive himself of trophies.

Gbajabiamila is the type of highly principled gentleman who can add a great deal of value to our ailing body politic. May he go from strength to strength.

Most observers were equally thrilled when Chinua Achebe, the celebrated novelist and academic, rejected his own award…on the grounds that Jonathan has not yet solved the huge problems that are holding Nigeria back.

Dr. Reuben Abati, the President’s spokesman, reacted to this rebuff on behalf of his Boss by issuing a very charming press release in which Achebe (who currently resides abroad) was addressed like the revered intellectual icon he is and was gently invited to come home to see, with his own eyes, the progress that Jonathan, according to Abati, is making in areas like electoral reform.

Abati really tried-o! If I had been in Achebe’s shoes, my heart would have been melted by that warm, deferential and stylishly-worded press release. But it’s good that Achebe is tougher than I am and has flatly refused to budge!

All of us, as stakeholders in Nigeria Inc – a state that has been failing woefully since time immemorial – must demand the highest standards from our leaders and have the guts to resist the temptation to respond sentimentally to any appeals that are directed at us before multiple wrongs have been fully righted.

We must basically ensure that we do not fall into the trap of allowing ourselves to be fobbed off by platitudes. The proof of the pudding is in the eating…not in the talking about the eating! And I have yet to be convinced that this Administration is sincere about issues like electoral or petroleum sector reform.