ENUGU, Nigeria (VOICE OF NAIJA)- An Igbo group, Coalition of South-East Youth Leaders (COSEYL), has described the National Honours Award as embarrassment to Nigeria, and called on those presented with the award to return them.
The group noted that the Federal Government should not have given out the awards following the numerous challenges it is facing.
President General of the group, Goodluck Ibem, in a statement, said: “This amount to dancing on the graves of Nigerians who died hungry and killed by Boko Haram and other terrorists.
“No nation celebrates when its people are killed mercilessly. It baffles us that in the midst of all these anomalies, the government of President Muhammadu Buhari would be giving a national award to Nigerians.
“Without mincing words, this awards is an insult and a national embarrassment to dead Nigerians killed by Fulani Jihadists and terrorists, it is an embarrassment to those who are now ‘refugees’ in their own country and an insult to those are going to bed hungry under the very watch of this present administration.
“How can Nigerians be killed and kidnapped on daily basis and somebody is celebrating national award honours? Is there any honour in kidnapping that have taken over the country? Is there any honour in surrendering our hard-earned independence and sovereignty to terrorists?
“This administration is truly shameless for organising a national award in the midst of all these anomalies. This awards is not a ‘national honours awards’ but a ‘national disgraceful awards’.
“We call on Nigerians who have any integrity left in them to return those awards until when things are done properly before they can consider accepting any national award.”