•••To Recruit 50,00 Policemen
Honours 51 Eminent Nigerians in Democracy Day Broadcast
By Attah Ede
President Bola Tinubu has assured Nigerians of effective security insisting democracy without security is a mirage.
The President made the comment while speaking on the nation’s security situations, particularly recent student abductions in Oyo and Borno states, in his Democracy Day address on Friday.
He disclosed that the 2026 budget commits a record N5.41 trillion to defense alongside the recruitment of over 50,000 police officers.
The President warned bandits, kidnappers, and sponsors of terror to surrender or face the full force of the Nigerian State, stressing that windows of surrender will not remain open forever even though terror-related deaths have dropped by 81% since 2015 with over 13,000 terrorists neutralized in the past year.
The President named 51 eminent Nigerians, including politicians, prominent media icons, pro-democracy activists, and retired military officers who fought against military dictatorship during the historic June 12 struggle to be honoured with national awards.
Tinubu in a nationwide broadcast on Friday, marking 27 years of unbroken civilian rule in commemoration of the 2026 Democracy Day, paid tributes to the late Chief M.K.O. Abiola, the winner of the annulled June 12, 1993 presidential election, and other icons.
He insisted that while Nigeria’s democracy is not perfect, it remains the ultimate vehicle for national development.
Prominent among those listed for national awards includes; chieftain of the ruling All Progressives Congress APC, Joe Igbokwe, National Democratic Coalition (NADECO) chieftains Chief Ayo Opadokun, Chief Ralph Obioha, and Dr. Arthur Nwankwo (posthumous); media veterans Lade Bonuola, Femi Kusa, Sir Ademola Osinubi, and Dele Alake; and activists Dr. Joe Okei-Odumakin, Richard Akinnola, and Prof. Sylvester Odion-Akhaine.
Significantly, the President recognized “soldier-democrats” who opposed military junta regimes, including retired Colonels Sambo Dasuki and Lawan Gwadabe, Major-General Ishola Williams, and the Etsu Nupe, Brigadier Yahaya Abubakar.
The President also approved the renaming of the Institute of Petroleum Studies, Kaduna, as the General Shehu Musa Yar’Adua University of Geological Sciences and Engineering Technology.
On the economic front, the President defended his administration’s aggressive reforms as a necessity to salvage public finances, stating that the next phase of his administration is to ensure that democracy is felt in the pocket of everyday citizens by tackling inflation and boosting local production.
To resolve the chronic electricity crisis, the President announced that the Presidential Power Sector Task Force has been authorized to raise a 4 trillion Naira bond to clear legacy debts drowning the power value chain, adding that the Electricity Act, which decentralizes power generation to states, is already yielding results.
Reaffirming his commitment to grassroots development, Tinubu emphasized his administration’s push for full financial autonomy for the 774 local government areas, attributing the rise in rural insecurity to the collapse of local governance.
He appealed to the political class and institutions to protect democratic guardrails ahead of the upcoming Ekiti and Osun governorship elections, adding that while the generation of the nation’s founding fathers secured independence and the generation of June 12 secured democracy, the current generation must now secure prosperity.
