President Bola Tinubu, on Friday, announced the conferment of Nigeria’s second highest national honour, the Grand Commander of the Order of Niger (GCON), on the Awujale of Ijebuland, Oba Sikiru Adetona, to mark the monarch’s 90th birthday celebration.
The president announced this at the Olabisi Onabanjo University, Ago-Iwoye, during the commissioning of the Oba Sikiru Kayode Adetona School of Governance Studies and the presentation of a book, titled, “Reinventing Governance in Nigeria: The Oba (Dr.) Sikiru Kayode Adetona Model.”
The President, represented by the Vice President, Kashim Shettima, said the monarch deserved the second highest honour in the land because of his contribution to nation-building and meritorious service to humanity.
Mr Tinubu noted that the monarch’s 90th birthday anniversary is a celebration of courage, dignity, honour and a life committed to duty and service.
He also said that the numerous contributions of the Ijebu monarch to national development, particularly in the education sector, had expanded the sector for optimal delivery through various donations and endowments.
He described the monarch as a forthright and exceptional character who stood his ground and confronted injustice in all ramifications.
“He stood his ground and confronted injustice and oppression during our just struggle for the
restoration of democratic rule in the land between 1993 and 1999,” he said.
If democracy is blossoming in our country today, it is because patriarchs like Oba Adetona stood firmly on the side of the people. Motivated by higher and noble ideal to entrench democratic good governance in our country, Oba Adetona recognized the importance
of expanding the frontier of knowledge with his endowment of a professorial chair at the Olabisi
Onabanjo University, Ago-Iwoye in Ogun State.”
Mr Tinubu noted that the Oba Sikiru Adetona School of Governance Studies would be taken over and managed by the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS), Kuru, Jos.
“Because Kabiyesi Adetona has honoured our country and humanity with his many years of meritorious service, I, therefore, on this occasion of his 90th birthday ceremony, confer on him the second highest national honour of Grand Commander of the Order of Niger (GCON),” the president said.
In his remarks, Ogun State Governor, Dapo Abiodun, described the Ogun monarch as a living legend and a phenomenon whose reign has been a monumental success and a pride to the entire Ijebuland and the state at large.
