Barely four days to their assumption of office, President-elect Bola Ahmed Tinubu and the Vice President-elect, Kashim Shettima, have been bestowed with the two highest National Honours in the country by out-going President Muhammadu Buhari.
Tinubu was awarded the highest national award of Grand Commander of the Order of Federal Republic (GCFR) reserved for Presidents, while Shettima was awarded the second highest national honour of Grand Commander of the Order of the Niger (GCON) at an investiture ceremony on Thursday morning at the State House, Abuja.
In his acceptance, speech after the conferment, the President-elect Bola Tinubu, said he will not disappoint the trust conferred upon him by the President Muhammadu Buhari and millions of Nigerians.
He also affirmed that he understands the magnitude of the honour conferred upon him and the corresponding task ahead.
“I understand the magnitude of the honour conferred on me today and the task ahead. Nigerians deserve no less.
“You (Buhari) have charted the course and I shall not disappoint you,” he said.
Thursday’s conferment makes Tinubu the 16th person to hold the GCFR Honour.
Those before him are Nnamdi Azikiwe, Obafemi Awolowo, Shehu Shagari, Olusegun Obasanjo, Abdulsalami Abubakar, Ibrahim Babangida, Ernest Shonekan, Sani Abacha, Moshood Abiola, Umaru Yar’Adua and Goodluck Jonathan.
Others who have been conferred with the title include British Monarch Queen Elizabeth II, South Africa’s Nelson Mandela and former Libyan Leader, Muammar Gaddafi.
Buhari also conferred vice president-elect Kashim Shettima. with the honour of Grand Commander of the Order of the Niger.
Earlier, he handed three key transition documents to the president-elect in line with Executive Order 14 mandating the transition council to issue handover notes containing, amongst other things, proposed policy direction to the incoming administration.
