Tinubu Finally Names Honours For June 12 Heroes After 27 Years

President Bola Tinubu just used today's Democracy Day address to announce national honours for dozens of pro-democracy activists including the late General Shehu Musa Yar'Adua, Ayoka Lawani, Tunde Fagbenle, and many others. He said the Institute of Petroleum Studies in Kaduna will now be renamed General Shehu Musa Yar'Adua University of Geological Sciences and Engineering Technology.

Tinubu also claimed terror-related deaths have declined significantly with over 13,000 terrorists neutralised in the past year and 124,000 insurgents surrendering through Operation Safe Corridor since 2023. He allocated N5.41 trillion to defence and security in the 2026 budget and said they recruited over 50,000 police officers. On the economy he said federation revenues increased and fiscal transparency improved but he didn't mention how common man is surviving.

I like that he remembered Chief Gani Fawehinmi, Chief Bola Ige, Alfred Rewane and Pa Abraham Adesanya. But honouring people 27 years after democracy started? The real question is whether these reforms are actually touching the ground or just sounding good on paper.