Global philanthropist Bill Gates is among the 959 distinguished individuals and organisations to be honoured under the 2024 and 2025 National Honours Award list, following the National Council of State approval of the National Honours Award Committee’s report on Thursday.
The Council also ratified a list of special presidential awardees, comprising Nigerians and friends of Nigeria who have made outstanding contributions to national development.
The approval came during the National Council of State meeting presided over by President Bola Tinubu at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
Permanent Secretary, Cabinet Affairs Office, Dr Imanso Umobong, announced the development while briefing State House correspondents after the meeting.
She explained that President Tinubu had in August 2021 approved the reconstitution of the National Honours Award Committee, chaired by His Royal Highness, Justice C.D. Bage Mohammed, with a four-year mandate to review nominations and recommend deserving awardees.
Umobong disclosed that the committee, made up of eminent Nigerians, screened over 5,000 applications through a series of rigorous meetings, eventually recommending 824 recipients for the 2024 and 2025 National Honours, and 135 recipients for special presidential awards, bringing the total number of honourees to 959.
Among the recipients is Bill Gates, who is being honoured for his immense contributions to public health and humanitarian support in Nigeria, particularly through the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s interventions in polio eradication, primary healthcare, and disease control.
Also on the honours roll are living and fallen icons of Nigeria’s pro-democracy struggle, celebrated as part of the 26th anniversary of uninterrupted democracy, marked on June 12, 2025.
They include legendary journalist and publisher Uncle Sam Amuka-Pemu; the Ogoni Nine and other Ogoni activists, honoured posthumously for their environmental activism and sacrifice; as well as members of Nigeria’s Super Falcons and the national Taekwondo team for their international sporting achievements.
Professor Mahmood Yakubu, the immediate past Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), will also receive a national honour in recognition of his service to Nigeria’s democratic process.
Umobong added that the full list of awardees would be published in due course.
