Khloe Kardashian 'ambushed and verbally attacked by her ex husband Lamar Odom outside the gym in LA'

Golden Jubilee awards: Chukwumerije faults selection of 50 ‘distinguished Nigerians’
By Mudiaga Affe
Senator Uche Chukwumerije has faulted the process of selecting the 50 Nigerians who received the Golden Jubilee Awards, saying the process was unsatisfactory and amounted to an insult on the intelligence of the people of Nigeria. In a letter addressed to Friends of Nigeria Golden Jubilee Special Presidential Awards Committee, a copy of which was made available to our correspondent on Sunday, the lawmaker said there was no justification for excluding notable Igbo leaders, such as the Premier of the defunct Eastern region, Dr. Michael Okpara; Nigerian’s first Senate President, Dr. Nwafor Orizu, as well as the celebrated mathematician, Prof. Chike Obi, among others who contributed meaningfully to the historic development of Nigeria. Chukwumerije, who represents Abia North in the upper legislative chambers, said the criteria for selecting the recipients were not explicitly stated and published. He queried, “Is it pioneer status in the sense of the first to emerge since 1960 in a given field? Or the critical impact of an individual’s endeavour on the development of a given sector? “None or a combination of these criteria explains the inclusion of certain individuals or the exclusion of some others. Why, for instance, was Michael Okpara omitted while all other Premiers were included? Or why was Prof. Chike Obi, our pioneer Mathematician, internationally celebrated by academic peers, omitted? Or Dr. Nwafor Orizu, the first Senate President of the First Republic and Acting President on several occasions were omitted?” Chukwumerije, however, stated that it was difficult to escape the conclusion that the criteria “were subordinated to the ever-overriding factor of federal character.” “This limiting factor was naturally compounded by other congenital Nigeria factors – the same factors that have reduced our National Honours Awards list to a comedy script,” he said.