Outgoing President Muhammadu Buhari has approved the conferment of the Commander of the Order of the Federal Republic (CFR) on the Olubadan of Ibadanland, Oba Senator Lekan Balogun, Alli Okunmade II.
As announced by the Federal Ministry of Special Duties and Inter-Governmental Affairs, the first class traditional ruler was listed among the recipients of the 2023 Special National Honour Award.
The Olubadan among the 23 recipients who would be conferred with CFR, the third highest honour in the land.
A former Secretary General of the Commonwealth, Chief Emeka Anyaoku, would be honoured with the Grand Commander of the Order of the Niger (GCON).
75 Nigerians were to be honoured with the Commander of the Order of the Niger (CON), while 39 others would be conferred with the Officer of the Order of the Federal Republic (OFR).
Senator Kola Balogun had, in a letter dated 19 May, 2023, requested that the Minister of Special Duties and Inter-Governmental Affairs, Senator George Akume, present and recommend the Olubadan for the CFR Award to the outgoing President Buhari.
The senator, representing Oyo South Senatorial District, listed the direction of the life of the Olubadan who is also his elder brother and stated that he was worthy of the CFR Award.
The career progression of the foremost traditional ruler, Senator Kola Balogun listed to include his birth, education, work experience and political activities, among several others.
Imploring Senator Akume to present and recommend the first class traditional ruler for CFR national award, Senator Balogun wrote:
“His [Oba Lekan Balogun] political career commenced in 1978 when he joined the late Alhaji Aminu Kano’s Peoples Redemption Party (PRP) where he rose to the position of deputy national secretary.
“He was a presidential aspirant in the Social Democratic Party (SDP) and later governorship candidate of the Nigerian People’s Party (NPP) in Oyo State.
“The military interventions put a halt to his political aspirations for 16 years before his return in 1999 when he contested and won the Senate seat of Oyo Central Senatorial District as the Distinguished Senate in the fourth Senate.
“Between 1999 and 2003, he was the chairman, Senate Committee on National Planning, member of the Senate Committees on Appropriations, Security and Intelligence, Police Affairs, Defence and Army.
“As the monarch rose in politics, he also rose in the traditional chieftaincy hierarchy of Ibadanland, culminating in his position as the Otun Olubadan of Ibadanland, one of the two most senior chiefs in Ibadanland.
“[This was] prior to his ascension to the prestigious throne of the Olubadan of Ibadanland on 11 March, 2022.
“The oba has also just been appointed as the Chancellor of Sa’adatu Rimi University of Education, Kumbotso, Kano by the Government of Kano State.
“Kabiyesi, Oba, Dr, Senator Mohood Olalekan Ishola Balogun Aliiwo, Alli Okunmade II is a renowned technocrat, an author, a scholar, an astute and a rare breed politician, a businessman and philanthropist.”
