The Federal Government had, as part of the Centenary celebrations honoured some eminent Nigerians who have distinquished themselves in the service of the nation.
Expectedly, controversy has trailed the honours list with some people rejecting, especially the Ogonis, protesting the non-inclusion of late actvist, Ken Saro-Wiwa in the list.
Our Chief Correspondent Calista Ezeaku and photographer Dele Obinna sought the views of Port Harcourt residents on the issue.
Excerpts:

Mr Gboh Ebenezer Fege, Businessman
Truly, what I will say about the recipients list is that there are people who have contributed to the development of this nation, particularly Niger Delta, whose names were not included on the list. For instance, a person like Late Ken Saro-Wiwa, who we know his contributions towards the development of the Niger Delta and Nigeria at large. His name was not on that list. And if you refuse to include such person, how do you think people will believe that what you are doing is fair?  Some people on that list have not as much contribution to the development of the Niger Delta as Ken Saro-Wiwa did. So, for us, particularly the Ogoni people, we are not happy about that. The list is not people-orientated. I think the committee that compiled that list should have sought opinion of members of the public before coming up with the list.

Wele Promise Toochukwu, Public Servant.
Actually, the centenary award is a very good one for the country. I was opportuned to go through the list on a newspaper. I saw the names of those who rejected the award, the likes of the Kutis, Prof Wole Soyinka and Gani Fawehinmi’s families. They said until corruption is entirely wiped out from the country, until the federal government through NNPC accounts for the $20 billion from petroleum proceeds that is missing, until that is given a wider and explanatory view to convince the Nigerian public, they will not accept the award on behalf of their patriarchs.
Actually, I think the award is worth it, especially now that the country has come of age despite our challenges.
However, I think that there are some persons that should have been included on that list. These are human right activities, those who fought for the unity of this country, especially from this our own side, the Niger Delta. The likes of Ken Saro-Wiwa should have been included on the list. I think Saro-Wiwa as freedom fighter and a struggler for the people of the Niger Delta especially his tribe of Ogoni should have merited that  award. The likes of Tam-David West, Prof Nimi Briggs should have been on the list. Prof Briggs impacted greatly to us in the University. He brought sanity into the institution. And for Tam-David West’s quest for integrity, he should have been awarded.

Mr Jeffrey Ifeanyi, Businessman.
Majority of Nigerians don’t even know about the centenary celebration. The awareness is not there. The entire programme for the celebration, including the award is not really publicised, it is not really in the hands of the masses. So, for me, there is no criteria to begin to judge the award recipients, selection procedure. I don’t think I have what it takes to begin to criticise the list.  A committee was set up for the award which came up with the list. We all know what happens in Nigeria, but the committee should be given the benefit of doubt that they did their job. The award can’t be given to every Nigeria.
You see, the problem with our system is that we tend to bring politics into so many things.
There are things we should be doing and allow the process to run it self. There is no point saying you didn’t give the award to this man or you gave to this man. As I said earlier, a committee was assigned to do the job, they had  screened and presented the 100  distinquished personalities. So we should give them that benefit of doubt. Whether they came out plainly or they played some politics in the selection procedure, let us not go into that because these are the things that could create other problems. The country already has a lot of problems facing it – Boko Haram and others.
My emphasis is that this centenary thing is a Nigerian programme and every Nigerian across the country should have the feeling of the celebration. All Nigerians ought to be involved in the celebration either by wearing a centenary tee-shirt, dressing in Nigerian flag colours or anything. The atmosphere all over Nigeria should depict the celebration.
For the award recipients, they should see it as a call to serve. The award should ginger them to make more contribution toward the developing of the country.

Chief Jude Nwoka, Lecturer.
To some, the list is okay. We are celebrating 100years of amalgamation but the integrities of that celebration is what we need to ask. Have we done well within this number of years? Let us look at some major dates in the history of the country. In 1950, we discovered oil, 1960 we had independence, 1970 they said Malaysia came and took palm oil seedlings from Nigeria. Look at those indices, how have we fared?
By now it is expected that we would have had a lot of mechanism to fight corruption because our major problem in this country is corruption. And I am saying that the best way to fight corruption is to deal with corrupt people face to face. You know Nigeria has the best developmental plans. We have good brains, the human capital is there but the problem has always been implementation.
If our leaders will judiciously use our money to do things that are tangible and last over time, people will enjoy it. But this idea of a winner takes all has kept the country the way it is.
So that we are 100years today and people still survive after the amalgamation, we should celebrate, but the real issue is, how have we fared in that 100years?
Now talking about the award recipients, for people like Zik and other, yes they merit the award because of their fight for amalgamation. But after the amalgamation what have we been able to do? Have we left an, enduring legacy for the democracy. Often we are told that youths are the future hopes. Where are the young ones? The old ones want to remain power.
And what are the legacies they are leaving?
What I am saying in essence is that giving an award is not the issue. The people you want to give the award, what is their contribution. What are their sacrifices for the nation? Our past leaders like Zik, Awolowo, Tafawa Balewa never had sky scrapper. They never had 100miilion stories in Kano, 10 billion stories in London. They were simple men with simple character. The same thing with people like Ken Saro-Wiwa. They made sacrifices for the people. How many of such leaders do we have today?

Mr Iheanyi Ezinwo, Publisher.
I think it was a thoughtful thing for the federal government to decide to celebrate 100 years of amalgamation of Nigeria. I think we have come a long way.
And coming to the award, ordinarily the centenary could have been celebrated without the award, but I want to see it as one of the highlights. One of the items that the organisers want use to add colour to the centenary celebration. So to that extent I want to say that it is in order. And don’t forget that 100years is not a joke. Except in some rare cases, many of us who are here today might not be there when Nigeria will be celebrating another 100years years anniversary. So it is an occasion that is worth marking in as many significant ways as possible.
Now coming to the list, I want to believe that the list was compiled by a committee. And members of this committee are Nigerians eminently seen to be qualified to do the job. I want to believe that they were given a guideline for the job I want to also believe that those who commissioned them were satisfied with the job they did. That was why they decided to go ahead with the 100 names.
That is not to say that there might not have been same other people whose names should have been included.
But don’t forget, maybe they were given a target that it should not be more than 100 people.
Now, coming to the controversy, because of the polaristic nature of Nigeria, especially the misguided religious and tribal sentiment that has become so prominent during this administration of president Goodluck Jonathan, the controversies are not unexpected. There are some people who are just there to crticise the  policies of this administration. Remember when there were plans to declare a state of emergency in three states some people opposed it but at the end of the day, Nigerians saw reasons with the government. Ogoni people are saying that somebody like Ken Saro-Wiwa should have been included among awardees. Then the family of Gani Faweni is rejecting the honour because they say that it is impossible for them to stand on the same podium to receive the same award with somebody they alleged contributed to the early demise of their father. So the controversies are expected. There is no how you compile the name that there will be no controversy.
There is no how that list can accommodate everybody who has contributed significantly to the development of this nation.
On the question of whether some names on the list ought not to have been there, it depends on the criteria used in selecting the people. If I’m the one drawing the criteria, I can say somebody like Abacha shouldn’t have been included because his administration brought untold hardship to us in this country, not to talk about the massive looting. As a matter of fact, if I were to draft the criteria, all the past military heads of state should not be included.  So I want to appeal to Nigerians to give this present administration the benefit of doubt because I want to believe that the president means well.