President Bola Tinubu on Friday conferred the second highest national honour of Grand Commander of Order of Nigeria on the Awujale and paramount ruler of Ijebuland, Oba Sikiru Adetona, for his immeasurable and invaluable contributions to national development.

Tinubu gave the honour at the 90th birthday ceremony of the paramount ruler held at the Oba Sikiru Adetona School of Governance, Olabisi Onabanjo University, Ago-Iwoye, Ogun State.

“Because Oba Adetona has honoured our country and humanity with his many years of meritorious service, I therefore, on this special occasion of his 90th birthday ceremony, confer on him the second highest National Honour of Grand Commander of the Order of Niger (GCON),” Tinubu said.

The President, who was represented by Vice President Kashim Shettima, also announced that the National Institute of Policy and Strategic Studies, Kuru, Jos has been directed to take over the management of Oba Sikiru Adetona School of Governance which the royal father bequeathed to the university.

The President described Awujale as an extraordinary royal father and hero of Nigeria’s democracy who is adored all over the country for his sincerity of purpose and courage in the face of any adversity threatening national development.

The event also featured the presentation of a book “Reinventing Governance in Nigeria: The Oba (Dr) Sikiru Kayode Adetona Model” as well as the Oba Sikiru Annual Professorial Chair lecture delivered by Prof Akinsola Agagu.

Agagu spoke on “Changing Nigeria’s Governance Narratives”.

Speaking on the monarch, Tinubu said, “Kabiyesi Adetona deserves all the accolades we can accord him because he earned them.

“In the last 64 years, Kabiyesi had served the people of Ijebuland with a clear vision and rare dedication. It is not surprising that his kingdom and people have continued to thrive.

“While we rejoice with the highly revered Oba Adetona today, it is important to say that what we are celebrating is much more than his 90th birthday. In Oba Adetona, we are celebrating courage, dignity, honour and a life that is only committed to duty and service.

“In times of adversity, Oba Adetona showed kingly and firm character. He stood his ground and confronted oppression during our struggle for the restoration of democratic rule between 1992 and 1999.

“If democracy is blossoming in our country today it is because patriarchs like Oba Adetona stood on the side of the people”

He disclosed that as a result of many years of meritorious service to the country and humanity, “the Federal Government has decided to bestow the second highest national honour of Grand Commander of Order of Nigeria, on Oba Adetona as a reward for his selfless service to the fatherland.”

Speaking earlier, the Governor of Ogun State, Dapo Abiodun, described the paramount ruler as a bundle of talent, and an incorruptible monarch who is fiercely committed to justice, fairness and upliftment of the nation.

Abiodun celebrated Oba Adetona for being a foremost promoter of religious tolerance and peaceful coexistence saying that his legendary acts of giving and various philanthropic activities have always made him to be such a rare royal father.

He said the 90-year-old monarch represents the beauty and candour of the unrivalled and ancestral heritage of the Ijebu nation praying the Almighty God to further preserve the traditional ruler for many more years to come.

The programme had in attendance former President Olusegun Obasanjo and his wife, Mrs Bola Obasanjo, Governor Ademola Adeleke of Osun State, Chief of Staff to the President, Rt. Hon Femi Gbajabiamila, Former Governor of Kaduna State, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai, Former Governors of Ogun State; Chief Olusegun Osoba, Sen Gbenga Daniel as well as Sen Ibikunle Amosun.

Prince Harry and his wife, Meghan Markle have arrived in the country for their 72-hour tour to promote the Invictus Games.

According to Daily Mail, they both arrived today after boarding the British Airways overnight flight to Abuja, which was slightly delayed after the scheduled pilot went sick, and a replacement had to be quickly arranged.

On arrival in Nigeria just before 5 am, they were met at the airport, Abuja Nnamdi Azikiwe International by Nigerian officials, and afterwards, taken out of a side door onto the jetty, and into a waiting blacked-out minibus.

Brigadier General Tukur Gusau told MailOnline: ‘They will be tired after their journey, so they will rest and then the first engagement is at midday at the Defence Headquarters.

‘After that, they will travel to Kaduna to meet wounded soldiers at a military hospital there before returning to Abuja for other engagements.’

The visit primarily to promote the Invictus Games, comes after Harry met the Nigerian team and General Christopher Musa at last year’s competition in Dusseldorf, Germany.

It was there that he told the audience Meghan was ‘rooting for Team Nigeria’, after discovering she had heritage from the West African nation.

Harry and Meghan are visiting Nigeria at the invitation of General Musa.

The couple are due to visit a school before the duke meets injured service members at a military hospital.

They will also attend a training session for the charity organisation Nigeria: Unconquered, which collaborates with the Invictus Games, as well as a reception where military families will be honoured.

On Saturday, the couple will attend a training session for the organisation, Nigeria: Unconquered and a reception hosted by the Chief of Defence Staff in honour of military families.

In the afternoon, Meghan will co-host an event of Women in Leadership with Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Director General of the World Trade Organization.

On Sunday, the couple will attend a basketball clinic with Giants of Africa, a cultural reception, and a polo fundraiser for Nigeria: Unconquered.

In 2022, the Duchess of Sussex revealed that she had discovered via a genealogy test that she was 43% Nigerian.

Talking about it in her Archetypes podcast, she told comedian Ziwe, “I’m going to start to dig deeper into all this because anybody that I’ve told, especially Nigerian women, are like ‘What!’ ”

“This is huge for our community. No, honestly, you do look like a Nigerian, you look like my Aunt Uzo. So this is great,” Ziwe, 30, said.

A Nigerian woman, identified as Oluwami Dosunmu-Ogunbi, has made history as the first black woman to bag a PhD degree in Robotics at the University of Michigan, United States.

Dosunmu-Ogunbi recently spoke at the university’s commencement ceremony.

During her address, she said she started her program without having clear idea of what she wanted to achieve.

She said she would use her knowledge in the engineering field to make a “positive impact on the world”.

“A Michigan Engineer is one who does not just provide scientific and technological leadership,” she said.

“But is also one who is intellectually curious, socially conscious, creates collaborative solutions to societal problems, and promotes an inclusive and innovative community of service for the common good.

“We each have a solemn duty to make positive contributions to the world. Well, my reasons for becoming an engineer were initially frivolous, but they eventually moved into something more meaningful. I want to have a positive impact on the world.”

Dosunmu-Ogunbi is the daughter of Nigerian immigrants. Prior to her PhD, she earned an MVP award from the University of Illinois’, Pi Tau Sigma chapter.

The academic has been an active community builder in robotics, earning an MLK Spirit Award from the College of Engineering for mentoring and inspiration as well as being named an outreach ambassador by Robotics for three years running, 2021-23.

She has also been inducted into the Bouchet Society, which recognizes outstanding scholarly achievement and promotes diversity in graduate education and the professoriate.