THE Workers and Youth Solidarity Network call on the Federal Government to stop the merger of the Nigerian National Merit Award (NNMA) with the National Honour Award.
We in the Workers and Youth Solidarity Network (WYSN) is strongly opposed to the proposed merger of the Nigerian National Merit Award (NNMA) with the National Honour Award.
We, the coalitions of workers and youth organisations in Nigeria, are compelled to address the recent decision by the Federal Government to merge the Nigerian National Merit Award (NNMA) with the National Honour Award. We strongly oppose this merger and urge the government to reconsider its decision.
The NNMA is a prestigious award that recognises and rewards academic and intellectual excellence in Nigeria. It has been a beacon of hope for many scholars and researchers, motivating them to strive for excellence in their fields. Merging it with the National Honour Award, which has a broader focus, would dilute the focus on academic excellence and undermine the integrity of the award.
We are concerned that this merger would lead to give a lower profile of the award process, where awards are given based on partisan considerations rather than merit. This would undermine the credibility of the awards and discourage future generations of scholars and researchers.
We call on the Federal Government to prioritise the preservation of academic excellence and intellectual achievements in Nigeria. We urge the government to reconsider its decision and maintain the NNMA as a distinct award that recognises and rewards academic excellence.
During a stakeholders’ engagement in room 201, National Assembly, On Wednesday, 21st of May, 2025, Mrs Mercy Matilda Musa Moro’a the Acting Secretary of the Nigerian National Merit Award said that the Nigerian National Merit Award (NNMA) is a “Category A” Federal Parastatal that is “Committed to Stimulating and Rewarding Intellectual, Academic and Professional Excellence for National Development in Nigeria”. It was established by Act No. 53 of 1979 as amended by Act No. 96 of 1992 (CAP 122 LFN 2004).
The Agency represents the eye of the Federal Government for maintaining a sharp ethical focus on the academic system specifically and the Nigerian society generally, intending to entrench the tenets of meritocracy and a culture of high intellectual integrity in the system. The NNMA Act is herewith enclosed (Annex 1)
The core mandate of NNMA entails the making of the Nigerian National Order of Merit (NNOM) Award, which is Nigeria’s highest Award for intellectual and academic attainments compared to the Nobel Prize. The Award is usually conferred on worthy Nigerian innovators, inventors and other creative intellectuals both at home and in the Diaspora who has contributed significantly to the country’s growth and development.
The NNOM Award is an order of dignity separate and distinct from the National Honours, which its making is premised on the uniqueness of the work of each awardee, through a blind assessment process conducted by established experts in specific fields categorized into four; namely: Science, Medicine, Engineering/Technology, and Humanities including Arts and Culture and any other field of human endeavor. The NNMA Act stipulates that this Award be statutorily performed on annual basis by Mr. President, on the first Thursday of December.
We contend that the Nigerian National Merit Award, which gives the Nigerian National Order of Merit (NNOM) and has only given 79 since over four decades of inception, now 40 have died. There are only 39 alive now. Such an institution must not be allowed to be watered down by capitalist politicians.
We stand united in our opposition to this merger and will continue to advocate for preserving academic excellence in Nigeria.
We also use this medium to call on Nigerian Labour centres, the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC), to stop this attempt to merge the two organisations with different focus.
Comrade Iortyom Douglass Moses
National Secretary
Workers and Youth Solidarity Network (WYSN)
