Determined to bring about a positive behavioural modification to re-define the country's image, a federal lawmaker, Honourable Femi Gbajabiamila, has suggested that prospective nominees for national honours merit the honour must be properly scrutinised by the National Assembly.

That, he said, is the only way is to ensure that the prospective nominees merit the honour.

Gbajabiamila, who is the Action Congress, AC's leader and minority whip, espoused this view in an exclusive interview with LEADERSHIP SUNDAY.

Gbajabiamila had, only last Thursday, suffered what most Nigerians saw as a major and undeserving legislative setback when he presented his bill on the floor of the House of Representatives.

Entitled: National Honours Amendment Bill, it sought to put in place modalities that, after institutional standardisation and regulatory procedures for recognising and endorsing nominees, would ensure that only those deserving of such honours received them.

To get his bill passed, by convincing his colleagues, Gbajabiamila, stirred a controversy by suggesting that a former Inspector-General of Police, Alhaji Tafa Balogun, who was convicted of corruption and dismissed from the Force, be stripped of his national award by the presidency.

His words: "You and I know. Again, the truth must be told. It is just that it may not be appropriate. For me, I will not do it, to begin to mention names on the floor of the House of Representatives. But we know that there are so many people, so many people. Let me mention one, if I must do so. Which objective person in Nigeria; which objective legislature; which objective individual amongst our constituents in the 774 local government councils in Nigeria, will say that today, Mr Tafa Balogun deserves a national awards?

He queried "Why should Tafa Balogun receive a national award?. Tafa Balogun was decorated with the honour immediately after the 2003 general elections. Thereafter, he was convicted of fraud.

According to Gbajabiamila, despite Balogun's conviction, he still holds the award.

"He still holds a pretty high national honours. But I don't mean to single him out but he name jumped out.

"And, yes, to answer your question; it is possible but that will depend on the honourable members of the House of Representatives to look at a wholesale review of the awards and let Nigerians know the categories and what qualifies owe, for instance, for the award of OFR, O.O.N, CFR or even what qualifies a prospective recipient for an award like GCON or GCFR"?

He added: "There are names on that list I look at and I don't understand what they are doing there and they might be good people. But there are names of people I know that are very good, who have done nothing wrong, absolutely nothing wrong".

In conclusion, he told LEADERSHIP SUNDAY that "there are names of people who have done nothing wrong, who have lived their lives well" but I don't see what brings them to the fore to deserve a National Award," he said. Like any process of confirmation, the names of prospective National Honours Awards nominees should be brought to the National Assembly. And depending on the number of names, and if there are petitions or prospects, or even a member of the public faulting a nominee or nominees, it can be debated.

This, Gbajabiamila explained is a process of confirmation, stressing that, it is better to do something thoroughly no matter how long and tedious it may be but at the end you will know that you have given it the highest level of scrutiny.

"You have looked at it and you have done what you are supposed to do as the people's representative," he concluded.