The Nigerian National Order of Merit Award (NNOM) is an academic award conferred on distinguished academicians and intellectuals who have made outstanding contributions to the academic, growth and development of

Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...

. The award is often conferred on its recipient by the Federal Government of Nigeria following a nomination and approval of the Governing Board of the Nigerian National Merit Award. Its recipient is often decorated by the

President of Nigeria The president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria is the head of state and head of government of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the Niger ...

. Recipients of the award have the legal right to use the

postnominal Post-nominal letters, also called post-nominal initials, post-nominal titles, designatory letters or simply post-nominals, are letters placed after a person's name to indicate that the individual holds a position, academic degree, accreditation, ...

title: Nigerian National Order of Merit (NNOM). It is the highest academic award in Nigeria and since its institution in 1979, the award has so far been conferred on only 70 distinguished academicians.

List of recipients

Chinua Achebe Chinua Achebe (; 16 November 1930 – 21 March 2013) was a Nigerian novelist, poet, and critic who is regarded as the dominant figure of modern African literature. His first novel and ''magnum opus'', ''Things Fall Apart'' (1958), occupies ...

* Done P. Dabale *

Adiele Afigbo Adiele Eberechukwu Afigbo (22 November 1937 – 9 March 2009) was a Nigerian historian known for the history and historiography of Africa, more particularly Igbo history and the history of Southeastern Nigeria. Themes emphasised include pre-colo ...

Alexander Animalu Alexander Obiefoka Enukora Animalu (born 28 August 1938) is a Nigerian academic, who is Professor Emeritus of Physics at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka. He holds a BSc (London), M.A. (Cantab.) and PhD (Ibadan), FAS, NNOM, IOM A pioneer of ...

David Aradeon David Olatunde Aradeon (born 7 November 1933) is a Nigerian architect, urban planner and curator. Career David Aradeon was born in Lagos, and commenced his Architectural education in 1959 at Columbia University in New York. After his graduation ...

Seth Sunday Ajayi Seth Sunday Ajayi (born 16th May, 1943) is a Nigerian scientist, scholar and the first African Professor of Wildlife Ecology. Early life and education Ajayi was born on 16 May ,1944 in Mopa, Kogi State. He attended the Sudan Interior Mission D ...

J. P. Clark John Pepper Clark-Bekederemo (6 April 1935 – 13 October 2020) was a Nigerian poet and playwright, who also published as J. P. Clark and John Pepper Clark. Life Born in Kiagbodo, Nigeria, to an Ijaw father and Urhobo mother, Clark received hi ...

Lazarus Ekwueme Lazarus Edward Nnanyelu Ekwueme (born 28 January 1936), popularly known as Laz Ekwueme, is a Nigerian musicologist, composer, scholar and actor. He is one of the pioneer lecturers of music in Nigeria and also a prolific writer. He is a schol ...

Taslim Olawale Elias Taslim Olawale Elias (11 November 1914 – 14 August 1991) was a Nigerian jurist who served as minister of Justice and attorney-general of Nigeria from 1960 to 1966, Chief Justice of Nigeria from 1972 to 1975 and president of the International ...

* Etim Moses Essien *

Akpanoluo Ikpong Ikpong Ette Akpanoluo Ikpong Ikpong Ette NNOM (23 September 1929 - 17 September 2018) was a Nigerian Professor of Physics and former secretary and vice-president of the Nigerian Academy of Science. In 1991, he was elected President of the Nigerian Academy ...

* Francis Idachaba *

Ladi Kwali Ladi Kwali, OON, MBE (c.1925– 12 August 1984) was a Nigerian potter, ceramicist and educator. Ladi Kwali was born in the village of Kwali in the Gwari region of Northern Nigeria, where pottery was an indigenous occupation among women. She le ...

Andrew Jonathan Nok Andrew Jonathan Nok, NNOM (11 February 1962 – 21 November 2017) was a Nigerian Professor of Biochemistry and the public affairs secretary of the Nigerian Academy of Science. In 2010 he was a recipient of the Nigerian National Order of Merit ...

* Chukwuedu Nwokolo *

Tanure Ojaide Tanure Ojaide (born 1948) is a Nigerian poet and academic. As a writer, he is noted for his unique stylistic vision and for his intense criticism of imperialism, religion, and other issues. He is regarded as a socio-political and an ecocentric poe ...

* Isidore Okpewho *

Niyi Osundare Niyi Osundare is a leading African poet, dramatist, linguist, and literary critic. Born on March 12, 1947, in Ikere-Ekiti, Nigeria, his poetry is influenced by the oral poetry of his Yoruba culture, which he capaciously hybridizes with other poetic ...

Lateef Akinola Salako Lateef Akinola Salako NNOM, CON (5 July 1935 – 8 December 2017) was a Nigerian academic who was professor emeritus of pharmacology and therapeutics at the University of Ibadan. Early life Lateef Akinola Salako was born on 5 July 1935 in La ...

Mabel Segun Mabel Segun, NNOM (born 1930) is a Nigerian poet, playwright and writer of short stories and children's books. She has also been a teacher, broadcaster, and a sports woman. Biography Born in Ondo City, Nigeria, she had her secondary school ed ...

Wole Soyinka Akinwande Oluwole Babatunde Soyinka (Yoruba: ''Akínwándé Olúwọlé Babátúndé Ṣóyíinká''; born 13 July 1934), known as Wole Soyinka (), is a Nigerian playwright, novelist, poet, and essayist in the English language. He was awarded t ...

* Oye Gureje * Peter Onyekwere Ebigbo *

Oyewale Tomori Oyewale Tomori (born 3 February 1946, Osun State, Nigeria) is a Nigerian professor of virology, educational administrator, and former vice chancellor of Redeemer's University. Life and career Tomori was born in Ilesa, Osun State, Nigeria on 3 F ...

Bruce Onobrakpeya Bruce Obomeyoma Onobrakpeya (born 30 August 1932) is a Nigerian printmaker, painter and sculptor. He has exhibited at the Tate Modern in London, the National Museum of African Art of the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. and the Malm� ...

Tolu Olukayode Odugbemi Tolu Olukayode Odugbemi (born 30 January 1945) is a Nigerian professor of Medical Microbiology, educational administrator and former vice chancellor of the University of Lagos, Nigeria. He was the 9th vice chancellor of the University of Lagos. ...

* Adesoji Adesina * Olufemi Obafemi

References

External links

Nigerian National Merit Award
official website. Nigerian awards {{Nigeria-stub