President Muhammadu Buhari has approved the conferment of a national honour on the Senator representing Ekiti Central Senatorial District of Ekiti State, Distinguished Senator Michael Opeyemi Bamidele, on October 11, 2022 in Abuja.
This was disclosed in a statement released by Senator Bamidele’s Media Office, stating that the Chairman, Senate Committee on Judiciary, Human Rights and Legal Matters, who also doubles as the Chairman, Southern Senators’ Forum in the 9th Assembly, is listed among the recipients of the 2022 National Honours Award of the Commander of the Order of the Niger (CON).
The letter which conveyed the Award of Honour to Sen. Bamidele was signed by the Honourable Minister of Special Duties and Inter-government Affairs, Senator George Akume on September 16, 2022.
The letter from the Minister reads thus: “I have the honour to formally inform you that the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, His Excellency, Muhammadu Buhari, GCFR, has approved the conferment of the National Honours on you, in the rank of CON, Commander of the Order of the Niger.
“The ceremony is scheduled to take place at the International Conference Centre, Abuja on Tuesday, October 11, 2022 at 9am.”
Bamidele is the Chairman of Southern Senators Forum, and was a Member of the 7th House of Representatives between June 2011 to June 2015) where he served as the Chairman, House Committee on Legislative Budget and Research. He also served as Honourable Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Lagos State between July 2007 and February 2011. Before then, he had served as the Honourable Commissioner for Youths, Sports and Social Development in Lagos State from July 2003 to May 2007 as well as the Special Adviser to the Governor on Political and Inter-Governmental Affairs, Lagos State between July 2000 to May 2003.
Bamidele obtained Bachelor of Arts (with honours) degree from Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile Ife, in 1986; Bachelor of Laws degree (with honours) from the University of Benin, Edo State and graduated from the Nigerian Law School in 1992. He thereafter proceeded to the University of New Hampshire’s Franklin Pierce Law Centre, USA where he bagged a Master of Laws degree in Intellectual Property Law and Licensing and Transfer of Technology in 1996. A lawyer without border, Bamidele passed the New York Bar Exams and was called to the New York Bar as an Attorney and Counselor at Law of the State of New York in January 1999. He is a Notary Public of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
Among the Bills sponsored by Senator Opeyemi Bamidele is a Bill for the Establishment of the Federal University of Medical and Environmental Sciences, Iyin-Ekiti in Ekiti State. He also sponsored the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) Establishment Act (Amendment) Bill of 2021, seeking to strengthen and extend the life of AMCON. The AMCON Bill has already been assented to by President Buhari. He also played a major role in the passage of thee Petroleum Industry Bill as well as the new Electoral Bill, both of which had been assented to by the President and which are already redefining the economic and political landscape of Nigeria respectively.
Bamidele is also a Member of the prestigious Body of Benchers, a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Management Consultants as well as a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, Nigeria.
As a foremost political activist and human rights lawyer during the dark days of military dictatorship in Nigeria, Bamidele says he dedicates the National Honour to the slain and living legends of democracy in Nigeria and to our common humanity at large.
