Hundreds of Bahamians received national honour for their contributions to society on National Heroes Day.  The 2024 national honours investiture ceremony was held at Baha Mar on Monday.

During his remarks at the ceremony Prime Minister, the Hon. Philip Davis said, “these honourees teach us lessons of resilience, courage and the power of determination.  Their stories remind us that we must never forget the sacrifices made to move our nation forward and that in each of us there is the potential to contribute to the greater good of The Bahamas.”

Also on hand was Chairman of the National Honours Advisory Committee and Minister of Foreign Affairs, the Hon. Fred Mitchell.  He told attendees, “this is not America and this is not the United Kingdom.  This is the Commonwealth of The Bahamas.  We drive on the left.  We spell honour, H-O-N-O-U-R.  We write the date 14th October, 2024 not October 14th, 2024.  We drink Cerasee to stop the flu.  We lack to skylack.  We comin’ soon ta’reckly.  We reverse back.  The project is not done and we have miles to go before we sleep.  I hope that the younger one looking on today get the message and they too will pass it on.”

The man who devised the national honours system, Idris Reid was among this year’s honourees.  He received the companion of the order of The Bahamas honour at the ceremony.  Reid spoke with ZNS News  on the sidelines saying, “I’m not very good at having things for myself but I recognized that the government wanted to do it and so here I am.”

Two ceremonies were held to bestow honours on almost 400 persons.