I am often times baffled at the way some so-called intelligent Nigerians
express their frustrations, play out their fantasies and reveal their dark
thoughts.
In the days following the release of the results of the presidential
election, all sorts of opinion articles have been published, most revealing
the inner workings of the minds of their writers. Most of these op-eds
focus on whom to blame for President Jonathan narrow loss to General
Buhari at the elections. Some have made fanciful commentaries here and
there, whilst certain others have stooped to derogatory remarks which, by
all accounts, are uncalled for. But, that is not where I am going with this
piece.
The first is a reaction to the so-called list of people who caused the
president alleged downfall. There are desperate attempts by some jesters
to reduce the eminence of Okonjo-Iweala by roping her in the scandalous
activities of the likes of Diezani Allison Madueke and Mama Peace. Now,
isn’t that ridiculous? If there is anything an unbiased analysis of the
Jonathan administration would acknowledge, it is the fact that
Okonjo-Iweala added legitimacy, respectability, zest, as well as local and
international acceptance to the GEJ administration.
May I mention the billions of dollars that flowed into the Nigerian economy
from Direct Foreign Investments (DFIs) under the watch of Dr.
Okonjo-Iweala? This is unprecedented in the entire history of Nigeria
economy. Can we even enumerate the number of businesses that started,
blossomed and are thriving because of the friendly policies she put in
place to drive the growth of cottage, small and medium scale enterprises in
this country?
While it may not be a bad idea to begin to reel out the long list of local
and international awards she has received in the last four years, I will
spare my readers the trouble and go straight to the point. Madam Finance
Minister remained committed to her passion of seeing the Nigerian economy
bloom, even to the point of it being acclaimed the largest on the continent
and one of the most promising in the world. This she did regardless of
various attacks from vested interests who are averse to the structures she
put in place to block leakages and pilfering in the system, whereas some of
them are simply jealous of her portfolio as Coordinating Minister of the
Economy.
I wonder if any of those writing these articles have ever read Mrs Iweala
profile. Do they know anything about her academic and professional
background before she became minister? Do they imagine that heading the
Nigerian finance ministry is the highest office she has occupied, or that
her earnings while serving as minister are anything compared to what she
was being paid before? Some may not have the answers to these questions,
and I have decided to take it upon myself to fill in the blanks for them,
thus ending their ignorance.
Madam Okonjo-Iweala came into the Nigerian polity at a time when the
nation economy was badly in need of restructuring. And President Obasanjo
sought out the best head for the job. She came in with a mouth-watering
reputation, was widely renowned as a developmental economist to the thrill
of us all, then she delivered and she left. Did her career end there? No.
She went on to become Director at the World Bank and was at a time
considered for the World Bank presidency. When she leaves her office as
Coordinating Minister of the Economy on May 29, 2015, I can assure you, it
will not be to sit in some corner biting her nails and scheming how she
might publish some ten-pager as to re-launch herself back to reckoning like
the Soludos of this world. She was born to shine, and shine she always will.
She is an example that hard work pays off. When she joined the Jonathan
administration, she had a local and international reputation that few
people can boast of. The accolades, awards and commendations have increased
since then. She will leave with her reputation intact because despite all
the best efforts of her political enemies to mar her stellar reputation,
the international community and those that know better are not deceived;
they know a gem when they see one.
When someone lends her talents, skills and even put her reputation on the
line to manage her country’s economy, posterity will forever remember her
for good for selfless service to fatherland. While we may be subjective
here, biased even, there are tons of records to prove that Ngozi
Okonjo-Iweala is in a class of her own.
I think her haters are just scared that some other government, institutions
or organisations who know her worth will quickly grab her off the market;
thus further skyrocketing her career, and ultimately prove them wrong or
reveal them for whom they really are: haters!
Secondly, some of our people have this very abominable habit of always
looking for whom to blame when things go wrong. Jonathan lost, so people
must be blamed. May I ask at this point, has Jonathan told you he blames
anyone? If the President is mature enough to move on with his life rather
than looking for whom to blame, I think we should all borrow a leaf from
him. Mind you, these jesters are not looking for accountability here. They
are rather more interested in the drama that results from throwing dirt.
I am all for people having opinions and enjoying the freedom to express
them, but I have found that some Nigerians are too fond of dishing out
uninformed opinions which and then passionately carrying on with it in
order to make a name for themselves as social commentators. As annoying as
it is, we will forgive them.
And, why not? After all, in a few short years when Dr Mrs Okonjo-Iweala
adds more laurels to her already intimidating list of recognitions, we are
all going to be saying, That our woman. She is doing Nigeria proud.â€
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Dan Osofisan writes from University of Jos