By Okanga Agila<\/p>\n
But for his antecedence as a consummate media handler, one would have been
\ndisappointed that Presidential Spokesperson, Ahaji Shehu Garba decided to
\njoin issues with the Convener of Bring Back Our Girls (BBOG) and former
\nMinister of Education, Mrs. Oby Ezekwesili for saying his boss, President
\nMuhammadu Buhari does not deserve to be in office. Garba Shehu should have
\nseen through Ezekwesili and arrive at the conclusion that he could have
\nbetter spent the time used on writing the statement dismissing Ezwkwesili
\nfor other uses.<\/p>\n
Without doing any library research anyone can see that this former World
\nBank Vice President is eager to line her egg nest. She left that supposedly
\ncushy job to take up appointment under the Obasanjo government, returned to
\nthe country under Dr Goodluck Jonathan but there was no deal until the
\nunfortunate abduction of the Chibok Girls provided the material to
\nblackmail that government with the formation of BBOG. It took the surfacing
\nof how she misappropriated a total of N458 billion allocated to the
\ncountry\u2019s educational sector when she served as minister between 2006 and
\n2007 to silence her.<\/p>\n
Still along that line of hustling to get on the joy ride she became hyper
\ncritical of the Jonathan government while making it look like she was on
\nerrand for the opposition. Once the new government emerged without her
\nbeing named on the cabinet she found a new cause that saw the BBOG promptly
\nrevived and used to harass the government of President Buhari.
\nThe truth has a way of eventually coming out. Other arrowheads of BBOG have
\neither returned to their full time occupations or find newer ways of making
\ncontributions to the nation\u2019s development while still working to ensure the
\ngirls are one day released. But not Ezekwesili. Not even the dawning
\nrealisation to Nigerians that the group could be more complicit in the
\ncaptivity of the girls can make her behave herself.
\nThe former minister has therefore dusted up what is left of her credibility
\nand deployed it to champion the cause of \u20182000 Nigeria Immigration Service
\nrecruits\u2019 whom she is making to look like hapless victims. Two quick
\nthings: aren\u2019t these the same recruitments that she claimed were made
\nwithout adherence to due process; is this the same former minister who had
\nno qualms about downsizing for efficiency in line with World Bank dictated
\nglobal best practices? One needs ask these question because there should be
\nlimits to grandstanding even when political manoeuvres are called for.<\/p>\n
My expectation is that Ezekwesili would have by now deployed her clout and
\naccess to the Boko Haram intellectual components in pressuring Ahmed
\nSalkida, Ahmed Bolori and Aisha Wakil to facilitate the release of the
\nChibok Girls. That she could immediately be latching onto another cause,
\nalbeit for selfish and adulation purposes, signposts how the BBOG outings
\nhad always been influence courting exercises for a woman who is
\nunaccustomed to being out the influence circle. She has spoken in a couple
\ninterview about how she left nothing behind in government that she wants to
\nreturn to but this latest development has definitely put the lie to her
\nclaims.<\/p>\n
Not just at this recent sit out, her recent comments on national issues
\nbetray a refusal to accept the realities of the time. Ezekwesili mentioned
\nthat the impunity that characterised the Jonathan administration has
\nresurfaced under the present government, which leaves one wondering how
\nmuch responsibility she is willing to accept or if she even has the
\ncapacity to recognise that she must accept responsibility because the
\nfoundation for impunity was laid and solidified under the government she
\nserved and being a minister at that time there is no record that she
\nproductively tried to halt that foundation from being laid. Even with such
\nreckless past, the least she can do is to acknowledge progress being made
\nby President Buhari to undo the damage she and her colleagues did in
\nsetting off that culture. If she called it impunity now what would she have
\ncalled it before the incumbent government scaled back on the abomination
\nthat Ezekwesili\u2019s People Democratic Party (PDP) government left behind in
\n16 years.
\nEzekwesili spoke of hardship without acknowledging her role in how the
\npolicies she actively supported as a minister started off what Nigerians
\nare today experiencing. If she were truly sincere about the plight of the
\nlower income bracket population she should deploy the same tricks her and
\nher buddies at the World Bank use to market unneeded loans to emerging
\neconomies to reverse the damage she has done.
\nThis is why I think Garba Shehu shouldn\u2019t waste valuable time in responding
\nto this woman. She is in need of rehabilitation as the economy of the world
\nhas taken a hit so even a World Bank big wig is not as insulated as one
\nwould assume. Instead of countering or trying to correct the misinformation
\nthat Ezekwesili is putting out, the presidential spokesperson should
\nrecognise it as the desperate cries of a frustrated and sinking woman in
\nneed of intervention.
\nSo when next Ezekwesili goes on her rant, if Garba Shehu has to write
\nanything it shouldn\u2019t be a response but a compassionate memo to Mr
\nPresident to find one small appointment for madam, whose co-convener at
\nBBOG, Hadiza Baka Usman already has a national assignment. It is not easy
\nbeing left out \u201cinside this cold of Abuja\u201d.
\nAgila contributed this piece from Abuja.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
By Okanga Agila But for his antecedence as a consummate media handler, one would have been disappointed that Presidential Spokesperson, Ahaji Shehu Garba decided to join issues with the Convener…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":37410,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-52620","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-articles-opinions"],"yoast_head":"\n