By Matthew Mahmood
Dr (Mrs) Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala
The Rivers State Governor Rotimi Amaechi and Nigeria’s Finance Minister Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala disagreed on the state of the nation after the new PDP called for her resignation due to lack of performance in office. It must be emphasised that the former World Bank Managing Director was Nigeria’s Finance Minister in 2003 and resigned as a Foreign Affairs Minister in 2006. She was re-appointed as Nigeria’s Finance Minister in 2011.
Shortly after she was re-appointed by President Goodluck Jonathan, she said that her job was to create employment which was giving her sleepless nights. She probably lost touch with reality since she started her current job due to reasons that are unknown. The figures she presented as her defence for job creation in Nigeria is not showing on the average school leaver or graduate. At the same time, the Presidency should not have shifted all the nation’s unemployment problems on her as if she were a magician. Moreover,too much was expected from her because of her previous international position.
Some supporters of the presidency were fond of accusing critics of not offering solutions to problems. You don’t need to be a finance expert to create employment anywhere in the world. A few years ago, we made comments on job creation that was not of interest to the Federal Government. The hints that the Presidency took seriously was that of rice production and the appointment of a counter-terrorism adviser although he was later sacked and replaced. The appointment of a counter-terrorism adviser gave us a rest of mind. Of course, some websites and forums also mentioned rice production. We mentioned outsourcing but today the Ugandans were quick enough to beat Nigerians to it. What a big shame for the Nigerian employment sector especially in ICT? Outsourcing jobs are expected to create 100,000 jobs in Uganda yearly and the Ugandan Government recently opened a 'two billion business process outsourcing incubation centre'.
Previously, we commented on revamping the good old “Igbo-made” industries but nobody cares! Jonathan showed too much interest in ‘the annual bilateral trade between Nigeria and China’ when Nigeria should be competing with China. It is easier to create employment in Nigeria because it is a developing country unlike developed countries. Is she actually too big to be a finance minister since she took on bigger responsibilities at the World Bank? Those calling for her resignation were right since the President failed to include her name in the list of nine ministers that were recently sacked. She rebuffed her critics by saying, “I will not resign, I dey kampe”. ‘I dey kampe’ means I am alright in Pidgin English but most suffering Nigerians cannot say that. To make ‘I dey kampe’ worse, it was former President Olusegun Obsanjo’s phrase.
A lot of people were disturbed when she said that Nigeria was not broke but Amaechi recently said that Nigeria’s economy is down. We will refer Nigerians to a political programme Focus Nigeria on OHTV where author Dele Owolowo argued with Nigeria’s High Commissioner to the UK Dr Dalhatu Sarki Tafida. Owolowo said that Nigeria is developing below the expectations of a developing country therefore it is under developing and should be competing with India and China. It’s high time Okonjo-Iweala stops patching the Presidency and tell the nation the truth about the country's economic status. For instance, the Federal Government has disclosed that there could be less revenue or less export of crude oil in 2014. That is not what the Federal Government should be saying without planning and stating how to withstand the shortfall so that it does not have much effect on the nation. Bad news? Yes, it is bad news when the nation depends on crude oil revenue rather than look for alternative forms of exportation or revenue.
I won’t resign, Okonjo-Iweala says, as Governors’ Forum wants her out
FG: Nigeria to Witness Downturn in Crude Oil Export in 2014
Unemployment giving me sleepless nights — Okonjo-Iweala
Okonjo-Iweala: I Dey Kampe, I Won’t Resign
Nigeria is not broke – Finance Minister
POLITICAL insiders in Abuja have revealed that presidential aide Joy Emordi was sacked from her most recent position as special adviser to President Goodluck Jonathan on national assembly matters for objecting to the bribing of legislators with $25,000 each.
Ms Emordi, who has a served as chairman of the Senate Committee on Education during the course of her career, was sacked unceremoniously on Friday. Along with Tunji Olagunju, President Jonathan's special adviser on the New Partnership for Africa’s Development, she was suddenly dropped without explanation.
—Nigerian Watch
Emordi is a lawyer but the President expected her to bully and blackmail the legislature or stage media interviews in favour of the presidency. The ‘poor’ woman was not ready to infringe the rights of anybody, tarnish her image or commit a crime in order to keep her job. If she was sacked for failing to help the president to bribe the National Assembly then she should be nominated as Woman of the Year 2013. Moreover, the new PDP chairman Abubarkar Baraje accused the presidency of trying to bribe lawmakers with $25,000 each for a plot to impeach the House of Representatives leader and the Senate President.
Where did Dr Olagunju go wrong? Most probably his connections with people the President fell out with it. That was why nine ministers were sacked recently. Sacking officials is now like a kindergarten game e.g., I am not your friend anymore therefore I will sack your cronies. How many more heads to roll? May the President not go 'mad' again like the comedy ‘Our Husband Has Gone Again’ by Ola Rotimi (1977).
After members of most Pentecostal Churches in Africa become Born Again Christians, they are expected to change or drop their names especially if such names have anything to do with Idol worship, gods and goddesses. They normally abide by the scripture 2 Kings 17:35 which says, "When the LORD made a covenant with the Israelites, he commanded them: Do not worship any other gods or bow down to them, serve them or sacrifice to them" and Exodus 34:14; Exodus 20:3; Deuteronomy 6:12; Deuteronomy 6:14 etc. Recently, the Olu of Warri, Ogiame Atuwatse II allegedly said:
Henceforth, I submit and present the title ‘ogiame’ to God, the creator, who made the sea and rules over all. Therefore, no Olu or person may bear the title or name that now belongs to God. I nullify all tokens of libation poured on the land and seas or sprinkled into the air in Iwere land. I frustrate all sacrifices of wine, blood, food, water, kola nuts and other items offered in Iwere land. In conformity with the new covenant, through the blood of Jesus, I release the royal bloodline, the chiefs of the Iwere kingdom, the Iwere people and land, waters and atmosphere of Iwere kingdom from all ties to other spiritual covenants and agreements.”
Whoever indoctrinated the Olu of Warri to the extent that he allowed religious dogmatism to interfere with his authority as a king had no regard for the over 500 year old native religion of the Itsekiri clan. The radicals swung into action, protested and asked the king to abdicate the throne. At that juncture, it was easy to assume that the Olu of Warri would abdicate the throne for Jesus Christ his saviour like King Edward VIII of England abdicated the throne in order to marry Mrs Simpson. All of a sudden, the Olu of Warri, the Born Again Christian King made a U-turn and decided to keep his royal name Ogiame which ‘connotes allegiance’ to Umalokun, the Itsekiri deity of the sea etc.
When most people heard the news they were shocked and assumed that a king was trying to convert his people into Christianity or abandon paganism for good unlike most black African kings. Some people felt that he should have stood his ground and put a stop to fetish practices in his domain without thinking of the consequences. It maybe better for a king to abdicate the throne quietly rather than disgrace or tarnish a 500 year old religion, embarrass his people worldwide or try to force a new religion on them. Perhaps he should have tested the waters beforehand by sending anonymous questionnaires to his people before making the announcement because what the masses think is important.
Of course, he is not the first Born Again African King but possibly the foremost Born Again King who tried to change the traditional institution of his authority in Nigeria. The Olu of Warri quickly took the path of honour to correct his 'fanatical' perception of the Christian religion. The Delta State Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan who helped to settle the four-day crisis said it was a leadership test. All hail the king!!
The Olu Of Warri As Daddy Overseer Melchizedek By Ogaga Ifowodo
No ‘Ogiame,’ no Atuwatse II – Itsekiri leaders of thought
Olu of Warri reverts to ‘Ogiame’ title
The Olu of Warri and His God
Several years old, a Princess allegedly ran way with her father’s corpse because she did not want him to be buried traditionally since he died as a Born Again Christian. The chiefs insisted that he must be buried traditionally according to the rites of the throne. We don’t know what eventually happened to the Princess or the body of the late king. What kind of test would Governor Uduaghan call that although it happened in another state?
