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Season of Tears: An
Open Letter to Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala. By Zulfikar
Aliyu Adamu Dear
Madam, I
chose to write this letter to you through the public electronic forum of
the World Wide Web, for two good reasons. Firstly, the distance that
separates us and the possibility of a regular paper and pen letter
falling into the hands of sycophants and anti-progressive elements
(within the ranks of the civil service) is a fact to be considered; in
the Nigeria of today. Secondly, I make this letter public because I wish
to share its contents with all well meaning Nigerians, just like you.
For all those readers who do not value or appreciate the immense
credibility, diligence and financial astuteness which you have injected
into the Obasanjo regime, let them copy and paste your name into
google.com for a brief 101 on your achievements, both personal and
otherwise. Matter-of-factly,
I was one of those who thought that your inspiring curriculum vitae
could be dented by your venturing into a government suffering from
chronic mediocrity complex and a simultaneous lack of direction and
priorities. However, you probably posses more sense of patriotism than
many of us who cannot truly justify our sojourn abroad, as a result of
your simple act of serving the Nation. Thank you for risking your
credibility in the name of the Fatherland. Its people like you that the
national anthem refers to when it says “…Arise O’ compatriots,
There
is no doubt that you were chosen to be the Finance Minister due to many
reasons other than merit and qualification. Notably, you are obviously
filling a gap of Federal quota that seeks to involve all Nigerians in
the collective act of governance. Nevertheless, I wonder how in touch
you were with happenings and mishaps at home while you were with the
World Bank; and if you were, I ponder how well you have been able to
appreciate the reality of Nigerian malady since the early 80s, when you
joined the World Bank. Madam, have you been able to grace annual yam
festivals in the East during your time at the World Bank? Were you able
to celebrate Christmas with your extended family in Owerri, Nnewi, Otherwise,
I guess you must have arrived through airports manned by corrupt and
lowly paid members of the security forces. You must have then driven to
the East along tarred but cratered roads that crisscross our national
topography. I am not sure if you were ever able to get your entire
luggage in one piece but if you ever were, congrats. I can imagine how
you probably held tight to your purse as those unemployed touts tried to
waylay you at the arrival lounge. I hope that you were never harassed
and maltreated by armed robbers who are typically educated graduates
these days; armed with the kind of guns that the policemen see only in
American movies. I
won’t be surprised if by now you are beginning to recollect your shock
and disgust about the 5 Nairas you had to part with at every check
point. Relax Madam, its no big deal. In fact, the Nigeria Police may
start issuing receipts for such payments very soon because drivers have
learnt to voluntary drop the going-rate into the palms of our policemen
- or risk accidental discharge. How did you react to the sudden power
outages? I sympathize with your probable decision not to waste money on
a generator. What’s the point when there would never be steady supply
of diesel or petrol? In any of your visits, did you have the chance to
speak to the Obi or Eze of your village and if yes, did he
remember to tell you the last time civil servants were paid in his local
government? I guess he was more interested in telling you about your
village’s need for clean drinking water and the urgency of soil
erosion which had wiped out cassava harvests for the previous year. Anyway,
dear Madam, in your interview posted on the following weblink: (http://www.unitedworld-usa.com/reports/nigeria/interview.asp)
I was proud that you made mention of your being a product of our
educational system where you even learnt the quality French that must
have impressed your francophone colleagues at the World Bank! I suggest
that you might have picked up interest in Economics and Finance during
that stage of your life; after all there would have been textbooks,
qualified and well-paid teachers to stimulate your ambition. You also
made (in that interview) a good assessment of the educational system as
well as the need for clean drinking water, good roads and what have you.
I only asked the above series of questions (in the above paragraphs) as
a reminder of the realities of downtown Unfortunately,
if statements quoted in the online version of Daily Times (http://www.dailytimesofnigeria.com/DailyTimes/2004/June/25/FG.asp)
are correct, then I am shocked that your office is associated with the
attempt to ‘save’ the excess proceeds from the sale of crude
oil for a rainy day. If I may ask ma, what would you define as a rainy
day? How rainy does a day have to be in Madam,
you talked about need revamp our schools qualitatively and
quantitatively so why not suggest to Uncle Sege (‘blackmail’ him
with the threat to resign, if you have to) so that the excess monies
should be used to buy Physics, Economics, French and Mathematics
textbooks for all students across the country? My daughter is only three
weeks old. But if such books can help train our present students, then
she would have much better teachers when she grows up. Madam, if you
could use your influence to ensure that some states are using borrowed
money prudently, why not use the same influence on the President so that
entitlements of teachers, policemen and pensioners would be paid with
such “rainy day money?” Do you have a pensioner in your family? If
you do, please find time to speak with him about the situation of his
colleagues. Just remember to carry a bucket so that you will collect
drops of rain that will flow from his eyes. That Mr. Okwonkwo
that taught you Mathematics, or Mr. Jonathan that tutored you in
Commerce, kindly locate them and ask them how they are coping. You
appear to me to be a homely person that is not carried away by the
euphoria of being a minister, therefore, next time you shop for
groceries, please ask Mama Chinedu who sells Ogbono and dried fish in
your neighborhood stall how she manages to send Chinedu to school, given
the high cost of school fees. You
brilliantly mentioned the idea of rural telephony and how it can help
expatriates like me call home and make sure that the neighborhood
borehole project we are funding is going on well. Madam, does the rural
telephony exist as of today? Won’t it be a bad idea for you to make
drops of the rainy day money fall into rural telecommunications projects
across the nation? Haba, Madam. You did not rise to the position of Vice
President of World Bank by fluke or accident. So, let that 7-digit IQ of
yours start doing extra work on the rainy day money, now, because
tomorrow may be too late. A militant from the Niger Delta may have a
change of heart when he sees telephone in his backyard, or when his son
comes home with brand new textbooks donated by your Ministry. What
about the hundreds of thousands of unemployed graduates who are pounding
the streets of our cities trying to make themselves relevant? Can they
not be molded into young entrepreneurs through funded projects designed
by your ministry for SMEs? All that some of them pray for is just N60,
000 to buy tokunbo motorcycle so that they can join the guild of Okada
riders. As an economist and a minister in Madam,
your position as a finance minister is a source of pride for millions of
sisters, wives and mothers across If
you don’t use that money now judiciously as I know you would,
Obasanjo’s cronies would squander it on pepper-soup during the next
PDP congress. If you don’t use that money well, today, those senators
would use it to buy furniture. If you don’t use that money urgently,
more poverty induced but religiously triggered violence would engulf
more communities. If you don’t use that money soon, many common
Nigerians shackled by the rusty chains of poverty, would gladly receive
N50 in return for their votes come 2007. If you don’t use that money
now, many promising Nigerian youngsters would not be able to register
for SSCE or NECO because they can’t afford the fees. If you don’t
use that money today, many of the bright ones who are able to register
would flunk the exams and end up selling pure water on the streets; all
because they didn’t have the tools to study for the exams. Madam,
even if it is to make sure each rural school has one bus and a year’s
supply of exercise books; even if it is to make sure that pensioned
workers smile for the next two-three years; even if the money will just
assist mama Chinedu to pay for his SSCE fees so that her petty trading
profits would be used to pay for Nneka’s common entrance exams; And
when Chinedu goes to Union Bank (or wherever) to buy the bank draft for
his SSCE fees, its your face he will see on the Naira notes as he
proudly counts the money on the counter. Madam, even if it is one
computer you buy for each secondary school; your name will be etched
along that smiling face on Zuma Rock for ever. Many
mothers would look back at 2004 as the year when God performed a miracle
in Nigerian governance through you. They would remember 2004 as the year
in which one child’s progress wasn’t needlessly sacrificed to pay
for another child’s ambition. Many old men who have sweated for Madam,
that rainy day has long come and gone. Please let the harmattan end
today. Your
fellow citizen, Z. A. Adamu |