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Recent reports indicate that the South West PDP has taken a decision to rally round their colleague, the fatally wounded Speaker of the House of Representatives. Unbelievably – but sadly predictably – it has come down to this. Adedibu in
Ibadan
has spoken and I am pretty sure that Obasanjo has spoken as well; hence the about face and a very poor move in what should ordinarily be a well informed and progressive corner of the country. Morality, probity and decency would have to wait as it appears the ‘do or die’ season is not yet over.
One of the worst accusations that can be levelled against any Manager or Administrator is incompetence. But that is exactly the verdict handed down by the House Panel that investigated Mrs Etteh. Even worse, in her appearance before that Panel, she also comprehensively so painted herself. In addition, she was found to have been fudging the truth – she knew about all she claimed no knowledge of. The evidence shows that contrary to claims by Mrs Etteh, she knew of the contract bids well in advance of the Tenders Board meeting. Furthermore, it turns out that one of her aides is a Director in the firms that EXCLUSIVELY bid for and got those contracts.
The Speaker’s house was renovated just a little over two years ago. That any human being less than three months in any office would entertain and not immediately rebuke or sack a subordinate officer that brought before her a memo about renovating two houses (not eight or more as claimed by Mrs Etteh) and buying a few cars for about N638 million in downright irresponsible and completely insensitive. More than that, and very significantly, it points to the working of a vain but vacuous mind. And what happened to all the previous vehicles? Did the last Speaker and Principal Officers make off with them? £638 million to be spent on personal comfort items is the House and nation’s priority in this lady’s considered judgement. Mrs Etteh was accused of violating the House rules as regards awarding contracts; she turns around and blames her subordinates and everyone else. That stinks and it is sad. It is a display of small mindedness and speaks of poor integrity and crookedness. So, who should be the repository of those rules but the Speaker herself?
I knew we were in trouble when OBJ forced Mrs Etteh and David Mark on the Legislature. OBJ would always pick lightweights - the worst of the lot available. God only knows why. My fears were immediately confirmed when Mrs Etteh first action as Speaker was to short-circuit the motion to probe aspects of the last administration. But we were really stunned when reports began to filter-in about a planned grand birthday party in the
USA
. That that event was eventually scaled down meant nothing. The workings and the capacity of this lady’s mind has been laid bare.
Belatedly and comically, she claimed she had gone to the
USA
for a medical check up. The birthday bash just happened by. Were all those legislators including that lady from Ogun State House of Assembly invited to come stand witness to her medical check up? More importantly, has she been to
America
for medical check up in the past? She suddenly found herself in an undeserved position and because her itchy fingers won’t let her, she decided to dip them into
Nigeria
’s money and that was when she discovered that medical check ups are on offer in
America
. Pleeease! What next? Is she going to purchase her weaves from the
Philippines
?
From my own experiences and personal observation, I think that women, in most cases, make better Managers than men. They also tend to be more sensible and are more pragmatic. However, I find Nigerian political women to be quite unserious. They often present themselves as just being there for the ride. With the exception of a very precious few, they give off the aura of party planners/attendees. Some of their male (politicians) counterparts are a complete write-off, but I had always expected the female lawmakers to be much better and to raise the bar. I suppose that is my own prejudice. In four short months, Mrs Etteh is trying to undo all the excellent legacies of people like Prof Akunyili, Dr Okonjo-Eweala, etc, etc.
The question now is: why is she still the Speaker of the House? Why is she not being helped off that exalted chair? It is an extremely ineffectual Manager that passes responsibilities (the buck) to subordinates. It is low and it is contemptuous. Obviously, as a self confessed incompetent, Mrs Etteh is not discerning enough to know when the game is up. She is doing more damage to herself, her current position, her Party and to the entire House of Reps. Don’t the other Representatives care about their own larger integrity? Are they willing to abide this foul smog emanating from the current Speaker’s chair that is enveloping them all? The lady is prevaricating, vacillating. She needs some help. Get her out of there.
In the wake of the Panel’s report, she immediately sent the House on a two week recess. I wasn’t aware that there is such a thing called Ramadan recess in
Nigeria
. In any event, I thought Ramadan lasts an entire month, not just two weeks. Clearly Mrs Etteh has done this in a desperate hope of conjuring up something. Look how hard she is fighting for herself even while being flippant about the whole thing. Isn’t it amazing how our government officials’ genius comes to the fore when their personal survival is at stake? Everything she has done so far in that office is all about herself and her comfort. Nothing at all about
Nigeria
, her people and our reputation. She continues to bring us all to ridicule.
Please, this is neither a gender thing nor a racial thing. It is certainly not a professional bias. As a matter of fact, some of the biggest political thieves in the country today are Doctors and other trained professionals. This is about the continuous display of bad judgement, greed and unvarnished incompetence. It is about an intellectual and integrity dwarf occupying a hallowed chair. Get her out of there!
demdem@hotmail.co.uk
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Posted by Robot| 04.10.2007 07:29