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I first became aware of Professor Grange, a world renowned paediatrician, back in the early 1990s in her role as a World Health Organisation Advisor on Reproductive Health. To state that this lady has done Nigeria and the Medical profession very proud would be an understatement of some proportions. Her résumé is very impressive indeed. Personally, I have long given up on the Health Ministry in Nigeria. The few times I made forays into that unwelcoming corner, I left with a severely diminished morale. This is part why I am still holed-up overseas. But when Yar’Adua announced Prof Grange as the Health Minister, I was impressed and thought good things were going to start to happen a la Akunyili at NAFDAC. Boy was I wrong!
The previous Minister for Health, the colourless Eyitayo Lambo, was a complete waste of space. He was to be found saying insipid things like “Stella Obasanjo is our mother”. He always cut the picture of a forlorn and mesmerised kid. In fact, the less said about him the better. Nothing happened during his time. Obasanjo himself might as well have been the Health Minister. His was a ‘money for nothing’ regime. So Grange, for some of us, came in with a lot of high expectation; that is why her abrupt and inauspicious fall is so painful.
The reports have it that her Ministry failed to return about N300 million capital money at the end of the 2007 financial year as required by law and as directed by Yar’Adua. For a Manager, that is bad enough in itself. The worse bit was that the money wasn’t even used or earmarked for societal benefiting projects like Primary Care facilities, Training, or even Health Promotion; it was simply divvied up as freebies between herself and her top Ministry officials! It would seem she went in there to conform to what has largely led to Nigeria’s underdevelopment rather than lead from the front to effect change for the better. Thank goodness some badly cheated official blew the whistle on them all.
In any event, Prof Grange and her Minister of State, Gabriel Aduku were kicked out following a brief Economic & Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) investigation. Furthermore, the following officials were placed on suspension pending fuller investigation: Prof Simon Ogamdi, the Permanent Secretary; Dr H B Oyedepo, the Director of Administration; Hanafi Muhammed, the Finance Director; Abdulrahman Ambali, the Chief Accountant; M S Hamid, another Director; Donatus Iyang, the Principal Transport Officer; Donald Ekanem, the Principal Admin Officer; and seven others. All were accused of aiding the flouting of the rule.
My understanding is that Prof Grange had since announced that she refused her own share of the loot. That makes it even more unpalatable because, you see, she knew! What did she do about it? Nothing. That casts a large doubt about her returning her share. Was she aware what the regulations were about such monies? I think she did. I can’t bear to think that she did not. On top of that, Yar’Adua directed that unspent capital funds be returned. He was very clear and very loud about it that even I heard it here in London. It really tears me up to have to compare any action of the Professor to that of one Ms Patricia Etteh; but it is impossible not to see the similarities. That her senior Directors found a way to break down the N300 million into make believe contracts to enable Grange’s approval of N50 million or less all within the space of four weeks really stink and it’s rather telling of the kind of Manager she was.
I also gathered that her Ministry gave part of that money to the two Health Committees of the National Assembly. N10 million was handed out to each of them. Very reliable sources are saying that Iyabo Obasanjo-Bello – a true child of her father – promptly conscripted a cool N4 million of that for herself. The money was given on the pretext of funding some kind of retreat. I have heard Ghana mentioned as destination for the retreat. God only knows why. Knowing Iyabo was involved and was playing a leading role, I would have thought a more likely destination could have been Mr Biggs.
Well, we now wait for the National Assembly to take appropriate sanctions against the Committee members involved. However, the Chair of the House of Representatives Health Committee, Alaba Ojomo, had since returned to the Health Ministry the N10 million given to his Committee. He explained that he had to do so since members of his Committee could not embark on the trip because of the embargo placed on foreign trips by the Speaker of the House, Dimeji Bankole. Meanwhile, their counterpart in the Senate supposedly went on this “retreat.” Members of the Senate’s Health Committee are: Iyabo Obasanjo-Bello, Gyang Dantong, Eme Ufot-Ekaette, George Akume, Adejo Eferakeya, Chris Anyanwu, Olorunimbe Mamora, Chimaroke Nnamani, Umaru Dahiru, Hassan Gusau, Mujitaba Mallam, Anthony Manzo, and Mohammed Ahmed. Though it was reported that both Nnamani and Akume did not turn up for the retreat. You couldn’t blame them; they have more pressing matters to worry about. The ball is now passed to David Mark (if he can find the time and energy). An Ethics Committee public hearing would not be out of place. Over to the EFCC as well. Abi they have gone the way of the ICPC? We all know that brother Aidon’tcareaa would not move a muscle in that respect. That is not what he understands his remit to be.
But something has got to be done fast about this unholy relationship between the Federal Ministries and their corresponding over-sight Legislative Committees. For years now, Ministers have had to part with money in order to secure full budget for their Ministries. (We now know why they go all out to bribe the Legislators to get as much money as possible in their budget, don’t we?) Also, Legislative Committees routinely approach corresponding Ministries to fund Legislative projects; surely that is fertiliser for corruption. The Legislature must be properly and independently funded to avoid gray undesirable arm-twisting situations like this.
Though Prof Grange is rightly carrying the can for this, I would be surprised that it is only the Health Minister and her Ministry that were guilty of this infraction. In fact, I am certain that other Ministries got away this time as it is well known that the practice of dividing up unspent budgetary allocations was an Obasanjo administration unwritten rule and standard practice. The practice, which is often referred to as “warehousing” is so ingrained that infrastructural projects and other community beneficial programmes are declined funding just to boost the amount of money to be carved up and shared among top Public and Civil Servants. But I just hope that the Prof was not caught-out because she didn’t know how to play the game, or that she was used as a sacrificial/pacifying ewe for mere public relations muscle flexing on the heels of Ogebe and questionable mandates.
Finally, it was quite sad to see Prof Grange inelegantly attempt a face-saving and hair-splitting resignation statement. She claimed responsibility but not blame. What meaninglessness! That was a statement straight out of Babangida’s school of doublespeak. What is the difference between annul and cancel please? Truth is; she corked it up. I still insist that, generally, women tend to be better Managers. However, it is really a very poor Manager that blames subordinates for acts that were ultimately approved by him or herself. I cringe every time I hear Managers and Administrators say they didn’t know or were misled. Don’t be afraid to sack subordinates that come to you with perfidious ideas - unless you’re really that inclined yourself. And please check, double check, and then cross check. That is your job.
demdem@hotmail.co.uk
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Posted by Robot| 02.04.2008 04:32