In Thisday’s parade of the “Ministerial Front-liners” on its Tuesday (February 12, 2008) daily edition, the newspaper attempted to dress up activities of “intent” or  “hoping/dreaming” projects embarked upon by ministers as reasons for ‘nominating’ the ministers for ‘best’ minister award.

According to Thisday, “we painstakingly monitored the performance of the ministers throughout 2007”. But what Thisday describes as a “painstaking” monitoring process is actually no more than shallow presumptuous statements that hold no substance among the veritable variables that can be factored into the calculus of good governance. What is there assess about a minister that just got appointed a little over half a year ago? What is there to assess when policies or ministerial initiatives have caused pain than pleasure to more citizens?

In this piece, I will take five of the six nominees and dissect the reasons for which each one of them was nominated by Thisday:

Deziani K. Allison-Madueke, Minister of Transport

This minister according to Thisday “has brought a kind of freshness into governance.” What is the “freshness”?  See what the daily has (emphasized italics are mine): Allison-Madueke’s “hopes are geared towards ensuring the safety of the skies for the numerous Nigerians who fly daily within and outside the country…she also hopes to ensure that the various federal roads in the country, which are in dilapidating states, are properly fixed…she said the Lagos-Ibadan and Sagamu-Ore-Benin roads would be privatized this year”.

On top of these “hopes”, Thisday added another index for which they have nominated the woman for great performance as minister of the Federal Republic of Nigeria: “She also recently admitted that a sum of N580 billion was spent on federal roads in eight years by the immediate past regime of Chief Olusegun Obasanjo”! Pray. How can making a statement about a piece of unverifiable data or figures amount to performance and nomination as ‘best’ minister? Another clincher from Thisday: “One of her immediate steps in office was to embark on inspection of the airports in the country and the various federal roads.”!

According to Thisday, “hoping” to fix roads, “admitting” billions of naira “spent” to fix roads in eight years and “inspecting” airports and roads is performance that deserves an award. Thus, “she was nominated for her vision and the broad objectives …which can lead to safety in transportation”!

Alhaji Adamu Bello

Bello was minister of agriculture for eight years under former President Olusegun Obasanjo. According to Thisday, “it can only be for his sheer competence in the management of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development that Obasanjo, who is also a farmer, retained him as minister for eight years.”

Thisday listed lies that cannot be proved: that Bello is “known to have improved the lot of Nigerian farmers significantly by ensuring adequate and prompt supply of agricultural implements in addition to creating a conducive environment for the exportation of agricultural products in Nigeria as well as calling for and working towards favourable trade tariffs all for the benefit of Nigerian farmers.” Really? Where are the farmers that enjoy “prompt supply” of agricultural implements? This is a big lie. How many Nigerian farmers can afford tractors for instance? Is a policy that makes only governments to afford tractors friendly to farmers? Why are we still importing rice, a staple food that is consumed across Nigeria? In my village communities in Kaduna  State, most of the local farmers have been witnessing dwindling harvests, may be the big farmers are smiling (?), but the government has failed to realize that it is the small rural farmers of Thailand, India, Indonesia etc…that cultivate the rice that Nigeria imports. No rural farmers are witnessing any “glorious” times as fabricated by Thisday.

It would have made more sense if Thisday awarded Bello for being “one of the longest serving ministers under former president Obasanjo”.

Alhaji Hassan Muhammed Lawal

Hassan Muhammed Lawal was the immediate past Minister of Labour, Employment and Productivity under president Obasanjo. Thisday says “he was one of the top government officials who regularly managed the various industrial actions by the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) over the incessant increase in the pump price of petrol…he was said to be very effective and dynamic”. Who said he was very effective and dynamic? Where is the effectiveness and dynamism when he failed to prevent the industrial actions from starting in the first place?

Another big lie again by Thisday is that Lawal “recorded a major feat in June last year when he prevailed on organised labour to quickly halt its industrial action in respect of the fuel price increase undertaken by Obasanjo on the eve of his departure from office”. Organized labor refused to go on strike because they did not want anything that would provide the old petty dictator Obasanjo an excuse to hang on to power under the guise of “instability”. To now give credit to Lawal is the height of mischief by the widely read Thisday newspaper.

Mallam Nasir el-Rufai

 Thisday attributes the nomination of Nasir el-Rufai due to “the restoration of the beauty of Abuja and the strict compliance with the Abuja master plan”. El-Rufai tried to restore the Abuja master-plan but never did so “strictly”. He left off Aso Rock which was never in the master-plan. He also destroyed some buildings and structures in the master-plan because the owners were “enemies” of his “master”, Olusegun Obasanjo.

It is also a big lie that El-Rufai “provided infrastructure to satellite towns in order to decongest Abuja  City”. The man “decongested” and “beautified” the “inner” city O.K, but he did this by chasing away the poor through the demolition of satellite towns. He is an avowed hater of the poor and stated that Abuja is not for all Nigerians! In El-Rufai’s dream, he thought Abuja should be like London or Paris overnight, and he thought this could happen by eliminating the satellite towns and driving them further away from city of “Aso Rock” where international VIPs could drive straight to Aso Rock, the Hilton (etc) without sighting any poor people or ghettos on the roads.

El-Rufai was also not above board in terms of the integrity expected of a public official of such high office. He sold a government house unto himself on the eve of his last day as minister, he seized lands from others and handed over to his wives who in turn, did exactly the kind of criminal things the syndicates did in Abuja.

Chief Ojo Maduekwe

Thisday says: “As Minister of Foreign Affairs, Chief Ojo Maduekwe unveiled a new foreign policy thrust for the nation”. Is there ever any foreign minister that did not have a “new foreign policy thrust”? So what is new about Ojo and his “new foreign policy thrust”?

Ojo “announced the re-branding of the nation’s foreign policy with a focus on its citizens…to ensure that the nation’s foreign policy must benefit her citizens, while they also serve as tool to project and defend the country.” “The objectives of the policy is also to reflect the domestic, political, economy, technological, social and cultural aspirations of Nigerians in projecting Nigeria to the entire world.  This major effort led THISDAY Board of Editors to nominate Maduekwe for the Minister of The Year Award”.

So much for citizen diplomacy! Ojo promised to evacuate Nigerian citizens following the Kenyan post election crisis and violence. He made this promise since early January. As at the moment of penning this, no one Nigerian has been evacuated by Ojo yet! If the killings were to affect Nigerians really, no Nigerian living in Kenya would be alive by now.

Thisday “sees” What Nigerians Don’t or Cannot See

There is need to ask: what is the purpose of the awards? Of what or to whose benefit is a Thisday award? After more than one decade of awards plus “lifetime achievement awards” to some people including Olusegun Obasanjo, do Thisday editors have any moral justification to criticize the former president who has become a disgraceful villain? Did they not see the trait of a dictator when the handed him the “lifetime achievement” award? Thisday also ran fake daily opinion polls as a hatchet job for the ruling party prior to the April 2007 elections. Just one instance of this “poll”: in the beginning, they were daily giving the Lagos state Governorship to the Action Congress (AC), then right on the eve of the election, Lagos became “too close to call” between the AC and the ruling party! But Lagos, with its cosmopolitan and vibrant civic population proved too hot for the PDP electoral robbers and their rigging mahine INEC. Even kids of Ajegunle were shouting "P-D-P...PEOPLE DECEIVING PEOPLE"! And today, Thisday nominates the AC governor of Lagos State for an award!

These awards are no more than an attempt by the owners of Thisday to perennially court patronage of the government. And by this, Thisday Newspapers is contributing in no small measure to the vicious cycle of mediocrity among the Nigeria political elite and the larger Nigerian society.

Robot  Villager

# 1 var sbtitle9750=encodeURIComponent(Thisday Awa...Read the full article. Posted by Robot| 12.02.2008 15:42

MrOneNaija  Villager

# 2 SELLING DUNG AS GOLD! These awards are no more than an attempt by the owners of Thisday to perennially court patronage of the government. And by this, Thisday Newspapers is contributing in no small measure to the vicious cycle of mediocrity among the Nigeria political elite and the larger Nigerian society. An apt statement! Thisday is "full of sound and fury signifying nothing"! Here is a media outfit that frequently tries to repackage and sell dung as gold. The paper is simply glitter without substance. They organize soi-disant cultural awards that feature some of the most cultutrally challenged entities to populate this earth. Thisday is an obscene fixture that deserves to be ignored. The owner of Thisday seems to have carried hustling to bizzare heights. Posted by MrOneNaija| 12.02.2008 16:16

Olamide  Villager

# 3 We all know what the "Awards" are all about. Most Nigerians are not fooled except those who paid money to be 'recognized' as 'achievers' by This Day. Our roads are still bad, air travel is still a Russian Roulette as far as Nigeria's domestic routes are concerned and Nigerians are still being molested and harrassed by illiterate Turkish Police Officers and Ethiopian bar-tenders. All the high-sounding words are for nothing because nothing has changed. Obasanjo receiving a "lifetime award" is apt. His citation should have read something like 'In recognition of mediocrity, arrogance, unbridled greed, promotion of darkness where there should be light, creation of emergency billionaires, pauperization of the masses, reduction of the life expectancy of the average Nigerian and revitalization of Obasanjo Farms, we hereby confer this award on you, Chief (General) Mathew Okikiola Aremu Olusegun Obasanjo s a lifetime acheiver because it will take a lifetime to undo all the deeds you performed while in office. Nduka is a hustler and has never denied this. Calling him one is stating the obvious. Posted by Olamide| 13.02.2008 09:25

Sapele Man  Villager

# 4 I didn't notice there was any Award worthy of a mention in the NVS until you mentioned it!! What Award was it again? Posted by Sapele Man| 13.02.2008 09:30

dapxin  Villager

# 5 I saw this damned article on the thisday website at I couldn't believe my eyes. You just wonder what roads these sons-of-guns ride, to imagine they 'll shamelessly think any of Nigeria's ministers deserve any semblance of an award... You have to feel sorry for Nigerians.... Posted by dapxin| 13.02.2008 09:40

Lagos Boy  Villager

# 6 What Manner of Awards? I'm surprised the AGF was not nominated for "upholding the rule of law" Thisday, in seeking relevance and money stand the risk of losing popular confidencet that has given the paper a wide circulation This is an attempt to prove that the average Nigerian reader is stupid Posted by Lagos Boy| 13.02.2008 10:14

Mutti  Villager

# 7 I thought I was the only one that thought so. Posted by Mutti| 13.02.2008 11:10

datuouwadaberechi  Villager

# 8 thanks for the very welcome expression of our collective dismay over the lengths people could travel in the name of sychophancy. but dont be surprised....thats how they get these so-called dignitaries (read disguised jokers) to attend their parents burials and their children's thanksgivings, etc. this is d way Thisday's owners and managers remain relevant and patronised just like d author pointed out. Posted by datuouwadaberechi| 13.02.2008 11:41

Mikky jaga  Villager

# 9 The most disappointing of the awardees is this Deziane gal. So much promise with so little achievement in concrete terms. I only hope the awards were a little premature. Let's give them some time and then we'll see. Deziani Alison-Madueke must not fail. She has no reason to do so. Posted by Mikky jaga| 15.02.2008 03:31

PAPIG  Villager

# 10 Many thanks for your piece on Thisday awards. What do we expect from a typical Nigerian award? Is this not a true reflection of where we are as a nation? Is it not reminiscent of a juju musician doing his/her utmost to get the well connected and criminals to part with their ill-gotten wealth in a typical 'lagbolagbo'? What about the official Nigerian award recently announced by the president himself? The Thisday award is only a mini version of the Nigerian award and the latter is a succint statement of the values of this present PDP government. To completely finish and cripple this country financially and morally by the time they are done. Both Yar'Adua and Jonathan Goodluck are already the lucky recipient of the GCON inspite of them not being sure of their positions tomorrow. Is this not suppose to be an award for people with exemplary service to our motherland Nigeria? Imagine one of the highest award of the land being bestowed on David Mark? We may as well consider Mrs Etteh for her fair share. The new speaker Bankole also now has three letters after his name? For what? Mediocrity is not enough to describe the shame of a nation. Am i surprised? I am only surprised, that Lamidi Adedibu, Maurice Iwu, Andy Uba, Abubakar Rimi, Tafa Balogun, James Ibori and Alamieyeseigha who happened to be the previous boss of Dr Goodluck Jonathan did not make the list. I forgot to mention OYENUSI and we wonder why Chinua Achebe declined this macabre of an award. Only in Nigeria! Posted by PAPIG| 15.02.2008 18:44