Heart Of Africa Project: Another Drain Pipe?

By Ugochukwu Ejinkeonye

scruples2006@yahoo.com                        

Unfortunately, ours is a country where some fellows, with an exaggerated notion of their smartness, have mastered the very grievous and self-demeaning art of wasting precious time and resources that could have been deployed to productive use on some meaningless exercises and getting paid for such prodigal endeavours. Or else, how can one possibly explain the stubborn insistence of the Federal Government of Nigeria through its Information And National Orientation Minister, Mr. Frank Nweke Jnr., to still go on with its Image Laundering Project, when even from the outset, it was all too clear to everyone, that the whole thing was not only wasteful, but capable of making the country look foolish and grossly diminished before the outside world.

In this internet age when the latest news from Nigeria could immediately be read in Australia, China, Malaysia, Taiwan or just anywhere in the world, long before most Nigerians are even able to do so, what possibly could any self-respecting fellow be wasting his time and the nation’s resources telling the outside world about Nigeria that they do not already know? If Nigeria, under the present Administration, has not truly failed, as is now widely believed by both Nigerians and foreigners, the outside world would not require the effort of Frank Nweke and his gaggle of image launderers to make up its mind about that. Nigeria is bare before the whole wide world!

When in 2004, the then Minister of Information, Mr. Chukwuemeka Chikelu, came up with the Nigeria Image (Laundering) Project, I was one of those who felt highly scandalized that the very thing that had failed late military dictator, Gen Sani Abacha, in his moment of distress and estrangement was what the Obasanjo Administration had gone all out to dredge up, in a clearly doomed attempt to secure for itself an unearned image. In my column in Daily Independent  of Wednesday, August 11, 2004, entitled, Chikelu: Deodorizing Dog-shit? I had advised the Minister to excuse himself from the very wasteful and utterly useless project, for which the Federal Government had voted N600 million at that time.

I was so baffled that anyone in his right mind would be willing to stake his reputation and dignity to embark on a project to burnish the horribly, self-battered image of a government, that was always too eager to behave in ways that seemed to suggest that its very life was wholly dependent on the countless scandals it submerged itself in almost every other day.

“What I am telling Chikelu today,” I wrote, “is what I think he already knows too well, namely, that when a  room is horribly messed up with the indiscriminate droppings of a very reckless dog, what you must do is to bend down and carefully wash the place with  active detergent.  Only then would you get back the fresh, pleasant air that makes a room worth inhabiting. But if you take the unhealthy short cut of spraying the dog-shit with heavy dose of deodorant, then you will get a putrid scent that will make the room more repelling than ever before. Nigeria does not need an image-burnishing project. I sincerely urge Chikelu not to be party to a profligate venture he already knows would return no positive dividend.”

Now, I do not know whether the Minister took my advice or not, but what became clear soon after that piece was published was that all the irritating noise about the wasteful project suddenly disappeared from the public domain. And not long after that, the Minister, too, lost his job, but with his honour and reputation in tact. Now we have Frank Nweke Jnr. on the saddle and the controversial project has shown its irremediably ugly face again, this time, with a new name: “Nigeria: Heart Of Africa Project.”

And so, recently, at huge expense to the nation, the Nigerian government took its undying folly to the Queen Elizabeth 11 Conference Hall, Westminster in London, to launch the Image Laundering Project, all in a clearly futile attempt to burnish with a few drab addresses and unappetizing slogans, the horrible image it had willfully accumulated for itself since it was imposed on Nigerians by the most diseased elements of the nation’s political class in 1999. Now, I am not concerned here with the disruption of Nweke’s speech at the occasion by protesters led by the UK arm of the Movement For The Actualization Of The Sovereign State Of Biafra (MASSOB) which called him a liar and other unprintable names; my business really is with the folly of the whole wasteful enterprise, and the crude pigheadedness that motivated its enactment in the first place. The next phase of the launch is billed for the United States in the next couple of days, and, a statement from the Ministry of Information has already alerted us to alleged plans by some Nigerians in the United States to protest at the venue of the launch. 

What every sane Nigerian should be asking at this time is: why are these heartless people so bent on squandering the nation’s resources to carry out this impossible and self-serving mission while majority of Nigerians whose lot could be improved with the funds they are wasting are trapped in grinding poverty? Why is the Nigerian Government so disdainful of the feelings and opinions of Nigerians – the very people at the receiving end of its countless anti-people policies and actions, while it spends so much to attract even the slightest hint of (mostly insincere) approval from foreigners? How can a government with an incredible mass of impoverished and aggrieved people at home, convince itself that what is most important to it is to try to purchase meretricious credibility for itself by making some insincere and unverifiable claims about its phantom records of achievement abroad?

Somebody should, please, ask Mr. Nweke and the government he speaks for to shelve the proposed US jamboree, disperse the growing number of shameless jobbers and unrelenting parasites already milling around him and the so-called Heart of Africa nonsense, and sit back at home to fix Nigeria and earn the respect of its citizens. This option if adopted may require extra and sincere work than the expensive, meaningless noise at world capitals, which the image project is all about, but, at the end of the day, it would prove to be the only realistic way this government can earn all the respect and approval it craves. Any government can earn the respect and confidence of tourists and investors without its officials traveling to anywhere outside its shores. When the people are happy with their government, commentaries and news about it would become more positive, and the outside world would take note. Only then would sincere and genuine investors (not the current fraudsters who are here to milk the country dry with the aid of their highly placed, corrupt friends) will start trouping into the country in droves. 

By the way, what really is Nweke telling his audience at the ‘Heart of Africa Project’ launches around the world? What can a government whose seven years in power have only returned to the citizenry pains and frustrations possibly advertise as its “achievements”? Only recently, Thursday, November 9, 2006, to be precise, “what Nigeria must do to change the course of events and become a model democracy in Africa” was discussed with passion and seriousness on the Voice of America’s Africa Journal. With Host, Vincent Makori, at the studio in Washington were two Nigerians: Sunday Dare, VOA Hausa Chief, and Emmanuel Ogebe, a Special Legal Consultant. Nigeria’s Information Minister, Mr. Frank Nweke, was the Phone-Guest from Abuja. 

I caught the programme at the point Rasheed Ladajo’s case in Oyo State had cropped up in the discussion, and was thoroughly disappointed by the most embarrassing submission of Frank Nweke on the issue. Following the declaration of the Court of Appeal that the impeachment of Gov Ladoja of Oyo State was unconstitutional and null and void, the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mr. Bayo Ojo, had immediately constituted himself into a Superior Court, and issued a counter ruling stating that “though an appeal simplicita does not constitute a stay of execution, Chief Ladoja should still consider the appeal by the other party as a stay of action and should therefore stay home until the Supreme Court makes a pronouncement on the matter.” Note that at this time, the other party were yet to file any appeal before the Supreme Court!

When Frank Nweke was asked to react to this constitutional rascality by Bayo Ojo (who incidentally has just been rewarded with a UN top job), he declared that Nigeria was a federal state and the states were autonomous entities, and so, it was not true that the Federal Government through its Attorney-General had interfered in the legal and constitutional issues in Oyo State. In fact, Frank declared that Bayo Ojo did not stop the implementation of a Court order in Oyo State! I could not believe my ears. Majority of those Frank was speaking to on VOA television were either Nigerians or avid readers of Nigerian newspapers online which duly reported Bayo Ojo’s counter ruling on the Ladoja matter. Now, if this barefaced misrepresentation is Frank’s way of prosecuting his image laundering enterprise, then, the Obasanjo government would always end up a laughing stock before the rest of the civilized world. 

The VOA programme was a public relations disaster for the Nigerian government. Nigerians who called in from different parts of the world were aghast that the government in Abuja has done nothing in the past seven years to improve the lives of ordinary Nigerians. No doubt, all those overwhelming claims Frank was making about “developments” and “progress” in Nigeria can only be accommodated in the realm of fiction. This was a country in which seventy percent of its citizens still lived below poverty level, amidst all the incredible wealth that has come to the nation in the past few years from oil exports, more than at any other time in the nation’s history. In fact, Nigeria seems to be the only country anyone can point to where boundless prosperity has only translated to unspeakable sufferings for the people. Each time Frank was asked about the excruciating situation in Nigeria, his reaction would be to triumphantly point out what he perceived as similar situations existing in Europe and the United States. I wish he had bothered, too, to compare the functional amenities in those places with we have in Nigeria.

What about security? These days, robbers operate for hours, with utmost impunity and without any form of challenge from the police. Recently, there were reports that a band of robbers had seized four banks and had continued to operate and shoot indiscriminately for about four hours. The police were called but they refused to venture near the scene. A   police personnel in the area told a national newspaper: “We were aware that they have been operating since about midnight, singing and dancing, but we can’t confront them because we have no APC (Armoured Personal Carrier) to provide cover for us.”

If anyone has any other definition of a failed state more or less than what this story graphically illustrates, please let’s have it!

We live in a country with death traps as roads, erratic power supply, unspeakable hunger and mass unemployment. The recent quarrel between President Olusegun Obasanjo and his deputy, Vice President Atiku Abubakar, threw up incredible, horrible details about boundless corruption in the Presidency one never imagined was possible. The civilized world is thoroughly disgusted that such a horribly muddied and discredited government is still in place, and that instead of standing down, it is rolling out billions to burnish its irredeemable image.

These are issues Frank Nweke and his crowd of whitewashers should be worrying about, not the image laundering jamboree that makes the rest of the world thoroughly sick.

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Ugochukwu Ejinkeonye is a Columnist and Member, Editorial Board, Independent Newspapers (www.independentngonline.com), Lagos.  Email: scruples2006@yahoo.com 

Robot  Villager

# 1 Why is the Nigerian Gover...Read the full article. Posted by Robot| 29.11.2006 12:25

BiafranPrincess  Villager

# 2 This obvious seperation from reality on the part on this OBJ admin is the reason why i want someone as focus minded and principled AND NO-NONSENSE as Buhari to lead us post 2007. Can u imagine Buhari sanctioning this nonsensical foolery of Nweke and co? 'Heart of Africa ko, Ass of Africa ni'. Give me real man who's secuire, has a clear vision, principled, has integrity, fiscally disciplined and not given to whims like these present fools in power and I'll live and die for Naija all over again. OBJ is far from being the Messiah of Naija, infact he's turning out to be one of our bigger curses. Posted by BiafranPrincess| 29.11.2006 12:58

Afeni  Villager

# 3 I second your support for Buhari. If Buhari was president, all these people that take part in religios riots, looting and armed robbery would have only themselves to blame. Posted by Afeni| 29.11.2006 14:00

techsista  Villager

# 4 Nice write up. For those who may be wondering about the London events you mentioned, a news article: Protesters disrupt minister's speech in London From Tunde Oyedoyin and Seun Akioye, London THE Minister of Information and National Orientation, Frank Nweke Jnr., was given a scare yesterday when about six protesters quietly walked into the Queen Elizabeth II Conference Hall, Westminster, London, venue of the launch of Nigeria - Heart of Africa project, and held up proceedings for almost 10 minutes. Led by one white Briton, David Day, who told The Guardian that he is half Nigerian being married to a Nigerian, the protesters started waving the multi-colour flags of the Biafran Liberation and were shouting: "You're a liar, Nigeria is evil, there's genocide in Nigeria, stop the killings." Nweke was left confused and unable to grasp what was going on or where the protesters had come from. The disruption came as soon as the minister mounted the podium, after different presentations by the Nigerian High Commissioner in the UK, Dr. Christopher Kolade, Baroness Amos, the Leader of the House of Lords, and former Secretary General of the Commonwealth, Chief Emeka Anyaoku. It took almost two to four minutes for some of the minister's delegation and other attendees to get on the stage and intervene. By this time, Mr. Day had taken over the podium and was speaking into the microphone before being wrestled away by three men. Despite that, other members of the group took control of the event, walking round the hall and accused Nigeria of committing genocide and killing members of the Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB). The protesters shouted "Free Asari-Dokubo, Free Chief Ralph Uwazurike," whom they accused the Nigerian government of torturing in detention. As the pandemonium continued, a fierce verbal exchange was taking place between some members of the minister's delegation and the protesters. The confrontation could have turned nasty had staff of the conference centre not run to get some policemen from nearby Downing Street. The law enforcement agents it was, who restored peace and asked that the protesters conduct their demonstration outside the premises. Speaking to The Guardian outside the hall, members of the group displayed photos of torture to back up their claims that they weren't just a bunch of troublemakers. Day even accused the State Security Service (SSS) of killing people and burying them in mass graves around Onitsha. And when peace returned to the hall, Kolade appealed to all Nigerians to desist from assessing the progress of the country through criteria set up by other countries. Kolade, who opened the Heart of Africa project, lamented a statement credited to a western leader that "Africa is a scar on the conscience of the world." "That comment did not reflect the truth of the situation. I want you to stop assessing yourself by criteria set by others, otherwise you will have a poor assessment of yourself," the Nigerian envoy said. According to him, Nigerians have been judged as people living under $1 per day. He said there are more to Nigeria than what many want to believe. "We are a part of a community that has something that others can't come to grasp with. Our culture and works of arts show a people that have something they want to communicate to the world. There are more criteria to judging people than $1," he asserted. When he had the opportunity to speak, Nweke Jnr. highlighted the reasons for the project. "We are hosting the event in London as part of the wider initiative to promote understanding overseas of Nigeria's political reform agenda and economic progression, in a bid to reassure potential investors that Nigeria has truly surmounted its past developmental challenges," he said. The minister told Nigerians that it was time they began to tell their own stories. "We need to go out there and tell our own story, it might not be an instant hit but CNN was not an instant hit," he said. Nweke also challenged the question of Nigeria's image abroad. "It is not appropriate to question Nigeria's image. The negative story they tell about Nigeria today is founded on perceptions created by global rating agencies and I have always challenged them," he said. According to Nweke, Nigeria may have challenges; they are not peculiar to the country. He said that the current administration has taken steps to tackle them. When asked about the pace of impeachments and allegations of corruption, he said such issues would have been swept under the carpet but for the positive drive of the government to eradicate corruption. He said: "I want to dare other countries of the world to pick the challenge. Our problems are 60-70 per cent solved because we are truthful enough to admit and challenge them. While we are fighting corruption others are encouraging it. All through history, it is known that Switzerland is a haven for stolen money and you catch the thief but left the person who collected stolen money. How many countries have removed state governors and senate presidents? It shows that the corruption crusade is working." The event, which featured exhibition of Nigerian cultural heritage, will run for three days at the Queen Elizabeth 11 Conference Centre in Westminster. It was launched in August 2004 as a drive to attract direct foreign investment to Nigeria. London is one of the first Western countries to host the Heart of Africa project exhibition. Posted by techsista| 29.11.2006 14:12

MrOneNaija  Villager

# 5 THE SCAM CALLED 'HEART OF AFRICA PROJECT' Brilliantly rendered, Ugochukwu! As has been said, tongue-in-cheek, that depressingly worthless piece of propaganda by the nauseating and scandal-plagued Obasanjo regime deserves to bear the appropriate name of "Ass of Africa Project". No doubt, the Aso Rock madman and his spineless - or is it brainless? - errand boys in the likes of Frank Nweke Jnr. do make an ass of themselves by refusing to realize that no amount of mindless attempts at presenting a positive image of their sordid track record will wash with Nigerians and the international community. Obasanjo and his fellow misfits in government today have made Nigeria the laughing stock of the world. And this is what they want to celebrate with their 'Heart of Africa' drivel? There is this inescapable conclusion that more than anything else, the Ass of Africa Project has do with the regime's cronies and their allies junketing around the globe at the expense of the poor and suffering masses of the Nigerian people. It is clear that these vicious and vacuous bacchants don't give a damn about the image of the country, because, if they did, they would not be so brazenly and consistently advertising, through their crooked and evil ways, their disdain for decency and the rule of law. These sinister buffoons are so daft that they do not seem to understand that Nigerians and the world community rightly regard them as a blight on the nation and the African people in general. How can these barbarians, swindlers, killers, usurpers, fornicators, shameless crooks, that is the cast of dim-witted clowns belonging to the Obasanjo regime, imagine that the world will view them differently? Frank Nweke and his political master must be considered as dangerous imposters and con men. Nigerians will never subscribe to the cultural cum political "419" these fraudsters want to inflict on us. Posted by MrOneNaija| 29.11.2006 18:18

InDiaspora  Villager

# 6 In the November 5, 2006 issue of Arabian Business (a Dubai based business magazine), British PR spin doctor Max Clifford tells of how he turned down Nigeria even though he was offered a whopping US$200,000 for his services. He repeated same when he was in Dubai recently speaking at a PR conference citing Nigeria as bad business. When are we ever going to learn? Posted by InDiaspora| 01.12.2006 10:07

Oloye  Villager

# 7 This is why Buhari/Utomi presidency will make sense and likely bring discipline back Posted by Oloye| 03.12.2006 15:44