Mr. Goodluck Jonathan has announced his 13-month Federal Executive council and there are now joy and jubilation in some parts of the country and weeping and gnashing of teeth in others. To those weeping I say "weep not child." To those celebrating I say "not so fast." My reasons for the advice I give is because in a democracy a minister's power is defuse just like his president's. The real power is not in the laws or authority of the ministry but in the CHARACTER of the holder of the office. A minister can and often is malleable and everybody knows this. That is why we have lobbyists who are paid highly to mold the minister and president to the liking of a constituency. All Nigerians, those rejoicing and those weeping, ought to pay attention and learn from this lesson being taught by Mr. Obi Nwakanma: "…I personally do not think that these so-called "Igbo ministers" speak for me. The fact that they are Igbo is purely accidental. Perhaps on occasion, they may quibble about regional balance, but there is no evidence that we have these guys speaking specifically about Igbo matters, nor should we in good conscience expect them to. What the Igbo must do is to clearly identify and articulate what constitutes "Igbo interests" and make certain that whoever is in charge - Igbo or not - does not mess with it…" The last sentence is the lesson. Clearly identify and articulate what constitutes your interest and make certain that whoever is in charge does not mess with it. Wherever Mr. Nwakanma has used Igbo please feel free to substitute Ijaw, Tiv, Urhobo, Efik or what have you. The rule is universal. A Jew has never been a president of the United States but look and see who gets the cream de la crème of America 's largesse.

Look at some of the antecedents. Mrs. Allison Madueke is/was from the Delta and lives in SE by marriage and was the minister of works. Her people needed/need Lagos – Benin – Onitsha road. It was bad before she took office it was bad during her tenure and is bad as we speak. Mr. Anenih was the minister of works before her and he too was from the Delta and the road passes by his house. He did not do anything about it. SE had the last three or four federal ministers of education. But when Colleges of Technologies were converted to Universities not one from SE was converted even though SE ministers were in charge during the planning, approval and implementation of the conversion. Oil ministers have come from SS and from the North. But no matter who has been in charge SS has not been developed. The bulk of the money has been carted away from the country to numbered bank accounts elsewhere and the little left in Nigeria has been spent everywhere but SS. The lesson is that the fact that Mr. Jonathan is from SS and Mrs. Madueke is from SS does not mean that SS would now become Singapore . The people of SS must listen to Mr. Nwakanma. The fact that the aviation ministry has gone to SE does not ensure that Enugu Airport would now become an international airport. SE people must pay close attention to Mr. Nwakanma's lecture. SW now has the finance ministry. If any south westerner thinks that the allocation formula would now forward unlimited amounts of cash to develop Lagos , please be warned. Pay attention to Mr. Nwakanma's lecture. Ditto for every Nigerian from every part of the country. If you do not know what you want, how would you know when you find it?

Article by : BENJAMINA, baduba54@aol.com

Source: Nig2dayonline@AOL.com