ak47mann:

Why I’m Under Attack – Okonjo-iweala

We will load it on the website so that Nigerians can see what their states and local governments receive monthly. That is transparency in action”, she said.


VANGUARD NEWSPAPER

Kobojunkie:

^^^ http://www.vanguardngr.com/2011/09/why-im-under-attack-okonjo-iweala/

denitro:

Sorry I mean the website Okonjo-iweala said they have posted what states and local governments receive monthly,

Why I’m Under Attack – Okonjo-iweala

We will load it on the website so that Nigerians can see what their states and local governments receive monthly. That is transparency in action”, she said.


VANGUARD NEWSPAPER

It has not been done yet but this was the trend when she was a minister serving under OBJ. It will be published in national dailies and made public very soon as she has indicated. With this, you as a Nigerian that has a stake in and is interested in the sustained growth of our country can know how monies allocated have been spent.

BTW, nobody seems to be interested in the fact that 60% of funds allocated for capital projects in the 2011 budget will not see the light of the day and will not be returned to government coffers, yet we are all screaming 'foul' because of some report whose source calls for intense questioning!

deenee:

Why make the allegations 'public' now?, when the 'supposed contract and kickback' for the debt deal was consumated around 2004-2005.

I beg to ask this queation-If Dr. Okonjo-Iweala is not part of GEJ's cabinet and is not at the forefront, advocating for a 'reformed Nigeria' (something that we all desire) , will these 'Wikileaks report' come out? I am not saying that she is a 'saint' but it is high time we begin to critically analyse information before we 'react'.

As one of my mentors would always say- the media is a 'deceptive tool' that has been used to control the 'thought process' of people and with the advent of social media, it is an easy tool used to turn people into 'clones'.


Media-black man's KRYPTONITE

Kobojunkie:

Julian Assange ,  you are wanted in Nigeria ooo!!!! You are now Okonjo-Iweala's detractor oooo. . . .  She is "fighting against corruption", and you are the one fighting her back ooo!!!

Kobojunkie:

So, wikileaks would not have released this leak if Iweala, who was just one of those named in this particular leak, had not been brought back to Nigeria from the WB??  

I think I have my dose of the Nigerian delusion to sustain me for the whole day.

kulutempa:

I think the issue of transparency needs to go further than Madam Ngozi is advocating.  I think as from now on, we should have a monthly publication of all Federal government contracts that have been awarded, included those that have not been completed, the dates of the awards, the value of the contracts, the contractor to whom the contracts were awarded, and the start and completion dates of the contracts.  In this way we would be able to monitor how our money is being spent as well as the execution of the contracts.   I hope Mrs Ngozi is reading this and is able to implement these reforms because they  will go a long way towards sanitizing our corrupt system of contract awards, and making it more transparent.

Kobojunkie:

It is possible he did not do it for the money or maybe not for the popularity either, who knows. I have a hard time figuring him out as he does not come off as someone who truly cares about the people or the plight of the people. In an interview on his publishing a Kenyan report, he said something like, even though the information resulted in the death of about 1300 people (the 2007 Kenyan election/massacre that ensued) he believed Kenya was better off, than if he had not released the document in the open.
On the stealing and publication of documents not meant for the public domain YET, I think he knew what he was getting into, and even after so many warnings took it on himself to continue and so should be prepared for whatever should follow.  

Kobojunkie:

There is freedom of press. . .  even in Nigeria. That is a none issue. Also, computer programmers, especially those who work with governmental agencies understand the amount of power at they hold when it comes to access to data but millions continue to resist that temptation to go against policy . . . to steal data from these organizations.

That assange has the skills, and a passion for journalism is not really enough reason for a man to release information that could potentially plunge the world into war, in my opinion.

Kobojunkie:

The US government currently does not have a problem with the vast amount of information it makes openly available to Americans since there is freedom of information in this country. However, when individuals take it on themselves to STEAL confidential or secret data, then there is a problem and that is where this issue is. Is it OK for individuals to STEAL and then publish information that is not meant to be in the public domain without consequence?

Claus:

Just so you guys don't go off on the wrong tangent, the Sahara Reporters article goes "yet another WikiLeaks US cable issued in 2006 says".

It appears the Wikileaks report itself came out in 2006, so there is no suggestion that Okonjo-Iweala is accusing Wikileaks as one of the detractors to her current position.

Claus:

Just so you guys don't go off on the wrong tangent, the Sahara Reporters article goes "yet another WikiLeaks US cable issued in 2006 says".

It appears the Wikileaks report itself came out in 2006, so there is no suggestion that Okonjo-Iweala is accusing Wikileaks as one of the detractors to her current position.

Kabikala:

This dumb response by Madam Ngozi had made me to conclude that she might not be as smart as we all assumed. Detractors? Rather than leave the rebuttal to I-never-influenced-anyone-to-award-contracts, or I-don't-know-any-Jon-Jon, she has to pin it at the door of some imaginary enemy.
Personally, I choose to believe this story.

Kobojunkie:

HUH?? What tangent again now? the Wikileaks report came out just last month(Wikileaks, the site was created, I believe in 2009/20101). There is absolutely no way the site could have reported anything of this sort back in 2006.

The original memo/leak(stolen by wikileaks from the US Government) was created back in 2006. Since Wikileaks is responsible for this news SURFACING in 2011, it makes sense to suggest that Madam may probably be blaming Assange for this. ROFLMAO!!

Claus:

It does make sense that Sahara Reporters are referring to 2006 as the date the original cable was issued.

BTW Wikileaks wasn't created in 2009/2010. According to the website itself, it was "officially launched" in 2007, but it also has archives from 2006 to date, suggesting it was in operation before 2007. Therefore the Sahara Reporter's quote could easily be misinterpreted.

The main point I am trying to draw out though is that it is unlikely that Okonjo Iweala is accusing Wikileaks of being one of her detractors. She has clearly said that the people she is accusing were those that tried to dissuade her from taking office in the first place. They are likely to be Nigerians.

I am however surprised that she has used this angle of detractors to defend herself, since this is the same excuse all the corrupt politicians use.

Personally, my guess would be that she is not corrupt and I believe she is good for Nigeria.

Kobojunkie:

You are not making any sense at all, my friend. Please step back, review what REALLY happened, and then come back, re-read your post here and maybe you will see why I say "you are not making any sense at all".

**Again, Wikileaks(cable) site which is hosting the document was not, I repeat, was not in existence in 2006. If you need to brush up on Wikileaks and why I would make the statements I made, you may need to look up wikipedia or something to know how it is not possible that wikileaks had knowledge of this particular allegation back in 2006

** Also, the archives which you point to where STOLEN in 2010. Again, consult wikileaks history to learn more of this. I am not certain how in this day and age, anyone would make the sort of claims you are attempting(out of desperation it seems) on this issue.

**An allegation existed, and she confirmed that it did. Regardless of your personal pot of soup, our democracy should not be reduced to what you think or do not think in any issue. We have a situation that needs to be investigated, and if already, the details made public. Simple!

Kobojunkie:

You are not making any sense at all, my friend. Please step back, review what REALLY happened, and then come back, re-read your post here and maybe you will see why I say "you are not making any sense at all".

**Again, Wikileaks(cable) site which is hosting the document was not, I repeat, was not in existence in 2006. If you need to brush up on Wikileaks and why I would make the statements I made, you may need to look up wikipedia or something to know how it is not possible that wikileaks had knowledge of this particular allegation back in 2006

** Also, the archives which you point to where STOLEN in 2010. Again, consult wikileaks history to learn more of this. I am not certain how in this day and age, anyone would make the sort of claims you are attempting(out of desperation it seems) on this issue.

**An allegation existed, and she confirmed that it did. Regardless of your personal pot of soup, our democracy should not be reduced to what you think or do not think in any issue. We have a situation that needs to be investigated, and if already, the details made public. Simple!

Claus:

Hold your horses. Perhaps YOU need to re-read what I wrote. My very first sentence said "It DOES make sense that Sahara Reporters are referring to 2006 as the date the ORIGINAL cable was issued".

I was AGREEING with you!!!

Claus:

However, I was also pointing out that Wikileaks was in existence before the 2009/2010 years you mentioned. If you look at the Wikipedia that you recommended to me, you'll see that they claim Wikileaks was launched in 2006.

Claus:

Nigeria's democracy should not be reduced to what I think or do not think about any issue, however, what we all think about issues should be allowed on discussion forums like Nairaland as long as they are done within the normal rules of etiquette.

Kobojunkie:

How can you agree with me there when I never made such a claim. The original Cable was dated back to 2006, and so it makes absolute sense that SaharaReporters would refer to 2006, the date on the memo, which was leaked. That Wikileaks revealed this memo in 2011 DOES NOT change the fact that the memo was created back in 2006, when the allegation was supposedly made against her.

Kobojunkie:

The Cable site that hosts the documents was not in existence in 2006, sorry. That spider site came up more recently than that and the documents, that are the source of the leak, came into the hands of Wikileaks after the memos were stolen from the US in 2009/2010. Not before! So it is wrong to claim Wikileaks had it in for Iweala from way back in 2006 when the memos that were stolen, were likely created.

Kobojunkie:

Sure we should but I don't think we should expect our personal opinions on issues to trump the need for issues to be thoroughly investigated and the truth made public as it ought to, in every democracy.

Claus:

My response was directed at your comments that you believed Wikileaks, the site, was created in 2009/2010, something we both now know not to be true.

If you read my post properly you would also see that I made no such claim that Wikileaks had it in for Iweala from way back in 2006.


No such suggestion has been made. The fact that I would "guess" that she is not corrupt and "believe" that she is good for Nigeria does not preclude the need for a thorough investigation into allegations against her. It is definitely not a suggestion that my "personal opinions should trump the need for issues to be thoroughly investigated".

Rhea:

Wikileak has been releasing US embassy notes for a long time now. The authenticity of those documents have never been called to question. If not, why has the US government been hounding Julian Assange.

Nobody questioned the authenticity of the releases when the likes of James Ibori and Joshua Dariye were gracing the headlines. Now that it is the turn of El Rufai and Okonjo Iweala, all hell is being let loose.

The information is there for us all to interpret as we deem fit.

manny4life:

Are you gonna say something you know or not?

Rhea:

I am gonna say something I know.