Proof For Nigerians That General Buhari Truly Means To End Corruption In Nigeria By Dr. Wumi Akintide


Dr. Wumi Akintide

The choice of Alhaji Ahmed Joda as Chairman of the Transition team is a choice made from Heaven. I worked for Ahmed Joda when he was one of the 4 super Permanent Secretaries of the Federation comprising Allison Ayida, Philip Asiodu, E.M.E Ebong and himself while Yakubu Gowon was Head of State from July 1966 to 1975.

The 4 Permanent Secretaries along with their colleagues were quite unhappy when Murtala Mohammed and Obasanjo regime decided that Permanent Secretaries were to be seen and not heard because they felt that the Permanent Secretaries had become too powerful in Government. They wanted to cut them to size. They insisted they should only accompany their commissioners to the Executive Council meetings as advisers and no more as spokesmen for their Ministries.

The commissioners won and the permanent secretaries lost. A few of them took the new gag order personally. Unflappable E.M.E. Ebong was one of them. The others including Ahmed Joda went along albeit reluctantly because they were all very competent and proud bureaucrats and they knew a lot more than their transient political appointees.

Other Permanent Secretaries who were a force to reckon with in those days but were not listed among the 4 included the great Abdul Azeez Attah, the first son of Ohinoyi, the Attah of Igbira Land, Chief Festus Awoniyi of Mopa in Kwara state and Alhaji Abubakar Alhaji a Sokoto prince who later on became the power behind the throne when Shagari became President in 1979. Shagari did not take any decision without first of all running it by Abubakar Alhaji. (Tripple A)

I proudly served as Secretary to National Council on Education and Secretary to the Ministry's Tenders Board under Ahmed Joda as the Permanent Secretary. [b]If you are looking for an incorruptible Nigerian who shares all of the personal attributes of General Buhari as an incorruptible leader, that man is Ahmed Joda from Girei in Adamawa State of Nigeria. I accompanied the man a few times to his village and I came to know him very well as a Nigerian without blemish.

The man served for many years as Chairman of Liquefied Gas Company or Commission of Nigeria and I believe he was chairman of Peugeot Automobile Nigeria PLC at one point in his distinguished career. I knew he was a journalist by training and the man was a prolific writer. He has been everything that he wants to be in Nigeria and he has served in all of the positions with distinction and integrity. If he is a thief he would have long become the Bill Gates of Nigeria.

General Buhari could not have picked a better choice to serve as Chairman of the Transition Committee. He would do a fabulous job because he knows the Federal Public Service inside out, and he is as smart as hell. Age may have slowed him down a little bit but I think he is still one hell of a bureaucrat. He looks a bit old and worn out from his latest picture I have seen in the social media but he remains a monument for integrity in the Public Service.
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He is without any doubt one of the best northerners I have ever met or served under. The others of course are Abdul Azeez Attah and Alhaji Abubakar Alhaji a prince of the Sultanate of Sokoto, Alhaji Damcida and late Yusuf Gobir the dapper don Permanent Secretary from Ilorin who was my Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Defense. There was Francesca Yetunde Emanuel nee Perreira from Lagos. She was the pioneer lady Permanent Secretary in the Federal Public Service. There was Late Grey Eronmosele Longe from Sabongida Ora and Chief Oluyemi Falae now Kabiyesi the Oluabo of Ilu Abo in Akure North Local Government who retired as Secretary Federal Government and Minister of Finance.

I became who I am today because all of them have touched my life in so many ways. Ahmed Joda in particular had the greatest influence on me when I served under him in the Federal Ministry of Education. I remember him as if it were yesterday.

That man nearly fired his Yoruba Deputy Permanent Secretary whose name I would keep to myself for now because the man was proved to have taken some bribes in cash and kind from one of the contractors supplying food items to all of the Federal Government Colleges in Nigeria at the time. I was reluctantly made to play the role of a whistle blower on the occasion because the man who was Chairman of my Tenders’ Board had wanted to make himself the victor and me the victim. I was the Secretary to the Board and I kept record of all that transpired including a Dozier on each of our contractors at the time. It was my notes that saved me because Ahmed Joda does not play.

I was amazed by the level of integrity and probity displayed by Ahmed Joda on the particular case in question. I wanted to be like him from that moment on in my career. I am pleasantly surprised to know he is still alive and well enough to be considered for that assignment.

Ahmed Joda taught me all I knew as an administrator and as Secretary to the National Council of Education headed at one point by Chief Wenike Briggs and later on by Chief A Y. Eke a former Registrar of the University of Lagos. Those were the days. The Civil Service was at its best I might add. Ahmed Joda insisted that all minutes of meetings must be ready within 24 hours after the end of the meeting come rain or shine. I must give him my draft of the minutes for him to look over and correct in the plane as we both flew back to Lagos. By the time we landed at Ikeja he had already made his corrections and the minutes would be ready for circulation latest by the next day.

I took that habit from him and it remained part of my routine till tomorrow. When I became the Director of the Salvation Army Emergency Center for Children and Families at Bushwick in New York more than 30 years later, I could not shed the habit. Who says the northerners are inferior to the southerners? Those who say that are southerners who may never have met “workaholic” northerners like Ahmed Joda. Nigeria would be a great country with more of Ahmed Joda and General Buhari. I am awfully proud to be one of them

I take off my hat for that man and I shout “Ranka Dede” as I put finishing touches to this tribute to a worthy Nigerian public servant I would never forget.

I now know that General Buhari means business by picking Alhaji Joda to be the Chairman of his Transition team. The President-elect can go to bed easy tonight and not have sleepless night on whether or not Alhaji Joda is going to do a good job and serve the nation to the best of his ability on that chair.

I now see a reason for greater optimism in Nigeria come June 1st 2015 and thereafter.

God bless Nigeria and long live our new President.

Dr. Wumi Akintide

SeverusSnape:
Rubbish!... How can Buhari appoint a man who served under the gowon administration, that is almost 50 years ago to come and head a commission that seeks to eradicate kworupsion, Mind you, Corruption now is not as it is now. We need people who are conversant with the 21st century best practices; Not recycling old cargoes like this man, Tom West and even BabaOneChance.

LouisVanGaal:
You should be ashamed of yourself, if these what your brain can make out...i just hope that you not these dumb in real life! What should matter to you...Integrity or Age

LouisVanGaal:
You should be ashamed of yourself, if these what your brain can make out...i just hope that you not these dumb in real life! What should matter to you...Integrity or Age

SeverusSnape:

Fool, Respond to my post intelligently; Stop behaving like Buhari.

omenka:
Eyaa. What's with the palpitations. Are you okay??

SeverusSnape:

If you observe well, you'll see that it is that LouisVanGaal that is palpitating, The scallywag didn't counter me(even a bit), He just went ahead to resort to insults. His moniker should be David Moyes.

ozoigbondu:


what do you mean sef moyes is doing well in real sociead

SeverusSnape:
Hehehehehehehehehehe
I know why the guy chose that moniker, He sees van gaal as the saviour of Manchester United. The moyes I referred to is in the Manchester context, not Sociedad.
So he should go and figure himself out.

SeverusSnape:

Fool, Respond to my post intelligently; Stop behaving like Buhari.
By the way, Look are the bolded, and correct your illiterate self.

LouisVanGaal:
I give up on you! When real men are making corrections on real issues; you can only correct grammer?? Says a lot about you..i take it that you've been cornered!

Even if GMB resurrects a man from the time of moses to work with him...i dont care! All we want is result!

Thats why GEJ lost these election..too many sycophants and charlattans in his entourage...

SeverusSnape:
Rubbish!... How can Buhari appoint a man who served under the gowon administration, that is almost 50 years ago to come and head a commitee that seeks to eradicate kworupsion, Mind you, Corruption now is not as it was then. We need people who are conversant with the 21st century best practices; Not recycling old cargoes like this man, Tom West and even BabaOneChance.
By the way, How will a transition committee contribute in ending corruption

SeverusSnape:

Mr. Man, It's "GRAMMAR", not GRAMMER.
stop talking like one senile old general...
How many elections did GEJ lose that you're using "these"

SeverusSnape:

Fool, Respond to my post intelligently; Stop behaving like Buhari.
By the way, Look are the bolded, and correct your illiterate self.

LouisVanGaal:
You just frustrated...like i told you sometimes lastweek in another thread...4years is NOT 4weeks o!


Typical of you TANoids; chasing 'flies'..instead of 'dragons'..
GEJ lost once..but the way and manner he lost was a monumental disgrace..when considering the quality of campaign he ran! Even the devil would REJECT the result if it favoured GEJ...


KeepOnHating!

SeverusSnape:

I'm bored, please spice up this beef.

LouisVanGaal:
You just frustrated...like i told you sometimes lastweek in another thread...4years is NOT 4weeks o!


Typical of you TANoids; chasing 'flies'..instead of 'dragons'..
GEJ lost once..but the way and manner he lost was a monumental disgrace..when considering the quality of campaign he ran! Even the devil would REJECT the result if it favoured GEJ...


KeepOnHating!

LouisVanGaal:
You should be ashamed of yourself, if these what your brain can make out...i just hope that you not these dumb in real life! What should matter to you...Integrity or Age

SkyBlue1:
But the Buhari team definitely made a huge mistep with Timipre Sylva. Seriously. That man should not be anywhere near responsible positions. He did a terrible job in Bayelsa, that state has never had a good leader. It is not so critical that he is in the transition team, as long as he is not given any position of responsibility at the federal government, not even opening and closing the gate to the federal secretariat, he will mess it up.

Gbawe:


No one take that little brat seriously and I would suggest you don't either. He reminds me of the badly brought-up kid always shouting irrelevantly and nonsensically to get attention when grown-ups are talking.