₦airaland Forum

Reading NOI's Fighting Corruption is Dangerous.

I've come to admit that being a good person and having a good conscience in Nigeria is a liability.

For NOI to survive all the allegations that people threw at her despite being a finance minister for seven years (cumulatively) showed she is a woman of integrity. Whether she's a good economist or effective financial manager is another question. But as to her integrity there is no doubt. She is also a bold woman. Strong enough to risk so much for her country.

Of course It is true that being a minister adds to her professional experience and she enjoyed the privileges associated with it it is still a commendable feat for her to chose to serve.

I'm done the book and I'm excited to see how she exonerated herself from all the allegations associated with the GEJ administration. The fact that she still got international jobs after her tenure shows that she wasn't involved in any act of corruption.

I just learned from reading NOI's book that TSA and IPPIS GFMIS where initiatives that dated as far back as Obasanjo's Presidency. I'm shook. It took us three Presidents to implement financial reform. We have good policies in Nigeria, where the problem is speed and effectiveness in implementation.

Understanding the reason why this instruments were put in place in the first place has made ASUU to lose all it's credibility in my eyes. The system was designed for better financial accountability and transparency,yet ASUU that is supposed to be the most civilised and progressive Union is kicking against it and insisting on modifications to suit their sinister agenda of money laundering.
How do we solve the problem of implementation in Nigeria?

How do we solve this issue? We need people with the same set of values like NOI, Dora Akunyilili and Elrufai (when he was FCT minister.)

I mean people with strong personal resolve to implement policy without fear or favor.

As I read this Book by NOI, I get to see how difficult it is to run a stable and good government in Nigeria. This is because our value system celebrates personal gains over national interest.

We as a people are not so different from our leaders. The average Nigerian has no idea what accountability means. If you give a tailor your clothe and a deadline for him to meet up, you'll likely be disappointed as he will definitely fail to meet deadlines.

It's our individual lack of integrity and accountability that has made it difficult for us to to demand the same from our leaders. I don't mean staging a "revolution" protest in Abuja ooo.

I mean getting in touch with your grassroot politicians and asking them hard questions.

How many Nigerians know the names of their Local Government councillors? Have you requested a meeting with your state and federal legislature asking him his input to national policy formation? Or the only time you seek their attention is to ask for personal favours?

It is a gross misplacement of energy for you to focus on the federal Government when you can't even talk to your Council Chairman.

We love wasting our energy on imaginary enemies. Just the same way we ascribe every misfortune in life to witches and wizards.

I feel so sorry for myself and the youth. We complain so much about the government but will do nothing to make a change. We hide behind our online petitions and the safety of our WhatsApp groups to speak big grammar without ever attending a single town hall meeting held by our legislators.

I personally think that most of us in Nigeria deserve the kind of leaders that we get because our leaders are a very good reflection of collective values as country.


We don't deserve the likes of Ngozi Okonjo Iweala

I've read my transmission hours by GEJ

Firstly ,The book looks like the Handiwork of Reno Omokri. It seems Reno Ghostwrote the book
Anyways, the book throws a cast on the personality of Goodluck Jonathan. He is the sort of person who doesn't look for trouble or even know how to handle it. This is sad because Nigerians are by default troublesome persons. It takes a stubborn and arrogant person (with good intentions) to make any good changes in Nigeria. The Obasanjo administration might be seen as high handed but that's the only type of leadership Nigerians obey.

GEJ's transition hours shows a President who wasn't in charge at all. His book and insight of other similar memoirs from Previous Nigerian Government officials shows that office of the President is an uneasy sit plagued by interests as varied as the many ethnic groups in Nigeria. Whatever you do will be seen as unfair in at least 250 different ways.

His Soft Personality made it easy for those under him to perpetuate all kinds of evil.

Of course due to his laid back personality, he was prone to making rash decisions to assert his authority. Two important events come to mind :

(1)The ill timed January 1st 2013 announcement of fuel subsidy removal. According to members of his cabinet, this subsidy removal was not due in about 5 months. Sensitisation had already started in the previous year with positive feedback, and needed to be done in the six geopolitical zones. GEJ, in an attempt to establish his authority over the Petroleum Price and Regulatory Authority went ahead of himself and of course it blew up in his face.

(2) The ill fated sack of Sanusi as CBN Governor.

Although Sanusi was already under investigations, he hadn't been indicted yet. It was within this period that Sanusi accused GEJ 's government of corruption to the tune of $50M.
Sanusi accusations were damaging no doubt. But sacking Sanusi even worsened GEJ's public image. Many people now thought there was some truth in what Sanusi said.

His leadership style is a passive type. The few times he tried to take the reigns, it backfired.

GEJ's biggest achievement is due to his laid back nature. That's the main reason he conceded to Buhari even before the polls were completely collated.

This singular action made Nigerians almost forgive him for his failures.

He also admits this as his greatest legacy.

My personal take from this is that it is difficult for anyone to be a good President in Nigeria.

Indeed uneasy lies the head that bears the crown