IS NGOZI OKONJO-IWEALA FINALLY COMING AROUND (1):There were indications that after continuously but unreasonably praising Jonathan’s administration on its handling of the economy, the finance minister and coordinating minister for the economy, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, may be finally coming around. Some news media reported last week that, at an economic management committee meeting a few days ago, the minister was brutally frank with everyone present. She declared matter-of-factly that the nation’s economy was in grave danger and headed for a collapse. She said the corruption in the oil industry and the unbridled theft of the nation’s crude oil would ground the nation soon if something was not done about it. She complained bitterly that the theft of crude oil had reached unprecedented levels and, consequently, the revenues of the nation were fast drying up. It is far worse today than it was at the height of the Niger Delta militancy. These fresh facts are diametrically at variance with her mid-term report only a week earlier. But why should this be so? Hasn’t President Jonathan paid billions of naira to Niger Delta militants (or are they former militants as President Jonathan himself prefers to call them?) to guard oil installations and block the theft of crude? Why should the president pay billions of naira to militants to protect crude oil installations and yet the theft would surpass what it was during the period such contracts were not in place? Would it not be common sense to think that it could be these militants that are stealing the crude while guarding the installations at the same time? It is only in Jonathan’s governance style that a goat would be handed over to a bunch of hyenas for safekeeping. I sincerely find the president’s creative governance style quite intriguing. A few weeks ago, a certified clown and one of his minions who has been put in charge of sharing resources to these militants declared in faraway United States that only President Jonathan could guarantee peace in the Niger Delta. He was making reference to the 2015 elections and the need for the Americans to help maintain Jonathan in power beyond 2015. Of course, that silly statement only served as amusement to those listening to him. If Jonathan’s great idea of peace is one that is achieved by allowing thieves to feast on the nation’s resources, then, he must be the most creative president the world has ever known. Maybe we should nominate him for a Nobel Peace prize for such creativity.
Posted on: Mon, 17 Jun 2013 11:20:17 +0000
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