There is now a growing and irritating tendency among some Nigerian Public figures to insult public opinion by flaunting their academic or intellectual accomplishments as a convenient means of fending off criticisms. When her name featured in an influence peddling scandal, involving an Austrian Energy Company, Schneider, Senator Iyabo Obasanjo – Bello rather than defending the allegations against her, told her critics to shut up.
There is now a growing and irritating tendency among some Nigerian Public figures to insult public opinion by flaunting their academic or intellectual accomplishments as a convenient means of fending off criticisms. When her name featured in an influence peddling scandal, involving an Austrian Energy Company, Schneider, Senator Iyabo Obasanjo – Bello rather than defending the allegations against her, told her critics to shut up.
She reminded them that she worked so hard in her life and achieved a PHD as a result. Introducing the doctorate under her belt had nothing to do with the allegations of using her father’s position in government to secure lucrative contracts in Nigeria in return for huge kickbacks. She called her critics all sorts of unprintable names but that tactics didn’t throw any light on issue to bring her out in a better public image. Perhaps borrowing a leaf from Senator Iyabo’s shenanigans, the Director General of the Nigerian Stock Exchange, Professor Ndi Okereke-Onyiuke has adopted the same tactics to ward off public criticisms of her role in raising 100 million naira under the aegis of Africa for Obama campaign, which she initiated to ostensibly boost the presidential campaign of Illinois Senator Barack Obama.
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Despite acknowledging that she is aware of the American laws which forbid foreign donations to political candidates in the U.S. , Professor Okereke was not ready to be deterred by public criticisms. Throwing her nose at public opinion, she vainly declared, “I am a very intelligent person; I have a Ph.D that I did not buy.” Wait a minute! Did anybody raise questions about her academic qualifications? Why then must she remind us about her intellectual attainments? Is that the issue in contention? Does the mere possession of a PhD stop Nigerians from asking questions about the propriety of her over-zealous conducts of recent memory?
Nigerians are simply wondering why she had to take money from hypnotized donors to finance her campaign for the promotion of Obama’s Presidential bid. The Barack Obama campaign organisation has already dissociated itself from the fund-raising activities of Professor Okereke. In fact, the EFCC has also moved swiftly to stop her in a tracks before more innocent donors are cajoled into kissing good bye to their hard-earned monies. If she is such a genius for raising money for good causes, why didn’t she apply that extraordinary gift to helping our universities out of the woods?
In fact, how many people has she empowered with scholarships in her state? How many local schools has she assisted to function efficiently? Why didn’t she use her brilliant ideas to fix our roads, hospitals and other decaying public infrastructure? Are these domestic challenges not a priority in her eyes? The Americans are not stupid because they know how corruption and mismanagement have bogged down Nigeria . The kind of fund-raising activities of Professor Okereke are open to corruption, manipulation and blackmail. And that is why Nigerians are uncomfortable leaving her to act without restraint. In fact, most of her previous fund-raising activities were glaringly self-serving. Didn’t she mobilize the so-called corporate Nigeria to cough out billions into former President Obasanjo’s re-election bid of 2003, despite the provisions of the electoral law, which demands the open declaration of the names of donors to parties and candidates and the amounts involved? The same electoral law also limits the amount of donation parties should collect. The companies and Allied Matters laws don’t support her action either. Is it morally right for the ruling party and its candidates to collect money from contractors doing business with the government in power? The same Okereke mobilized private companies and billionaires created by the Obasanjo administration and reluctant state governments to donate more than eight billion naira into the former President Obasanjo’s private library project while he was still in office. Can we, in all honestly, say that Professor Okereke’s activities serve the genuine public interest? For example, she was mobilizing corporate Nigeria moguls to donate billions to Obasanjo’s library project at a time the country’s educational system is in callous neglect due to poor funding. Ironically, she was mobilizing fudns for Obasanjo’s vanity projects while the man was wickedly killing education in Nigeria ! Like other fund raising projects she initiated previously, the Africa for Obama Campaign being promoted by Professor Okereke has nothing to do with public interest. On the contrary, she has selfish ulterior motives as her previous projects demonstrated. There are domestic issues of urgency that cry for attention and it is surprising why the Professor of Stock Exchange did not deploy her genius to fix Nigeria which is in ramshackle state. Senator Obama has even declined to accept an 80-million dollar campaign assistance from the U.S. federal government which the constitution permits individual presidential candidate to enjoy.
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The man doesn’t need her money and let her stop using his name to promote her undeclared private objectives. Nobody is disputing Professor Okereke’s academic qualification. But that doesn’t mean Professors don’t make stupid mistakes or do things that suggest poor judgment. In fact, don’t Professors fall victims of swindlers or miscalculation? The former NDDC chairman, Sam Edem is richly educated but fell victim to a semi-illiterate juju man who duped him of 800 million naira. Once you hold public office, you are a fair game. If she doesn’t like public scrutiny, she has no business accepting to serve as DG of the Nigerian Stock Exchange. Her PhD is no licence to commit excesses and expect the public to hail her. Even her acceptance to serve as chairman of Transcorp is controversial because it is inconsistent in with her role as a regulator. But having ingratiated herself with former President Obasanjo, she got away with it.
The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of SaharaReporters
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