January 22, 2010
If Nigerians were of the belief that the leadership vacuum in Aso Rock started on November 23, 2009, when Umaru Yar'Adua went on medical vacation to Saudi Arabia, then Ojo Madueke's recent interview on BBC is proof that we have been under a collective delusion. For those who missed the 30 minutes interview of our Foreign Minister aired on January 21, 2010 edition of Hardtalk, Ojo Madueke's responses are revealing, proving that the Giant of Africa has been experiencing a leadership vacuum since May 27, 2007.
If Nigerians were of the belief that the leadership vacuum in Aso Rock started on November 23, 2009, when Umaru Yar'Adua went on medical vacation to Saudi Arabia, then Ojo Madueke's recent interview on BBC is proof that we have been under a collective delusion. For those who missed the 30 minutes interview of our Foreign Minister aired on January 21, 2010 edition of Hardtalk, Ojo Madueke's responses are revealing, proving that the Giant of Africa has been experiencing a leadership vacuum since May 27, 2007.
On behalf of 140 million Nigerians, excluding those who have benefited from the leadership vacuum, I want to thank all those who ensured that Umaru Yar'Adua did not transmit a written notice to the National Assembly regarding his medical vacation to allow Jonathan Goodluck to act as President.
Apart from enabling us separate the wheat from the tares in the ranks of our political leaders, the saga has exposed the real powers energizing the Umaru Yar'Adua presidency proving that Nigerians have been under the firm grip of unelected appointees and aides of Umaru Yar’Adua.
This is the mode of operation of the Yar'Adua government since May 2007 as declared by Ojo Maduake: "The important thing is to understand the President's policies, his vision, his goals and once that is understood, and he believes that this Foreign Minister knows what those visions are... he expects the Foreign Minister to know what to do".
As to what the vision of Yar'Adua Government is on Nigeria-United States bilateral ties, Ojo Madueke did not refer to any policy document but chose to recall the statement made by Umaru Yar’Adua when he was in the Oval office at the invitation of the then American president, George Bush Jnr.
The vision is supposedly that of a strong solidarity with the United States at all times and also a commitment to fighting global terrorism and it is on this basis that Nigeria’s response to the Farouk Umar Abdul-Mutallab saga has been formulated without the need to have recourse to the President.
This is happening in a Presidential system of government where the executive powers of the Federation are vested in the President and exercised by him directly and through delegation by the members of the Executive Council of the Federation made up of the Vice-President and Ministers of Government.
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Ojo Madueke's statement is evidence of abdication of executive powers to unelected appointees and probably explains why the 7 Point Agenda of the Yar'Adua Government has yet to get off the launching pad despite the trillions of Naira pumped into Ministries, Departments and Agencies in nearly 3 years.
It also explains why the members of the Executive Council of the Federation and aides of Umaru Yar'Adua are amused at the demands of Nigerians over the assumed leadership vacuum that has existed since November 23, 2009 because to them, leadership vacuum has always been the norm.
No wonder the most important agenda for the ministers and aides is the yearly ritual of getting their budgets approved by the National Assembly, a negotiated process that provides legal backing to the looting of public funds because they are the ones calling the shots.
Through the hindsight we are getting from Ojo Madueke's bare all interview, we were obviously deluded to have believed that Rilwan Babalola would achieve the goal of the Yar'Adua Government of providing 6000 Megawatts of electricity power by December 31, 2009.
We are even more deluded if we believe that Rilwan Lukman who chose to defy Jonathan Goodluck and traveled overseas during the Christmas holidays while Nigerians were locked in the firm grip of petrol scarcity, will do anything to address a situation that is now accepted as the norm in Nigeria.
With Umaru Yar'Adua continuing as president we would be insane to believe that other than the efficiency of the Revenue Commission in monthly sharing of revenue to the three tiers of government and the quarterly release of budgeted funds to MDAs, that any progress will be made at all.
At least we now know why these unelected appointees are fighting tooth and nail to prevent Jonathan Goodluck from becoming acting president and using both the National Assembly and the Federal Judiciary as defense strategies to maintain the leadership vacuum.
They do not want to be answerable to anyone; not least an acting president that wants to exercise the executive powers of the Federation and have an effective evaluation and monitoring system in place regarding target timelines and deliverables.
In this season of harvest, the tares and the wheat are now in full bloom and are easily distinguishable to enable us harvest them separately so that these tares who are in the Presidency, Executive Council, National Assembly, the Governors Forum and National Executives of PDP can be weeded out.
"We must be the change we want to see in the world." - Mahatma Gandhi
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On behalf of 140 million Nigerians, excluding those who have benefited from the leadership vacuum, I want to thank all those who ensured that Umaru Yar'Adua did not transmit a written notice to the National Assembly regarding his medical vacation to allow Jonathan Goodluck to act as President.
Apart from enabling us separate the wheat from the tares in the ranks of our political leaders, the saga has exposed the real powers energizing the Umaru Yar'Adua presidency proving that Nigerians have been under the firm grip of unelected appointees and aides of Umaru Yar’Adua.
This is the mode of operation of the Yar'Adua government since May 2007 as declared by Ojo Maduake: "The important thing is to understand the President's policies, his vision, his goals and once that is understood, and he believes that this Foreign Minister knows what those visions are... he expects the Foreign Minister to know what to do".
As to what the vision of Yar'Adua Government is on Nigeria-United States bilateral ties, Ojo Madueke did not refer to any policy document but chose to recall the statement made by Umaru Yar’Adua when he was in the Oval office at the invitation of the then American president, George Bush Jnr.
The vision is supposedly that of a strong solidarity with the United States at all times and also a commitment to fighting global terrorism and it is on this basis that Nigeria’s response to the Farouk Umar Abdul-Mutallab saga has been formulated without the need to have recourse to the President.
This is happening in a Presidential system of government where the executive powers of the Federation are vested in the President and exercised by him directly and through delegation by the members of the Executive Council of the Federation made up of the Vice-President and Ministers of Government.
articleadslinks
Ojo Madueke's statement is evidence of abdication of executive powers to unelected appointees and probably explains why the 7 Point Agenda of the Yar'Adua Government has yet to get off the launching pad despite the trillions of Naira pumped into Ministries, Departments and Agencies in nearly 3 years.
It also explains why the members of the Executive Council of the Federation and aides of Umaru Yar'Adua are amused at the demands of Nigerians over the assumed leadership vacuum that has existed since November 23, 2009 because to them, leadership vacuum has always been the norm.
No wonder the most important agenda for the ministers and aides is the yearly ritual of getting their budgets approved by the National Assembly, a negotiated process that provides legal backing to the looting of public funds because they are the ones calling the shots.
Through the hindsight we are getting from Ojo Madueke's bare all interview, we were obviously deluded to have believed that Rilwan Babalola would achieve the goal of the Yar'Adua Government of providing 6000 Megawatts of electricity power by December 31, 2009.
We are even more deluded if we believe that Rilwan Lukman who chose to defy Jonathan Goodluck and traveled overseas during the Christmas holidays while Nigerians were locked in the firm grip of petrol scarcity, will do anything to address a situation that is now accepted as the norm in Nigeria.
With Umaru Yar'Adua continuing as president we would be insane to believe that other than the efficiency of the Revenue Commission in monthly sharing of revenue to the three tiers of government and the quarterly release of budgeted funds to MDAs, that any progress will be made at all.
At least we now know why these unelected appointees are fighting tooth and nail to prevent Jonathan Goodluck from becoming acting president and using both the National Assembly and the Federal Judiciary as defense strategies to maintain the leadership vacuum.
They do not want to be answerable to anyone; not least an acting president that wants to exercise the executive powers of the Federation and have an effective evaluation and monitoring system in place regarding target timelines and deliverables.
In this season of harvest, the tares and the wheat are now in full bloom and are easily distinguishable to enable us harvest them separately so that these tares who are in the Presidency, Executive Council, National Assembly, the Governors Forum and National Executives of PDP can be weeded out.
"We must be the change we want to see in the world." - Mahatma Gandhi
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