Nigeria Daily News: The Matter Of “Conflict Of Interest”: An Embarrassment To Mr. President

The Matter Of “Conflict Of Interest”: An Embarrassment To Mr. President
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Staff on 31/08/2012 00:09:00


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The resignation of the Minister of Power, Barth Nnaji, has taken to the airwaves
like the aliens have landed from Mars on Earth. Most commentators are praising
His Excellency, President Goodluck Jonathan, herein as Mr. President, for taking
a decisive and bold step to prevent the collapse of the ONLY legacy he hopes to
achieve by the time he leaves office. This praise comes under the disguise of
“conflict of Interest” sin committed by the Hon. Minister of Power.
I personally question the rational and behind the scenes complications of this
matter. I remain a strong advocate of looking at all sides to a story logically
and reasonably, especially more so where no facts exists. During my brief
meeting with the Minister of Information in London, United Kingdom, a fortnight
ago at the SAND's Nigeria Diaspora Youth Leadership Summit, participants
challenged Alhaji Labaran-Maku on the lack of information from the gov’t. They
further explained that they had to depend on information from social media. In
response, the Honourable Minister threw back the challenge to the participants
to help the gov’t fashion the best approach to reach out to Nigerians using
social media.
First, I would like to use this medium, rather than make a direct contact with
the Hon. Minister, to point out that Mr. President is not being helped by the
numerous Public Relations Advisers or whatever title they are called. The
resignation of a Minister of government is of great public interest without any
shadow of doubt. What Nigerians and Nigeria press got from the President's
Special Adviser on this issue was a sketchy press release. This is an insult to
the integrity of the President and by large to the Nigerian people. If
professional people with a great deal of experience, knowledge, skills and
competences are around Mr. President this could have been avoided.
Yes, he has worked in Nigerian media but yet he doesn't know what is best. Not
just President Jonathan but also previous Presidents and Head of States. If they
did Nigeria would be far better off than it is today. Thanks to social media,
Nigerians have become more exposed and knowledgeable. Their quest for
information is like never before. They are like a drunk who desires more drink.
The lack of information on the full story behind the resignation or sacking (as
reported in some cases) of the Hon. Minister of Power is helping various
commentators to have their day on the social media. Hon. Minister of
Information, Alhaji Labaram Maku here is an opportunity to help put things
right. Your office, as a matter of priority, needs to draw up government
policies on how different type of information (depending on the content and the
criteria of “public interest” etc.) is to be made available to different
sections of government, the press, Nigerians and international communities.
For example, the resignation of a Minister in my view demands a public press
conference from the Minister himself with a follow on with a press release from
the Minister’s office. This will save Mr. President lots of embarrassment. Now
to the main content of my write up, yes the Minister resigned or rather was
sacked. Today, we have read that the President asked him to resign. That is a
polite way to tell somebody he has been sacked in order to save their
“left-over honour.” To me it doesn’t matter how it has been approached. I
am more concerned about the ministerial code (if any) that demands all
Ministers, Special Advisers and officials to the government must declare their
interests before they assume office. Where are the appropriate checks carried
out to prevent people like Dr. Okupe with a fraudulent past to assume high
office? These are the reasons why we still have criminals and incompetent people
running the affairs of our country.
Until, we as individuals expose people who have brought this country to her
knees we will NEVER know or see progress. Having said this, I believe if the
President had requested his Ministers, Advisers and other officials to declare
their interests especially in regards to their appointment, then any conflict
would have been addressed prior to their appointment.
In this case, Mr. President, I can conclude as follows:
- Was not aware of the conflict of interest of Prof. Bartholomew Nnaji prior to
his appointment, hence his reason to demand for his immediate resignation. This
scenario I would like to question because I understand that Prof. Nnaji was
previously the Special Adviser on Power to Mr. President before his appointment
as Minister of Power. And, before then, he held the position of Minister of
Science and Technology.
Mr. President clearly needs to clarify what he was aware of and not aware of. I
have read from good authority that Mr. President’s choice of Prof. Nnaji was
based on his works in the power sector for some eastern states through his
private company. If Prof. Nnaji has truly informed Mr. President of the conflict
prior to his appointment as an adviser on power and subsequently as a Minister
of Power, then Mr. President must have been forced to change his mind only
because of the public outcry and other forces at work. If this is the case, I
can ONLY conclude that our President is weak. I believe he must have accepted,
prior to Prof. Nnaji’s appointment, that his conflict was of a lesser
significance in contrast to the achievement of his vision on the transformation
of the power sector.
I would like to use this opportunity to clarify that Mr. President and his Vice
President have the power to make this call in the interest of the nation. If
this was what he felt, he needed to do two things: a) Enlighten the rest of the
cabinet and members of the National Assembly who I believe should have been
aware of Prof. Nnaji’s conflict at the time of his vetting on the assembly
floor. Mr. President should as a matter of necessity explained this position to
the people/electorate. All this, if done, would have saved both Mr. President
and Prof. Nnaji the embarrassment they have faced in the last few days. b) Mr.
President should have taken the position that Prof. Nnaji will not and should
not be involved or have a say in any matters where his conflict of interest may
arise either directly or indirectly.
This agreement should have been firmed up prior to his confirmation as a
Minister. Like in this case in question, which the Minister now feels, he had
been caught with his pants down. In my views, if these were handled in a
transparent and accountable manner, Prof. Nnaji could have been allowed to
continue his position freely with this firm agreement in place. It would have
been Mr. President’s call to take a position or stand when a situation of a
conflict of interest arises. Prof. Nnaji would have had to carry out or
implement that decision or call to his best of abilities. I would like to add
that all serving political appointees had a life before their appointment. It is
ONLY logical that they return to that life at the end of their public service.
The MOST important thing is that they SHOULD not be seen to have used public
service to further their own interests or those of other “interested
persons”. If Mr. President was not aware of the conflict of Interest caused by
the appointment of Prof. Nnaji, then there are lots of questions for Mr.
President to address. I leave my readers and political commentators to have a
field day with their questions. For me, I simply ask Mr. President to tell the
Nigerian public on what basis he makes his political appointments. Is it?
a) On party line
b) On man know man
c) Competency
d) Tribal/ Ethnic/State line
e) I don’t give a damn
f) Call a Friend to help with the answer.
Clearly, in the last 24 hours I have read the press release from Prof. Nnaji
himself on SaharaReporters website. I hate to say that the powers that be that
don’t mean well for Mr. President, Goodluck Jonathan, have yet again had their
way by pushing out a person with a vision for the transformation of the power
industry.
The true story will be told sooner than later. You will see Mr. True Nigerian
said it first. Mr. President pushed out Prof. Nnaji because of the loud voices
on the basis of “conflict of interest”. I believe Prof. Nnaji allowed
himself to be holed into this mess because of his desire for power. Absolute
power corrupts absolutely. Prof. Nnaji with his level of experience could have
avoided this mess by simply sitting out on all decision-making processes that
conflict with his interest; irrespective of whether he has resigned from his
private company. It is difficult for him to sell his resignation as a company
director as sufficient grounds to be involved in a bidding panel process.
The lesson for all ministers is that they should learn to leave the civil
servants in their respective ministry to do their job, rather than help their
respective Permanent Secretary or Director General with the day to day
operations of their ministry. Theirs is to come up with a vision based on
electoral promise to the people. It is their Permanent Secretary or Director
General’s responsibility to come up with a programme for implementation to
help a sitting government achieve their electoral promise. Failure to achieve
set goals, milestones and targets in the programme (provided that the government
has kept her own side of the deal) means the Permanent Secretary or Director
General can be shown the exit door. Until we start hiring competent people not
on the basis of tribe, ethnicity, religion or quota basis, Nigeria will know no
progress or see any progress as a nation.
OUR BEST HEADS must lead or captain our ship through the path of reform,
transformation, growth and development. At the end of it, it is for the benefit
of all as a nation and not a particular tribe, ethnic group or religion. I am a
strong advocate for the abolishment of the principle of quota system at all
levels. NIGERIA BELONGS TO ALL OF US COLLECTIVELY; NO SINGLE TRIBE OR ETHNIC
GROUP OR STATE OR RELIGION CAN CLAIM OWNERSHIP OF THE NIGERIA NATION.