Leadership (Abuja)
Sam Nda-Isaiah
25 August 2008
column
About a decade ago, Collin Powell, the well-regarded American chairman of the Joint Service Chiefs and later secretary of state, declared that Nigerians (or was it Nigerian leaders?) were basically scammers.
He was responding to a question from a journalist. Surprisingly, many Nigerians, especially those living in the United States, took exception to the statement.
Powell is a hero of sorts for many Africans. He was the first African American to be appointed national security adviser in American history, a post he was appointed to by President Ronald Reagan. He also became the first African American to be appointed chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff, by President George Bush (Snr). The current president, George W. Bush, appointed him secretary of state; thus, he also became the first African American to be so appointed. With a resume like this, his views are taken seriously.
I was therefore surprised that some Nigerians took umbrage at his statement. He was eventually pressured into apologising but that has not changed the truth of what he said about Nigerians. I don't know what Powell would be thinking of someone like Ndidi Okereke-Onyiuke now, but he must be having a good laugh. For most of us in Nigeria, however, Ndidi should be beyond a laughing matter.
A more self-respecting person would have resigned as the director-general of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) a long time ago. But our own Ndidi is neither self-respecting nor respecting of the feelings of Nigerians. Today, the NSE is a total mess, thanks to her and her sit-tight idiosyncrasies. Little wonder she got on so well with General Olusegun Obasanjo, her godfather for all time. The NSE used to be the haven of investors and it was vibrant. But today, several families have been ruined, some probably forever, as a result of huge losses the exchange has suffered lately. But how won't there be problems at the exchange with a woman like Ndidi at the helm? Left to her, she would demand a piece of every cake on the stock exchange.
This is a woman who doesn't see anything wrong in being chairman of a company that she also regulates on the stock exchange. But the more surprising thing is that those who are supposed to regulate her appear to be totally helpless. Her activities at the stock exchange, including company-specific interests, will be the subject of another piece some day but Ndidi has proved to be completely incorrigible.
In 2003, in spite of her office at the stock exchange, she openly came out to support Obasanjo's re-election, bringing together a funny medley of like-minded jobbers under the dubious name Corporate Nigeria. Even though their activities – raising money in the name of candidates – were completely at odds with the electoral law, the INEC of the day looked the other way. In the process, she and her co-travellers totally fouled up the entire electoral space, the same way she has done to the stock exchange today; and in exactly the same manner she is doing to Transcorp, a company that was set up with the best of intentions. But like Lucifer, Ndidi has been moving up and down seeking what next to destroy. Then, she thought she found the Obama Campaign as a goldmine. Barack Obama is the history-making African American presidential candidate for the Democratic Party of the United States. On her own, she started raising money for the presidential candidate, much the same way she did for Obasanjo. But unlike Obasanjo, Obama is not a crook. One thing led to the other and the Obama Campaign swiftly disowned Madam Ndidi. Quickly, and quite commendably too, Farida Waziri's EFCC picked her up.
But the question we should be asking at this point is: who has the power to sack Ndidi from the NSE? As she has shown with Transcorp, this woman will not resign her DG post even if the entire exchange collapsed on her head. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) should be able to do it, but I don't think this SEC will sack her. Whatever it will take, even if it means getting bulldozers from Julius Berger, to uproot her from the stock exchange, Ndidi must be removed now. And, again, does it even speak well of Nigeria as a country to keep a serial EFCC guest at the helm of the NSE, especially if we expect foreign investors to take us seriously? Must we go this length to confirm that, indeed, we are a nation of scammers?
E A R S H O T
Mama Turai?
Something funny, even if sinister, from the past has crept into our dear First Lady's high office. Some women, a few of them even older, have started calling Hajiya Turai "Mama". But the stranger part of it is that she answers. Some people think she should, even if jokingly, reject that appellation.
I don't think that the current occupants of Aso Rock should allow themselves to be sucked into the Babacracy and Mamacracy of our recent past. It is not only embarrassing, it does not fit at all. The First Lady should prefer the more dignifying appellation of Madam First Lady or simply Hajiya Turai. Mama is not it at all!
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