In love with Obasanjo’s women
Rudolf Ogoo Okonkwo
Wednesday, September 19, 2007
This one is a confession.
I have lived long enough not to be rattled by the mundane. But last weekend, I flustered when suddenly I found myself in love with another of Obasanjo’s women.
It
first happened on May 29, 2006. I had gone to Providence, Rhode Island, to
listen to Ngozi Iweala speak to the Nigerian community there a day before she
received an honorary degree from Brown University.
She was a highflying minister in Obasanjo’s administration. Like many Nigerians abroad, I was taking the accolades being heaped on her with a grain of salt. Knowing how Nigeria celebrates mediocrity; for me, believing can only come from seeing.
I sat
on the front row directly opposite a rumpled Nigerian flag spread out on her
table. I was replaying in my mind’s eye that picture of
Obasanjo
adjusting her headgear when the minister walked in with her husband, mother, and
kids. But for the rumpled flag, the scene of black faces in various African
wears in the historic chamber was beautiful.
When she stood up to speak without notes, I listened and watched her grand performance attentively. I was mesmerized. Her voice filled the State Senate chambers of Rhode Island with facts, figures and flurries. She defended Obasanjo’s administration so well, touting his achievements and Nigeria’s reforms that I thought she was rehearsing for something bigger.
Ngozi would have swept me off my feet if not for the area view picture of Lagos in my head. The rosy pictures she painted, maybe for people in Abuja, did not match what I knew of life and prospects for generality of Nigerians.
She got me feeling vindicated when she told a story of a family friend abroad who wanted to take her kids to Nigeria on their yearly visit.
“I don’t want to go to Nigeria,” the little one protested.
“Why not?” her mother asked.
“Because I don’t like Nigeria,” the kid said.
“So where do you want to go to for your vacation?” queried the mother.
“Abuja,” answered the kid.
Few weeks after, Ngozi was removed as Minister for Finance. Subsequently, she resigned from the administration.
I wrote about the encounter but did not publish it because I was scared of the possibility that Obasanjo and I love the same kind of woman – smart, confident and fun.
Last
weekend, at the 6th Annual Merit Award Dinner of the Nigerian Lawyers
Association, I fell in love with another of Obasanjo’s women – Oby Ezekwesili.
Now, that one rattled me.
Oby
came in to represent Nuhu Ribadu, the EFCC Chairman. She said she was not
qualified to talk about the great work Ribadu was doing. She told the audience
that she too asks Ribadu the question. “How are you able to get these crooks?”
She let the audience imagine what Nigeria would be like if only there could be
two
Ribadus
operating at once.
Then she went into her area of specialization – Africa’s development.
Her understanding of the African situation was complete. I have never heard someone stand up in about an hour and say all you needed to know about Africa. She said things you will not get by reading hundred years editions of all the newspapers in Africa.
She made the Award recipient, Kase Lawal, who spoke after her, appear dull and ordinary.
Here are samples of her propositions:
“Africa is making progress in establishing good governance,” she announced. But “good governance,” she informed the audience “is not the business of government alone.”
She described corruption as “double taxation of the poor.” Pre-colonial Africa, Oby argued, was able to sanction corruption, as such, she propounded that corruption has nothing to do with the pigment of one’s skin. Those who would choose corruption, she stated, must be guaranteed that a Ribadu would be visiting.
Oby suggested a move away from individualized fight against corruption. She called for an institutionalization of the fight. “It must not just bark,” she said, “it must surely bite.”
“Investment is very sensitive to the environment in which it operates,” said the woman fondly called Madam Due Process. “Development is indigenous. Nobody can externally cause development to occur,” she argued.
In charging African elite to rise to their responsibilities, Oby noted that, “only the elite of a society can move society forward.”
“The elite must operate from the morality pedestal that is unblemished,” she stated. She described the quest for endless wealth as “a life filled with substance without meaning.” To have many billions stashed away where many have no proper health care, she said was a life of emptiness. Then she added, “You can’t show concern for the poor and still be at the heart of corruption.”
“Africa,” Oby said, “is the irresistible destination for investment.” She, however, warned that Africa must not let this cycle of boom crash just like it did in the 80s. “If Africa is going to make it, Africa must play by the rules that govern investment.”
Somehow, I did not hear Oby mention Obasanjo. Not even once. Not even when she talked about how she co-founded Transparency International.
I wonder why.
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Rudolf Ogoo Okonkwo is the author of Children of a Retired God.