Prof. Barth Nnaji Resigned? Can It Be True? – By Dr. Kunle Ojeleye

Posted by admin Articles, Columnists, Kunle Ojeleye, NNP Columnists Tuesday, August 28th, 2012

By Dr. Kunle Ojeleye | Calgary, AB, Canada | August 29, 2012 – If it is indeed true that Professor Barth Nnaji has resigned as the Minister for Power in Nigeria, he is a man of honour and integrity.

Based on the report from ThisDay (www.thisdaylive.com/articles/privatisation-bids-cancelled-over-firms-linked-to-nnaji/123388/), if the man indeed declared his indirect (and/or direct) interest in a bidder, and removed himself from the bid deliberations, I do not see any wrong that he has committed by properly declaring a conflict of interest.

Or are Nigerians now saying that a competent company for a project should not bid for such if it has the remotest link to someone within the organisation responsible for the award and oversight function of such a project?

To me, Barth Nnaji must be commended. As Prof. Pat Utomi posited on Facebook, there are hundreds who are the hand of Esau behind many companies but yet would not utter a word regarding their involvement whilst awarding contracts in favour of those companies.

Beyond the issue of Nnaji’s passive interest in companies that are bidding under the power deregulation agenda which unlike a true Nigerian he declared, I have been particularly curious as to how long a man used to an environment of fairness, due diligence and pursuit of the interest of the majority could survive in the muddy waters of Nigeria.

When you come with an agenda of change, and staff members of the Power Holding Company of Nigeria from the bottom to the top desperate to protect their corrupted ways of earning an income, are not only lawless enough to the extent of assaulting colleagues in management but are holding the entire nation to ransom without any penalty, you must be nuts not to: re-assess your usefulness to such a society; admit you are banging your head against a brick wall; return to a saner environment that allows you to thrive given your knowledge, skills and experiences for your own (and your family’s) sanity.

It seems to me that the average Nigerian sees no salvation in a changed and saner environment, but in the perpetration of the culture of “chop make I chop, it is our own turn to wolf down the national cake as much as we can”.

This is why a large number of skilled Nigerians in the Diaspora have turned deaf ears to every pleading to be involved in salvaging the country from its decline.

As the Yoruba’s would say, “Eni a nti tori e gba’we, t’o nj’osan” – the one for whom you are fasting and getting lean is busy getting fat through gluttony.

What a Tragedy.

N. B.

A man’s resignation cannot be accepted, whilst it is reported he was sacked.

The way a large number of the Nigerian media have carried the story of Nnaji’s resignation shows they are part of the problem rather than the solution.

When we can no longer trust any of our media houses for the fact, true and objective analysis of events, what does the future hold for such a nation?

Author can be reached at [email protected]wp_posts