An Open Letter to Prof Dora Akunyili -Rev. Ayobanna Ikeanumba PhD
Dear Prof Akunyili,
I must commend your character and integrity which are obvious ever since started working in the public sectors of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. According to the information you provided, you served in the caretaker committee of your constituency, became the zonal secretary of the petroleum trust fund (PTF), which Buhari was the chairman before you were nominated/appointed the DG of NAFDAC. I will say you excelled beyond any doubt in the NAFDAC appointment. Till you left NAFDAC Nigerians, home and abroad were head over heals to praise and honour you. No Nigerian living today will ever forget your glorious roles in that establishment. You staked your life, you staked your family, and you staked everything ordinary Nigerian public servant wouldn't dare tamper with, but to you good name is better than riches or gold and silver. You were so resolute that the evil men which you were chasing turned around and almost destroyed you right in your village in Anambra State.
Emotion, anger, pain, name it, all poured in to your favour, even the Pope had to recognise your courage and devotion to the saving of mankind especially Nigerians. Not only that, you took the war beyond our shore. You went to India, you went to China, you went to Brazil, you went to France…in fact you went to anywhere it is rumoured that fake drugs are produced, all in the name of fighting for Nigeria and Nigerians. As a young Nigerian, I was very proud of you. Even in South Africa where I live, South Africans always remind me of a Nigerian woman who exposed her life to fight for her country. As an Igbo man, I was super proud of you. And as a preacher of the gospel I was surprised that such Debora Spirit still exists in the heart of Nigerian public servant. Prof. I will rather say that your type is rare to find in our country.
However, like a cinema movie, all the praises began to turn sour. Nigerians, including me, almost went to their knees to beg you to ignore the call to serve in the FEC of the present administration. At the point your name was presented/nominated, we were still optimistic that reason will prevail over mediocre and political myopic-ness in appointing you into a portfolio where you will finally nail the evil of drug adulteration. Alas, that was not the case. A direct opposite was witnessed. Nigerians were dumbfounded, angered, disappointed…just name it…every manner of disgust and disappointment was expressed in any opportunity available.
The question is…what do you expect from a people who watch their loved Dora accepting a journey of damnation…not at gun point…not under any influence…not by any form of blackmail (not to my knowledge if any)…think about it, what do you expect of them? I don't think you have seen or felt their anger yet…honestly speaking. On the NTA-gate, I have seen the publication in Sahararporters for several months, till this minute its still there. I am only surprised that you were able to respond to it on Saturday 12 September 2009. In as much as you have done noble to respond to it, unlike your contemporaries in Abuja, you have got it wrong by not rooting our the allegation on time.
From your explanations, the contention has always been 'upgrading' as against 'replacement' of the SD to HD. Prof, why did you not say it long ago, because its only a person with little or no wisdom of the instrument in question will accept any upgrading of SD to HD. It's not possible! Now you have said its replacement, well let's see how true that will be. On the other hand, I followed your insistence that the 2.5GHz licences issued by Ndukwe' NCC must be reversed and the bid done all over again. You had your way, and the President succumbed. Now the worry is why did it take you to write on our Sahararepers before the issue of NTA-gate is addressed? Even when you did it has already become a national issue, why did you not take the same route as the 2.5GHz? Though according to your letter on the NTA-gate, and I quote:
(a) That the contract is time bound and therefore must be executed with dispatch and delivered on schedule.
(b) Delay would not be entertained. Can this reason (and the others you gave in your letter) be enough to carry on with a job that the people who loved you most are crying for clarity? Prof. you ignored us…you considered our opinion irrelevant, you were not moved till you were moved. Madam, again you failed Nigerians. Can or should we accept a time-factor as a propeller to looting and butchery of national wealth? Prof. Nigerians are angry because it seems they have lost their darling Dora.
Few things I would want to bring to your notice. I speak as an observer from outside (someone not in the public service) who is bitter with the Nigerian experiment. Firstly, you have seemingly done ignoble by accepting a portfolio that contradicts your person. I have a feeling that you may want to use the platform to make some changes in the polity, unfortunately some of the people you work with don't believe in what you may believe.
Secondly, when you found out that you were placed where you were not supposed to be you would have done the noble thing. Our sister Okonjo-Iwuala did the same when the principles were twisted.
Thirdly, how would you tell Nigerians, as the Information Minister that people like Ibori, Odili, Chimaroke, Igbinideon and many others, which they see and know as questionable are innocent? Do you not know that your job will also entail to clear them of any suspicion both locally and internationally?
Fourthly, do you not know that it will be part of your duties to correct and clear the embarrassment the Attorney General –AGF, is causing Nigerians any time he does what he knows best to do? May be you don't know, the AGF is obviously not honest with the issues of Ibori, EFCC and many other instances of graft prevailing in Nigeria. Like you rightly stated in the NTA-gate response, again I quote you:
(c) Sometimes when contractors are given any form of down payment, they go about looking for whom to give money. I thereby warned them not to give money to anybody, and that if anyone asks them for money, they should report to me. This is because such distribution of monies leads to delays, contracts not being properly executed and sometimes abandoned projects. I added that I did not want this contract to become another Halliburton.
Do you not know that one of your duties is to clear the Halliburtonized landscape of Nigeria? When the AGF lies, it is your job to clean it up…do you not know? Do you not know that when Yar`adua fails, like he does always, your job will be to clean it up?
Having mentioned those, I will plainly inform you that your mountain of glory is leveled and you, the ant living in it is exposed to the sun. Nigerians are bitter with you and no message from the Pope will save you from the wrath of over 139,999,999 million Nigerians. Your cap is up. If your Mr. Senior Aide, Sunday Dare is alleged to have resigned, I will advise you to take a que.
Prof. you cannot impress Nigerians and as far as you are still part of a rogue regime, you will continue to be a rogue. What about the rumour making rounds that your kid brother was your front who got juicy contract from NAFDAC when you were the DG? What have you to say about that? In fact, your continual marriage with this administration, not alone as the Information Minister, is continually bringing worry to well meaning Nigerians. You have dropped the garment of honour and took the cloak of shame, disgust and ignobility.
Furthermore, your response to Saharareporters is nonsensical and rubbish. Who cares when the contract was initiated, approved or executed? What we care is that the person sent to execute the contract was once loved but now hated because she chose the path of dishonor. We have no pity on you. Finally, be informed that Saharareporters is the new mouth-piece of Nigerians, home and abroad, and we will do anything to keep them alive. Rev. Ayobanna Ikeanumba PhD SFAoofruuictnhadeADrfe/rbCicaEatOeInstitute