Onyeka Onwenu Cries Foul Over Treatment, Accepts Sack
SAN FRANCISCO, February 18, (THEWILL) – The recently sacked Director General of the National Centre for Women Development, Onyeka Onwenu (MFR), has complained about the abuses and negative treatment she received at the centre.
In a press release titled: 'My Disengagement from the National Centre for Women Development,' she revealed that the centre was comatose when she arrived but all that changed with her leadership.
“I served for two years and five months and did my best under very difficult conditions. We hardly had money to operate and the place was badly run down. Worst, there was low morale and lack of commitment among the Staff,” she said.
“Most spent the day loitering and gossiping. Many would not show up for work or arrive at 11 am, only to leave before 3 pm. Some were absent for months and we're just collecting their salary at home. My administration changed all that.
“Most Staff were turned around and became passionate about the work, appreciating also the changes they thought were not possible but were happening right before them. We brought back a level of professionalism and commitment to deliver on our mandate. Without these attributes, the Centre would have fallen apart.”
She revealed that there was a remnant who felt that the centre was their personal preserve and that the position of Director General should only go to someone from their part of the country.
“I was targeted and abused for being an Igbo woman who came to give jobs to and elevate my people while sidelining them. When these detractors could not provide answers to the spate of improvement we were bringing, they resorted to sabotage and blackmail.
“The abuses and lack of cooperation from a mother Ministry, from those who felt that the Centre overshadowed them, to the extent that they tried to discourage others from working with us, were just a bit much for my comfort.
“I did not lobby for the job in the first place and I was not going to lobby to keep it. I actually looked forward to leaving. But some people were going to exact their pound of flesh. They organised some staff, mostly Northerners, invited the Press and set about to disgrace themselves.
“At no time during this melee did I threaten to sue Mr. President for asking me to disengage. Why would I? Is it not within his authority? Even if it were not, is the Centre my personal property? I had done my best and if it was time to go, it was that simple.”
“I have never in my life been an unfair person. I never favoured any group; I carried everybody along. But I did not put up with deliberate incompetence and a refusal to learn, an attitude of entitlement which some people displayed.
“Life continues. I had a thriving career before my appointment. The Centre did not make me. I have so much to do. I am a multitalented, multifaceted and multitasking child of God. By His grace, the future is greater. So what is the problem?
“Finally, I declare that I am a Nigerian citizen who should enjoy the rights attendant to that privileged. I am Onyigbo and proud of it. I respect myself and I love and respect all for who they are. We are all God's children. No one has the right to insult or abuse me or deprive me of my rights. Nigeria will not hold unless and until we all come to that realisation.”
Story by David Oputah