I had to abstain from making any
judgment after I heard and watched with dismay the brickbat that rocked the probe
panel set-up by the House of Representatives committee on capital market headed
by Herman Hembe. Tensed is an understatement to describe the atmosphere when
the Head of the Security and Exchange Commission (SEC) accused the head of the
probe panel/committee of not only demanding bribe from the commission but also
not returning an unutilized estacode. By so doing, she insinuated and
questioned how Herman Hembe (who lacked integrity) could question her
competence and integrity.
Allegations like the
above-mentioned involving bribery have been leveled against most of the members/committees
formed by the House of Representatives. Despite such allegations, the resulting
drama and the citizen outpour on national dailies and TV, the recommendation of
such probe panes like numerous ones before it are swept under the rug.
Nigerians, at many instances shown their displeasure and distrust at their
lawmakers and members of the House of Representatives. As such, Oteh’s
allegations came as no surprise.
The aura of Ms Arunmah Oteh should
be something we should all learn from as people who want good governance. Watching
her outburst, I saw a woman with knowledge and tact, intelligence and
discipline. She is one of the few with competence well above the everyday
politician or civil servant whose only achievement is through rigging and
corruption. It is sad to say that at this point, our country do not require
people of her caliber. She will perform better when we have a functioning check
and balance system in place in government.
Certainly, she won’t be dumb to
have spent excessively outside the confines of the purported contract. Nonetheless,
I would have expected someone of her pedigree and her knowledge of the level of
poverty in Nigeria not to have allowed herself to be lured by a society that
encourages corruption. Morality demands she lives and spend in a modest manner
due to the harsh living condition of the people. Otherwise, she will end up in
history with the likes of Goodluck Jonathan who spends N3m on feeding daily.
Like every other drama that has
played out, I don’t expect a dent to her political career. Nevertheless the few
of us who cherish morality, discipline and patriotism may not forgive her for
this blunder.
The last paragraph caught my eye, "...nevertheless the few of us who cherish morality...may not forgive her for this blunder". The man question on my mind is "was it actually a blunder?" Many of these people come back home and wreak as much havoc as the home grown criminals. Eating our money, our commonwealth, with reckless abandon. The most painful part of this is that these sordid details grace the front pages of our dailies for a while, after which the shout and the complaints go down. Will someone be made accountable for all these sleaze? When will it ever happen?
ReplyDeleteNice piece and straight to the point my bro.