For some time now, the news media in Nigeria had been agog with stories about the Minister of Finance, Mrs Kemi Adeosun’s alleged NYSC forged certificate.
Since the news broke in one of the popular online media in Nigeria, a disproportionate percentage of our media space had been devoted to the stories concerning this matter which some commentators consider of national importance.
The public comments had been a kind of free-for-all by all-comers. The Minister had been advised to resign her position in order to demonstrate her uprightness. Some had advised the President, Muhammadu Buhari, to fire the Minister as a proof of his sincerity of his war against corruption. Some even went as far as threatening to initiate legal actions in court if the Minister was not fired or forced to resign her position in government.
Many more such outlandish propositions had been put forward by some fellow Nigerians in their attempt to show the level of probity required of anyone who must serve the country.
In all of these however, there are a number of pertinent questions calling for answers which none of the commentators have provided answers so far. First, are there constitutionally provided qualifications for appointment into the Nigerian ministerial position? If yes, then do the qualifications include serving in the National Youth Service?
Second, in the process of appointment to the ministerial position, are there governmental agencies which ensure that prospective appointees meet all stipulated requirements before being appointed?
Third, did Mrs Adeosun pass through these processes successfully before her appointment?
Fourth, and most importantly, has Mrs Adeosun’s appointment as minister been justified by her performance in office?
These and more are issues that any unbiased commentaries should center around. Unfortunately, none of the commentaries that had dominated the Nigerian media space on this matter had attempted to examine these important questions. Rather what majority of the commentators had simply done was to constitute themselves into a media jury to try the Minister, found her guilty as charged and pronounced the verdict that she either resigned voluntarily or be fired by the President.
But thank goodness, the jaundiced verdict had been in vain so far, the Minister had not resigned and her boss, the President had refused to fire her. This is actually as it should be.
In Nigeria as we all know, no one can become Minister without passing through the special laid down procedure. As any individual name comes up for consideration for ministerial appointment, the background check of such individual is carried out by the appropriate agency of government to ascertain that he or she is a proper and fit person to occupy such important position.
It is only after such individual has scaled that hurdle that the President now submits the individual’s name to the Senate for confirmation. And it is common knowledge that in Nigeria, Senate confirmation process is no Tea Party. Many would-be Ministers had failed at that level of ministerial screening. It is only after passing the rigorous Senate confirmation process that one can finally be appointed Minister in this country.
The woman the faceless hackwriters are now accusing of parading forged NYSC certificate duly passed through the aforementioned screening procedure and came out unscathed. Added to this is the fact that Kemi Adeosun had been Finance Commissioner in Ogun State for almost four years before joining the Federal Cabinet.
Indeed it was her sterling performance in the finance portfolio in Ogun State that recommended her to the federal appointment which job she had successfully performed for more than three and half years now.
All this while, there was no talk about certificate forgery until only very recently when the gossips started their idle talk about NYSC certificate. It is really pathetic that some people no longer have shame and can therefore go to any length to do a hatchet job no matter how filthy.
I think these people conveniently forgot that the Finance Minister belonged to the category of Nigerians who had their schooling and upbringing abroad and were comfortable living and working there. So when people like that out of patriotism decided to come back home to join their compatriots in developing their fatherland, what they deserve is commendation and not vilification to which Mrs Adeosun is being presently subjected.
In any case, it is understandable why the Minister cannot but pass through her current travails. By her sterling performance in her job, she must have made many enemies for herself.
What about the single account policy of the Federal Government which had effectively plugged all the cash leakages through which billions of naira had been fraudulently siphoned from the government covers hitherto! Or the whistle-blower policy as a result of which the National thieves can no longer safely keep their stolen cash in the odd places as they previously did.
The effect of these financial policies had pushed these looters of our treasury into very hard times and they cannot forgive Mrs Adeosun for this and have decided to fight back. So when they shout and wail about forged NYSC certificate, it is simply as they say corruption fighting back. But happily, all discerning Nigerians including Mr President had ignored the mischief makers completely.
