Who is running our Economy?
When asked the distinguishing
factor between the undeveloped countries and the developed; I have always
noted, from my experience, that the developed countries are ran by the best
available minds; whereas the underdeveloped ones are ran by lesser characters.
In essence, all nations and societies have near equal distribution of geniuses
and honest smart minds. The progress and development of nations and societies
are tied to their ability to identify and deploy their best minds in critical
areas.
To the extent that we
kill meritocracy for pettiness in allocation of our human resources; to such
level that we deprive ourselves of the much needed better live.
A glimpse on the Wikipedia
page of Mrs Kemi Adeosun is enough to make well-informed mind loose hope in
this country. It is enough to point to either some serious information gap
between our President and his advisers, or his total submission to some
interest outside the Sovereignty of our nation and well-being of the Nigeria
People. Running our economy can only be next to running our security in the
scheme of things our government should concentrate on; and we certainly deserve
the very best among us, to guide the nation in this challenging time of our
nation’s history.
Mrs Kemi was said to
have gained a Bachelor of Science
degree in Economics from the University of East London, a
former polytechnic that converted to a full blown university in 1992, years
after Kemi must have graduated. Obviously her BSC was awarded by a polytechnic.
The University of East London is ranked 701+ among the World best universities
in 2015. It is ranked 127th in the United Kingdom. Rating her level
of academic excellence as one that was born in London, one cannot help but call
her average.
She later gained a Post
graduate Diploma from an unspecified college from University of London. From my
knowledge of United Kingdom’s university’s system, a Post graduate Diploma is
awarded to people who fell below the required score to proceed to a full blown
Master degree, or some distance learning arrangements. In essence, our Minister of Finance is either a
failed Master’s Degree Student of University of London, or had the diploma
purely as an after-thought to build up her CV as is the norm here. Obviously
that could not have been enough preparation to run a country’s economy.
One might also dig
further to want to know from which particular college the Diploma was obtained
from, and the status of such college; as the University of London is a collective
name for a federated group of Colleges in London, some with outstanding
academic record, and other with lesser reckoning. I am sure Mr Kemi would have
dropped the names of Kings College, and London school of Economics if she has
acquired her Diploma from such prestigious colleges. I suspect the choice of
name is to hide the lesser status of her college. It might even be from the
University of London International programmes.
Mrs Kemi claimed to
have worked in as Accounting Assistant
at British Telecom Company, London, from 1989 till 1990 after which she moved to
Goodman Jones, London, working as a Senior audit officer from 1990 till 1993.
She became Manager of Internal Audit at London
Underground Limited, London and Prism Consulting from 1994 till 2000
before joining Price Waterhouse Coopers,
London as Senior Manager from 2000 till 2002. In 2002, Kemi became financial
controller at Chapel Hill Denham Management and subsequently, Managing Director
in 2010; after working with Quo Vadis Partnership.
Needless, to say that the only institution of note among the listed;
is Price Waterhouse Coopers where she worked for two years only. She can best
be assessed by her stay as the Managing Director at Chapel Hill Denham
Management where she claimed to have left in 2010 as the Managing Director.
As a managing Director, she had all the powers to shape the
company more than she will ever have as a Nigerian Minister. Her status was
equal to that of CEO who can make or mar the company. It is very informative to
know how she transformed the company.
I took a look at what the company does and saw nothing. I was
shocked to find the company as an unknown Stock and securities trading firm. I
could not fathom an achievement of note that warrants her appointment to manage
our Economy at this critical time, judging from her track record as the CEO of that
company. I heard she was a commissioner in Ogun state, but could not see the
wonders she did at Ogun. I am also very much aware that given the status of a sovereign
country and the ramifications required to runs its finance and economy; the knowledge
gap between a country’s Finance Ministers and Ogun state Finance Minister are
at far apart.
I am pained that my years of campaigning for Buhari will be
repaired with a Minister who does not know enough to transform our nation’s
finance and its economy; someone who certainly will require some more quality
time in school or in a better educative work-place before she can be able to sufficiently
direct our economy. I see no reason why the lives and well-being of the people
of this country should be risked for a favoured candidate to learn on the job,
whereas we can search the length and breadth of our land for better qualified
hands.
As I write, our currency is continually losing its value, quite
understandably; but a well-read Finance Minister, in addition to a better
groomed CBN Governor, could have done better. As we hope, I have hardly seen
Power from the Power holding Company for nearly a month, either because the Power
generation has been dropped to a very low level; or its distribution has become
unfair to my part of Lagos.
I understand that
President Buhari has earned our trust by his past actions in Government. I
fought for over a decade with so many others for a Buhari President. I regard
him as a father, because I see him not only as a trustworthy leader, but a
brave one also. I appreciate his clarity of mind in choosing to stand out of
the looting and stealing that was norm for his generation.
But at this point, we
must protect the President from the characters around him. We must inform the President
of the unsuitability of those that have been falsely sold to him as capable. A
team goes to a match with its “first eleven” players, in order to ensure
success in the football field. Nigeria should and must be run with the best
capable hands for the good of all of us.
President Buhari must
acts to change the Finance Minister and others like her. If he does not, the opportunity
to make a difference and change our lives will be lost.
By:
Godwin Aleke
Apapa Lagos
08090631503
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