By Dr. Aliyu U. Tilde
Yesterday, SaharaReporters revealed the shocking reasons behind why President Muhammadu Buhari missed some crucial meetings during his last UN trip, including a crucial meeting on Boko Haram and his meeting with Pope Francis. Simply put, the Permanent Representative of Nigeria at the UN, Professsor Joy Ogwu, did not do her work either due to incompetence or deliberately.
This is what SaharaReporters wrote on the ordeal of the President at the mission:
“Sources within the delegation told SaharaReporters that the delegation also missed at least two other events and has had a difficult time securing full participation in the very important 70th Assembly.
“In the case of the Boko Haram event, the sources told our reporter that it was never put on President Buhari’s calendar by the Nigerian mission.
“Regarding the event with the Pope, Buhari missed it because when he came down from his hotel suite, there was no car to take him to the meeting. When he decided to walk to the event with his entourage, he was taken by Nigerian mission officials to the wrong gate, where they were denied entry by security agents.
“Buhari then walked back to his hotel where, when he got on the elevator, the mission finally brought a car to take him to see the Pope.
“Buhari then walked back to his hotel where, when he got on the elevator, the mission finally brought a car to take him to see the Pope.
“Sources say when he made that second trip in the Mission’s car, he was again driven to yet another wrong gate and the delegation was turned back.
“Also, yesterday an attempt by the delegation to attend a side meeting where Nigeria was to have declared its support for the “Commitment to Gender Equality” initiative almost failed as the mission failed to provide any secondary party to facilitate the Nigerian delegation’s participation. It took the intervention of the Chinese mission to help former member of house of reps Abike Dabiri and other delegates to get into the event.
“And then today, members of the Nigerian delegation led by the governor of Niger state again denied access to another important event, “EveryWoman, EveryChild,” because of poor organization.
“Apart from the fiasco with accreditation and general conference management, the members of the delegation are also not provided food in their hotel rooms as is the tradition. Instead, they are made to eat at a buffet at the Mission. According to his aides, President Buhari refused to go to the buffet.”
“Apart from the fiasco with accreditation and general conference management, the members of the delegation are also not provided food in their hotel rooms as is the tradition. Instead, they are made to eat at a buffet at the Mission. According to his aides, President Buhari refused to go to the buffet.”
I agree that the President does not deserve this shabby treatment. It was bad, pitifully bad, by any standard. Yet, I disagree with the concluding part of the report, which said:
“A UN observer blamed President Buhari for the mess. He berated the President for his delay in appointing ministers, saying it is the major reason his UN trip is "failing miserably".
“A UN observer blamed President Buhari for the mess. He berated the President for his delay in appointing ministers, saying it is the major reason his UN trip is "failing miserably".
“One retired Nigerian diplomat told SaharaReporters he hopes President Buhari has seen the folly in relying on unsupervised civil servants, since he came to power, to run the affairs of state.”
I disagree that these embarrassing moments were because the President delayed appointing his ministers though, superficially, it may appear so because if he had appointed someone there rather than working with Jonathan's appointee, the person would have made sure that things went on smoothly.
I disagree that these embarrassing moments were because the President delayed appointing his ministers though, superficially, it may appear so because if he had appointed someone there rather than working with Jonathan's appointee, the person would have made sure that things went on smoothly.
However, look at it this way. Agreed that Professor Joy Ogwu may be a civil servant. Is being a civil servant a justification for failure? Is it a reason to humiliate your President? Is it a crime for the President to trust civil servants? Wouldn't our civil servants be glad that, finally, they have a President that is ready to entrust them with responsibility after decades of their regelation by politicians?
Presidents Obasanjo and Jonathan have been to the UN several times. Has this humiliating treatment ever been visited on them by the country's mission there? Then, why Buhari?
The motive behind Professor Ogwu's conduct may be the very reason why the President has been cautious in making his most crucial appointments or why the ones he did so far seem to be based on familiarity in addition to competence. Imagine if he had made Joy Ogwu – the Professsor, not the market woman – the Secretary to the Government merely because she is from the Southeast. Tell me your guess.
After reading the report from SaharaReporters, I was convinced myself that the President had every right to become furious, if he was; though I doubt if he had shown it there. A civil servant like Joy may see the President quiet in spite of their maltreatment.
However, they must not be fooled by the shy posture that compels him to hide his frustration and force him even to thank the staff of the mission for their hospitality as he bade them farewell. That was simply pulaaku, or kaaraa, as they will call it in Katsina. What they should remember is this famous verse from Al-Mutanabbi:
“If you see the teeth (fangs) of the lion open, do not assume that the lion is laughing.”
29 September 2015
No comments:
Post a Comment