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One more for women
M. O.
Ené Thursday, March 14, 2002 News in Nigeria is predictable: It is almost always when man bites dog, rarely when dog bites man, nor when none is biting the other; when they coexist constructively, it's news blackout or, in rare cases, someone somewhere makes up a man-bite-dog story. And there would be news. Nigeria is a place where strange stories are supposed to surface normally, and good news is rarely expected. Strange stuff do happen with some regularity, readymade and easy to pick up, making Nigerian journalists one of the openly bottle-fed groups of pen-pushing professionals in the free world. When good deeds come our way, very few link the lines without assistance or inducement. Now you know why foreign journalists squeeze out the real juice while locals drink 'burukutu.' It is therefore not surprising that no one has given kudos to Uncle Sege for his latest leg-length leap toward Beijing Declaration. We are yet to hear from Mrs. Josephine Anineh and her group of PDP cheer ladies, whose only interest is to be seen on the corridors of power, not what power could bring to women issues. We are yet to hear from the few female lawmakers whose only concern right now is how to beat all oppositions to their comeback plots, not how to empower other women to come up. Well, I don't mind being the first to send a high-five across the Great Pond to President Olusegun Obasanjo, just as I would not hesitate to issue thumbs-down if certain things fail to fit. On Wednesday, March 6, 2002, as Ghana celebrated its 45th independence anniversary, Chief Obasanjo made a minor cabinet change, a far cry from the rumored whirlwind that would have swept away many members of cabinet. Political pundits and pretenders had forecast that heads would roll, that technocrats would replace all politicians. One thing was certain: there would be a cabinet restructuring, since two vacancies opened up with the resignation of Prince Vincent Ogbulafor (now PDP scribe) and the yet-to-be-solved assassination of Justice Minister Bola Ige. Most probably, the President didn't think there were any tired horses to be changed midstream. With barely one year to go, a drastic change would have sent wrong signals. When the change came, it was so minor it caused ripples when it should make waves for women. The elevation of Mrs. Modupe Adelaja, former minister of the Navy, to take over as minister of solid minerals from Chief Kanu Agabi, who now moves back to justice, is worth writing about. According to The Triumph of Thursday, March 07, 2002, Mr. Olu Agunloye, who was earlier nominated and approved by the senate, is now in charge of Navy. Agunloye was the former chief executive of the Federal Road Safety Commission, FRSC, and Special Assistant to the late Chief Bola Ige who said of his former boss and political mentor during the scandal of 2.3 billion-naira NEPA fund allegedly paid into a private account when Ige was the Minister of Power and Steel: "Ige has built a name and reputation over the years that some of us are ready to defend with our lives if need be." Of course, of Mrs. Adelaja we all know. Mrs. Modupe Adelaja, nee Adesanya, does not owe her rise to the crass comment she made about Nigerian soldiers of eastern extraction who had fought for Biafra. Albeit belatedly, she did apologize; but many feathers are still ruffled by the slap across the Niger. I doubt she was promoted for her superfluous spurt of verbal diarrhea, nor to please Daddy dearest, the respected leader of Afenifere, Senator Abraham Adesanya, who had opposed her appointment. I do not think the lady had performed wonderfully well to be first on line for the upward switch. Then again, with the exception of Hon. Dubem Onyia, who was a duly elected legislator and who occupies the semblance of ministerial slot for Enugu State, I don't know of any other minister of state that really deserved promotion. Maybe he will replace Ogbulafor. I make this point because no other state is as "marginalized" as Enugu in the cabinet-cake distribution, especially now that Dr. Okwesilieze Nwodo is no longer the ruling party scribe. But the issue of Enugu is a different bowl of Burkinabe beans: all talk over trivia on the table. So what did it? I sincerely believe that the performance of Minister of Aviation, Dr. (Mrs.) Kema Chikwe, has placed the role of women in the front burner of Nigeria's male-dominated polity. In "Kudos to Daa Kema" -- a response to Alhaji Wada Nas's accusation of an alleged plot to move the School of Aviation Technology Zaria to Enugu, I wrote: "Am I surprised by the brightness of this jewel in the crown of Aso Villa? No! At a reception organized by the Nigerian Community in Newark, New Jersey, then Minister of Transport promised to deliver. … And things are reportedly happening…. Let other ministers lay their cards on the table; it would be obvious that the lady is delivering on her promise despite the constraints of power politics and funding. Nigerian women must be glad that she got up there. After her, the next administration should implement the Beijing Declaration to the letter and get up to the minimum 30%, not the current less than 5%." Apparently, the Presidency was reading; it didn't wait for the "next" dispensation to reward the magic touch of Minister Kema Chikwe. No matter how we say it or spin it, no one has impacted the welfare of Nigerians frequent fliers more than this lady. The transformation of Murtala Muhammed International Airport is a near miracle. We don't read lengthy testimonies from recent returnees because good news is no news. Connoisseurs of crudity, we are always on the lookout for bad news. How else could we explain that the battles of this fine lady never receive rave reviews? Since when did it become a crime to praise, when appropriate, and to criticize constructively where necessary? In fact, I was wondering if she should not follow the trail of Wada Nas's unfounded criticism and establish another school of aviation in Enugu. In a recent PM News piece by Anthony Okoro ["Touts Besiege Lagos Airport, March 5, 2002], we read: "The menace of social miscreants (a.k.a. agberos) has reared its ugly head at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport, Ikeja, Lagos. P.M. News authoritatively learnt that the area boys have taken total control of all the parking spaces at the local airport and have resorted to molestation and extortion of money from motorists." Ah ha, that's news! When these social undesirables were unceremoniously removed from harassing and fleecing unsuspecting travelers inside the airport, no one lifted a pen. While it is right and proper to bring the activities of these mean mafia mob to light, the media should also endeavor to tell when the going is good. Unless there are press outlets that don't reach us out here, the stellar achievements of Aviation Minister Chikwe are rarely reviewed. The following leave no one in doubt that the lady should be colored "elegant success": open-sky agreement with the US; renewed too-good-to-last deal with South Africa (according to a friend) -- which has now met a turbulent weather; recent performance at world aviation conference in Canada, where she dazzled world aviation policy makers with her exposition of Africa's aviation needs; her belief in and battle for the resuscitation of Nigerian Airways (not scrap and sell it off for peanuts) -- which could and should pick up the Lagos-New York route immediately; and many other successes of immense national importance. Successes have not come cheaply or easily. Obstacles and difficulties abound along the way, especially with the state of aviation industry before May 1999. The status quo ante still manifests in the aging fleet polluting our environment and endangering both flora and fauna. In The Guardian of Thursday, March 7, 2002, we read from Wole Shadare as he opened the lid on pressure piling on her to abort the proposal: "Aviation Minister, Dr (Mrs.) Kema Chikwe, stunned aviation watchers when she said that in its continued battle against environmental pollution, the Federal Government may ban aircraft that are more than 22 years old from the country's airspace. The Minister made it clear during the tour of facilities at the Murtala Muhammed Airport, Lagos that it was necessary to secure the safety of Nigerians, hence the ban." Stunned aviation watchers? Hear them: "The Nigerian Aviation Safety Institute (NASI) has criticised this move to by the Federal Government. Airline Operators of Nigeria (AON) has also thrown weight behind NASI's position. The secretary general of NAS, Captain Jerry Agbeyegbe said the pronouncement from the Federal Government was a big slap on the face of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) which has the statutory role of providing regulatory services in the aviation industry." A big slap on the exhaust is more like it! Dr. Steve Mahonwu, chairman of AON: "There is nothing like aged aircraft as long as the maintenance schedules are followed as laid down by the manufacturers." Agbeyegbe: "It is an act of ignorance. Old age has nothing to do with air-mishap. There has been no accident that has occurred at least within the last couple of years that I know of that is as a result of age of the equipment." Huh? Now, it is not that 22-year-old planes no longer fly, but our maintenance culture over the years has been criminal. And we are talking of 1968 BAC 1-11 aircrafts of Chief Gabriel Igbinedion's Okada era, which the junta of General Ibrahim Babangida tried unsuccessfully to phase out in the early 1990s. The aircrafts were implicated in some air mishaps and declared unworthy for passenger haulage. Once again, special interests are kicking against the move. But, between the safety of Nigerians and pleasing interest groups, the planes got to go. And for this singular pronouncement, Chikwe got qualified "kudos" from Reuben Abati, who is not known for liberal scoring of people in power. It is important to record these before flamethrowers arrive to deliver judgment on, not dissect, the unilateral move by South African Airways (SAA) to ditch the busy and lucrative Lagos-New York shuttle (Business Day, March 13, 2002). Bluff or for real, it's about time Nigerian Airways was cleaned up and commercialized. The money made from the SAA deal so far could lease a good aircraft. Enough of the insults already! The stellar achievements of Kema Chikwe have thrust her to the forefront of role model numero uno for aspiring female politicians. At a fundraising event on Saturday, March 2, 2001, many people braved the drenching downpour to support Princess Ijenwa Okunonke, who is set to take on Hon. Nduka Irabor for the Ika federal constituency (Delta State). I asked who amongst the various politicians is worthy of emulation; without blinking, she named Kema Chikwe for her successes. Many ladies are now stepping up, including Nigeria's superstar Ms. Onyeka Onwenu, the singer, actress, newscaster, and journalist of the "Squandering of Riches" fame and Edo's Mrs. Daisy Danjuma. This is the dividend of Chikwe's tenure. At this rate, the woman president that Obasanjo foresaw might not be light years ahead. And Nigeria could be better for it. Alas, as in most things Nigerian, forward steps attract unnecessary missteps. One of the success stories for women fell off the radar recently. The first female speaker of a state legislature and the only female of 36 speakers nationwide threw in the towel. In Daily Champion of Wednesday, March 13, 2002, we read that Benue State House of Assembly's Speaker, Mrs. Margaret Icheen, 44, resigned her position and called in the cops to search 14 pairs of pockets for 14 million naira "cornered" last December! She now knows the depth of corruption in our houses of lawmaking; the male-dominated house tried to impeach her six times, most probably for not allowing them to line their pockets with state money. She threw in the towel rather than wallow in deceit, but moral victory and courage belong to her. The elevation of Mrs. Adelaja to full cabinet position is something worth celebrating by millions of women seeking to shatter the glass ceiling of Nigeria's political paradise. Inasmuch as some would have preferred an "Alhaja Aisha Abdullahi" to balance the north-south dichotomy, it should not take checkbook journalism to encourage the participation and or applaud the successes of our womenfolk in national affairs. Adelaja now has the space and the time to salvage her beat-up image at the not-too-sensitive solid minerals ministry. She should have little or no problems sailing across. Not many heard of Kanu Agabi since he vacated the justice ministry for 'Bola Ige. But 'Dupe Adelaja owes it to womenfolk not to coil up like a snail in 2002 winter and wait for 2003 summer to come. She should step out and step on it, following the footsteps of Kema Chikwe and opening that door wider for younger ladies looking up to her. On another angle, Adelaja should show the East reasons to forgive, if not forget, her buying-and-selling jab: She needs to revisit the coal industry and work with her counterpart in power and steel for full revitalization of Oji River Thermal Station in Enugu State, which will help restore the glory of Enugu coal mines, the industry that powered Nigeria before Niger-Delta oil. Anything less would be a waste of opportunity. Everything else is embellishment.
* Women Affairs Minister is Hajia Aisha Ismail, and the Minister of State for Science and Technology is Dr. (Mrs.) Pauline Tallen. POST SCRIPT |