Is Dr. Joi Nunieh A Complicit Catalyst?
How interesting it must be that what initially began as a grandstand drama of mud-slinging between two egoistic individuals with conflicting interests has in consequence generated scorching heat and freezing ripples of national magnitude! Now spectators are not only interested in the unfolding daily episodes but in the unpredictable denouement of a stage play that, if well-managed, certainly shall lead to more revelations.
But there are a few questions that still must be asked. Going by reprisal interviews she had granted the media, had Dr Joi Nunieh’s private life not allegedly been invaded and besmirched on international screens by minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Senator Godswill Akpabio, in such a way that apparently got her as provoked as she literally proved; would she conscientiously have had the audacity to damn potential consequences in exposing the financial rascality at NDDC, the way and manner she did?
What then was the intention of the men in black who invaded her private residence in Port Harcourt by midnight of July 16, 2020? Had Nunieh been satisfactorily pacified – assuming there was an option of bargain – would she have spilled the bean in the unsparingly mindless way she did on a man many believe supposedly mid-wifed the birth of the ill-fated Interim Management Committee (IMC) and perhaps, also contributed nods to her eventual emergence as acting MD of the Commission?
Now, they say, “It is okay!” But to whom exactly is it okay? Is it okay with the NDDC or with the circuitous gladiators or the uneasy members of the National Assembly who in the promptest reaction have taken up the Akpabio challenge of convincing curious and exploited Nigerians that the NDDC, indeed, is not a consecrated meat pie for members of parliament?
With an explosive in her portfolio, Nunieh assumed duty as acting MD of NDDC on Tuesday, October 29, 2019. With characteristic deviance of no pretensions, she launched within days a dirty catalogue of how highly placed Nigerians used the NDDC treasury as an open cheque. These were negligible early symptoms of her tempestuous disposition to step on toes in a contentious office with initial lifespan of six months.
Related: NDDC: The Many “Sins” That May Have Prompted Sack Of Barr. Joi Nunieh
Twice she was summoned by the National Assembly; twice she rebuffed the parliamentarians without any expression of regrets or apology, even till today. One was her blatant rebuff of two invitations to appear before the Peter Nwaoboshi-led Senate House Committee on NDDC for screening. Hence, she was neither screened nor confirmed and accordingly was dropped from the 15-member list of substantive board of the NDDC now in a pigeonhole in Aso Rock. The second was her going ahead to implement the 2019 NDDC budget while the embargo placed on it by the National Assembly was still in force.
These were portentous early signals. Could this explain why Akpabio had attributed her awkward and abrupt sack on Wednesday, February 19, 2020 to “insubordination”? Yet, Akpabio apparently must have dismissed the resilient Ogoni woman-fighter of Ken Sarowiwa lineage as a pushover in his contrived calculation. Had pretty little circumspection been exercised, he should have managed the delicate Nunieh like toothache until broken fences shall have been mended.
But in spite of her ostensible sanctimony, it can still be argued that Nunieh came aboard the IMC already infected by the active cancer in the bloodstream of the NDDC. Prima facie, recent memos from the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation on the NDDC conundrum may be one specious indication that the 108 days Nunieh spent on the saddle could not have been stainless. Her furious black-labelling of Sen. Akpabio, therefore, makes it increasingly hard to distinguish between courageous wilful confession and retaliatory circumstantial revelation.
Right or wrong, it cannot be mistaken that Nunieh has contributed her part to the fight against corruption in the NDDC. Although unfortunately using Akapbio as scapegrace and launch-pad, her situation has further shown why the NDDC must be cleaned and cleansed. Nigerians would therefore expect the forensic audit, which Nunieh insists is a fluke, to be expedited and transparent in revealing more.
Trending contentions notwithstanding, we cannot for now conclude that Nunieh is as saintly or infallible in this saga as she wants President Muhammadu Buhari and Nigerians to believe.Until matters shall have been summarily handled, many will continue to see Nunieh as a fallible angel: especially on account of her having to wait for Akpabio’s provocation to sting her to action than act promptly on the oath of office she took, if she really meant to express her patriotism to the cause. What would have happened had she not been provoked?
Dr. Joi Yumebe Nunieh took over the office with controversy; quitted with controversy; and is still generating controversy, months after. There is this irresistible temptation to see her as a fortuitous beneficiary of an ugly scenario that former American President, Barack Obama, would describe as “absolute chaotic disaster”.
Nunieh’s sack saw the expansion of the Interim Committee to five, with the introduction of Prof. Kemebradikumo Pondei, Ag. MD; Dr. Cairo Ojougboh, acting executive director of projects; and Mr. Ibanga Bassey Etang, Ag executive director of finance and administration. The other two are Mrs. Caroline Nagbo and Cecilia Bukola Akintomide as members.
Will Nunieh now wriggle out of the storm that is waging? Can she prove her innocence and claims now that the National Assembly has re-summoned her to supply answers to more questions? What if the issue of her NYSC certificate resurfaces?
