By Temisan Jackson
In a saner clime, stardom and public
admiration are earned, not swindled. These usually come after years of hard
work and personal sacrifice.
They come with years of diligent
commitment to a worthy cause. However, some people prefer circumventing the
arduous process to eminence by taking a shortcut.
This they do by throwing stones in
the direction of those who have attained prominence with the hope that they
will in turn get noticed, thus making a name for themselves in the process – a
phenomenon that is popularly called gaining cheap popularity.
To these people, fame is easier and
faster attained by looking round and identifying certain prominent individuals
for attack as a way of fast-tracking societal recognition.
One classical Nigerian example of
someone who has become an easy target for hitherto obscure social critics,
bloggers, columnists and civil society groups to use as a launching pad for
their own national recognition over the years is Dr. Mrs Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala.
Inasmuch as this woman has millions
of admirers and protégés all over the world who celebrate and draw inspiration
from her; there are also numerous jobbers in the guise of social critics,
bloggers, columnists and civil society proponents who ride on the wings of her
international fame to make a name for themselves by attacking her relentlessly.
You want to check out the profiles
of nonentities like: Omoyele Sowore,
Yushaib Shuaib, Osun Defender, Dele Sobowale, Abdulmumin Jibrin, SERAP, Charles
Soludo and many of their ilk in the Nigerian socio-political and media
landscape? We will consider some of their infamous activities in a short while.
Since Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala left
her World Bank job in September 2011 to assume the position of Coordinating
Minister of the Economy and Minister of Finance at the invitation of President
Jonathan, she has been the subject of severe attacks from persons desperate to
court public attention.
These so-called critics, who usually
hide under the pretence of airing their opinion on the state of the Nigerian
economy, have been found out several times for their mischief as their
criticism are sometimes baseless, unfounded, uncalled for or outright lies with
the motive being to sully the reputation of Okonjo-Iweala and in the process
earn acclaim for themselves.
Even members of the hallowed
legislative chamber are numbered in this conspiracy. There is no minister in
the history of Nigerian democracy that has appeared before the House of
Representative like Mrs Iweala under one excuses or the other, even when it was
becoming increasing obvious that she was always trouncing them with her
superior knowledge and competence on economy management, this has not deterred
them from summoning her over and over again.
It became so bad that if anything is
not going as expected in the country, it is Okonjo-Iweala’s fault.
In fact, if any of the house of reps
had a bad day with his wife or crony, the blame will be shipped on
Okonjo-Iweala.
The mention of Okonjo-Iweala on the
floor of the assembly will awaken the consciousness of the most bereft of
honourable, because they know that any confrontation with this Amazon
will get their name on the headlines of major newspapers for at least three
days if not for weeks! That seems to be the easiest and cheapest way for some
of the lawmakers to get visibility instead of burying themselves in serious
legislative tasks.
Quite recently, a certain named
Yushau Shuaib shot to national fame by writing damaging pieces on Madam Iweala
which were, of course, widely published by the media, with the likes of Sahara
reporters, Premium Times, Osun Defender and others in their group ensuring the
pieces received banner headlines for a long time. Before the articles, Yushau
Shuaib was an unknown civil servant.
However, his quest to gain attention
by writing an op-ed dripping with malice, not only prove a hit, but is one of
those experiences Okonjo-Iweala herself will not forget in a hurry.
Shuaib played the victim of finance
minister’s imperial tyranny and promptly attracted the sympathy of eager media
and citizens who did not mind being fed with half-truth.
The minister’s media aide eventually
set the records straight, but not many people saw his response.
The tactic of Dele Sobowale is very
similar to that of Shuaib. He claims that he had mailed Mrs Iweala about some
hanky-panky he observed in the running of the Nigerian economy.
The minister denied ever receiving
or acknowledging his correspondence, but that did not stop conspiring media
from giving prominence to Sobowale’s tirades and songs of sorrow at the
detriment of the reputation of madam minister.
Abdulmumin Jibrin is a classic
example of a lawmaker who would have gone down in history as an also-run at the
Nigerian legislative chamber until he seized on the ingenious idea of summoning
the finance minister and contracting a consultant to fire the now infamous 50
Questions at her.
He was widely hailed as a national
hero for taking on Okonjo-Iweala and a genius for coming up with those 50
Questions until the person who developed them for him cried foul and went to
court for default on the legislator’ part in paying his fee.
Needless to say that the response to
the 50 Questions only helped to make Okonjo-Iweala shine and coach the
lawmakers on economic matters rather than bring her down as intended.
Can we forget in hurry the manner in
which some media houses would publish a screaming negative headline with
Okonjo-Iweala’s name even when the attending story has little or no connection
to the woman?
This has become the norm for Osun
Defender, Sahara reporters and other copy and paste blogs, much to the distaste
of informed readers, who know they are only using the NOI brand to attract
traffic to their sites and/or settle the political scores of their paymasters.
What about the sudden emergence of
Charles Soludo who had been out of reckoning since being disgraced out of CBN
by Musa Yaradua of blessed memory and being rejected as a governor material by
the people of Imo state?
Soludo, credit to him, had to choose
the best target to tango in order to shoot himself back to public consciousness
as well as position himself for public appointment in the emerging government.
After releasing his first damaging piece, he got the attention he so
desperately craved, and he is now being considered a candidate for the Finance
Ministry in the incoming administration.
Would anyone have looked at his side
if he hadn’t done a hatchet man’s job on Okonjo-Iweala? Would he had stand a
chance in this country after he almost wrecked our banking sector with his
ill-thought out banking reforms that left our local banks more vulnerable than
he met them? What about his Naira re-domination policy, where did it leave us?
All those ignominies have now become history, as he only needed to attack
Okonjo-Iweala and his past sins are forgiven.
Can you see how it pays to criticize
Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala? Even if you have no idea what you are talking about or
have no solution to the problem you identify, just attack her and let the media
do the rest for you.
Even when you are bored, have become
politically obscure, or are trying to curry the favour of her haters, take up
NOI and the rest would fall in place.
However, one thing is clear, no
matter how they try to undermine the NOI brand; she will continue to move from
glory to glory. Recently, she was named one of the most influential people on
planet earth by the prestigious Fortune magazine.
This came in the midst of her being
cited as the scapegoat to take the fall for President Jonathan’s loss at the
polls. While, by now, she may be getting used to those seeking limelight by
spoiling her reputation, it does not change the fact that the activities of
such fame-hungry people smack of indignity and lack of confidence in their own
abilities.
Whatever else we may not be certain
about in the months and years ahead, and regardless of how often and dirty the
malicious attacks of haters and vested interests may be, it is very certain
that the NOI brand is here to stay and will continue to soar.
Temisan writes from Warri, Delta
State.
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