What’s stellar about Stella?

The annoying thing is that the president instead of out-rightly sacking the minister constituted a committee of inquiry to investigate the matter, despite a serious public outcry against the purchase of the two cars by a cash-strapped Nigerian Civil Aviation Agency (NCAA). The only reason for such is that Mr. President does not have the […]

The annoying thing is that the president instead of out-rightly sacking the minister constituted a committee of inquiry to investigate the matter, despite a serious public outcry against the purchase of the two cars by a cash-strapped Nigerian Civil Aviation Agency (NCAA). The only reason for such is that Mr. President does not have the stomach to directly sanction Oduah who is known to have played a pivotal role in his Neighbour2Neighbour campaigns leading to his electoral victory of 2011.
Perhaps those who expect the immediate sacking of the minister are looking for the wrong solutions in Jonathan. It is like seeking a needle in a haystack. The problem with Jonathan is the plain fact, in the judgment of a wide range of people, including professional politicians, civil servants, market women and academicians, that the most prominent feature in Jonathan’s characterization is his mediocrity. The nation should therefore not expect anything revolutionary in the handling of Oduahgate. Nigerians should not even expect a slap on her wrist. At best, if push comes to shove, we should expect a squint in the eye with which she would be shoved aside for a while only to resurface somewhere important towards the end of his tenure.  The bottom-line is that Jonathan cannot afford to bicker with any member of his bevy.
This is a woman whose domestic, professional and ministerial misconduct are legendary. The Neighbour-2Neighbour campaign group which she co-chaired and also doubled as its treasurer has still not declared its source of funding which would have been the right thing to do in any meaningful democracy. Instead, all its key operatives bestraddle top government offices with a view to mopping cash for the upcoming 2015 election.
Should we therefore expect the rudderless amalga-mation of three government cheerleaders headed by the former Head of Service Salih to sanction Oduah? Just perhaps, but it is more certainly no. Going by the standards set by Goodluck Jonathan as president, this woman would ultimately be let off the hook. She may even move to another ministry where she would continue her disruptive and grossly provocative leadership style. As a worst case scenario she may be offered a diplomatic position to shield her from the prying eyes of nosey and ungrateful Nigerians who do not understand what an asset she has been to this country. This is all a trend to which Nigerians are becoming accustomed.
For starters, there were initial indications that the president had queried Oduah to explain. But many people that had access to the administration argued that a query is not an appropriate step. This had led to the institution of the three-man panel to look into the matter and report within two weeks. But again, the minister neither applied for the job nor competed for it with other competent Nigerians before assuming office as Aviation minister so why waste scarce government resources by panelising the matter when there is ample evidence that this crime has been committed and admitted in the public domain.
Jonathan must think that Nigerians are dumb because what we know to have obtained anywhere in the world except in such democracies as in the United Kingdom, where ministers are selected from among members of parliament, is that the relationship and channels of communication between the president and his ministers is a one-stop-shop; the president hires ministers and if dissatisfied with their performance fires them. Period. A query or an inquiry is known in this context to be an aberration.
This new scheme therefore of congregating a panel is not only diversionary but alien, especially with the jungle of controversy already out there, the bad-blood and hatred among the different ethnic groups in the country that the matter has evoked, and especially the heap of distrust that keeping the minister would bring on the president. But does Jonathan give a damn?
Better still, does Jonathan have the guts or even the cheek to sacrifice Oduah? At present, that question is difficult to contemplate, knowing that she is in on all the intrigues of the Jonathan administration and its blueprint for 2015. To mow her down at this material time would be like cutting his nose to spite his face. What if Stella decides to fight back? Hell, they say, hath no fury than a woman scorned.
But to most Nigerians and especially the international community, this is a litmus test for the administration. Several cases of corruption involving senior officials of the administration have been discussed and reported but none has come with as compelling evidence as this. If Jonathan had dismissed all the others with the wave of the hand he cannot do the same to this one. Remember that he had even scoffed at the anti-corruption campaigners, Transparency International (TI) as merely chasing shadows of corruption around the world and not the real thing. So what does Jonathan have to say about the real deal? The purchase was done without regulatory appropriation; the amount was inflated by over 100% trumping the bullet proof Land Rover driven by the British Prime Minister or the famous Beast enjoyed by Barack Obama. This is not mere perception, this thief was caught in the act and if there is anything stellar about this woman, she would resign honourably. But we wait!