El-rufai accuses northerners of always wanting to be spoon-fed

[maxsiollun]

Apr 13, 2009
Default El-rufai accuses northerners of always wanting to be spoon-fed
MALLAM EL-RUFAI ACCUSES NORTHERNERS OF ALWAYS WANTING TO BE SPOON-FED
by Chika Onyeani
Posted by africannewsworld | 2:39 AM | 0 comments »

Nigeria's former Minister for the Federal Capital Territory (Abuja) and wunderkind, Mallam Nasir Ahmad El-Rufai, has accused his fellow northerners of always waiting to be spoon-fed, of being too laid back, of not being competitive, of not applying for jobs in a competitive manner, but waiting to be called to be handed jobs.

Mallam El-Rufai made this explosive statement in an interview with the no-nonsense host of the "StraightTalk with Chika Onyeani on the AllAfricaRadio," on Friday, April 10, 2009 in New York. Mallam El-Rufai was responding to a question from the President of the Zumunta Association of America, who had called in to question Mr. El-Rufai about the bank consolidation in Nigeria, and how it had not favored the North.

"The third level you talked about is the so called marginalization of the north in the consolidation. I don't know whether there is anything that can be done about that. You see, as a northerner, I can speak frankly on this matter. I do not believe spoon- feeding people necessarily leads to good result. The north has had the advantage of having most of the Nigerian rulers from that part of the country, and what have we done with it? You know, very little. Our poverty level is still the highest. We are too laid back, we like to wait and be spoon-fed, we don't like to be competitive. We don't like to apply for jobs, we like to be called and handed the jobs. We have to change our attitude in the north and realize that in the 21st century nobody is going to spoon-feed you, you have to compete.

Mallam Salisu, you are here in America, you have seen the American system and why it works. It works because it is competitive. It is merit-based. They have options, yes, but it is supposed to help a small minority. In Nigeria, we have a very odd situation where the majority ethnic group is the one that has to be helped. And I don't think that's right. You know clearly, we have to stand up and get our acts together. Things have not worked for us. If we looked back at our recent history, we will see that having leadership has not helped us."

On bank consolidation, Mallam El-Rufai charged that it was nobody's fault that the richest man in Africa, Mr. Aliko Dangote, did not see fit to start a bank or invite other wealthy northern leaders to join him in starting a bank.

"When the banking consolidation was happening, nobody stopped very wealthy northerners, like Aliko Dangote, Aminu Dantata, they are many northerners that have enough money . Dangote is the richest black African in the world. If Dangote had chosen not to establish a bank or if he had chosen not to bring other wealthy northerners to establish a bank, I don't think it is anybody's fault. I believe as a northerner, as a northern elite, Mallam Salisu and I need to talk to our people to say that listen - Get Real, Nobody is going to spoon-feed you, the world will leave you behind and you just have to stand up and compete. We have to change our attitude and culture to ensure that that happens. I am not apologetic about this, because I have spent a lot of time thinking about these things. And I don't think it has helped us as northerners, it has not helped Nigeria and we should be thinking of what is in the best interest of the country, of our country, as well as our region."

Although he felt that the bank consolidation had succeeded, he nevertheless charged that the Central Bank of Nigeria governor is always wearing red ties and trying to appear on the pages of newspapers and television every minute of the day, which he said was not the way a central bank governor should behave.

"The Central Bank governor should not be wearing red ties and appearing on the pages of newspapers every second. Now Central Bank governors are supposed to be laid back, very conservative and all that. So to that extent, I don't think the way and manner that my friend Charles Soludo has made the Central Bank too much in the public eye, I don't agree with that. I think it is not the right thing to do. The job of the central bank is to regulate and control inflation, and do it quietly. A central bank should be heard very rarely, not all the time."

He accused the Saraki family of destroying and looting the bank, Societe Generale. "Let me answer the question in three levels. I think the banking reforms were well intentioned. The whole idea was for us to have strong and solid banks, and to raise the level of their capitalization and capital adequacy such that they can compete and lend to the productive sectors of our economy. Many of the banks we had in Nigeria were one-man banks and were unstable. You weren't really sure if they take your money whether you will get it back if you asked for it. We had examples of that, Societe Generale that was run down by the Sarakis and all that. So the whole idea was to force the banks to come together so that you have bigger banks, you don't have one person controlling a bank and so on and so forth."

Mallam El-Rufai charged that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission invited him for questioning only after former Governor James Ibori of Delta State had boasted that he would not allow he and Mr. Nuhu Ribadu to leave the country and travel to Europe because of his own arrest and that of his wife for money laundering.

On the EFCC invitation and after having submitted a 200-page written answer, Mallam El-Rufai said, "They said no, I have to come. And if I didn't come, they will declare me a wanted person. Who they hell do they think they are, are they paying for my ticket?

If they declare me wanted, so what? Do they think anybody outside Nigeria takes them seriously?"

"Well, I was not subpoenaed, it was an invitation," said Mallam El-Rufai. "If I get an invitation, I can reject it. You have said so yourself, since 2007 I left Nigeria and I have been a full time student. Now for me to suspend my studies, to go to Nigeria, there must be a credible reason. And since I left Nigeria, I have been asked by the EFCC to explain the allocation of two plots, and I have written two hundred pages of explanation. In my explanation, I said if you need any further information, I am away I am in America. These are my details, here are my lawyers, send me any information, I would happy to respond within the constraint of my studies.

Now, I am not going to suspend my masters program and my fellowship and go to Nigeria, if the question you are going to ask me, you can send it to me by email or something, and I will reply it. And what is it that cannot be explained, this is the age of technology. There is teleconferencing, there is video conferencing. I don't have to be physically in Nigeria if all you want is information.

A month before my so-called invitation, James Ibori had boasted at an Ikoyi Club that since the British were looking for him, and he cannot go to Europe, and his wife has been arrested in Europe, and brought to London for trial for money laundering, he will ensure that both Nuhu Ribadu and I do not have the pleasure of going to Europe. He thinks going to Europe or America is something of pleasure.

This was 2008. At the time this happened, Ribadu was still in Nigeria. It was in October last year, that is when he boasted about this. And the whole idea was this: our passports were going to be seized so that we are kept within Nigeria. In the case of Nuhu Ribadu, there were two attempts on his life until I told him to get out of the country immediately in December, and he is out.

Now with this information, and with the prior boast by James Ibori, and they have all come to pass, I will be a stupid person to accept an EFCC invitation, so I wrote to them and said send me your questions and I will answer them. I will undertake to answer any questions you have, I was a public servant and I will anyone with any diligent investigation. They said no, I have to come. And I didn't come, they will declare me a wanted person. Who they hell do they think they are, are they paying for my ticket?

If they declare me wanted, so what? Do they think anybody outside Nigeria takes them seriously?"
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[HUSNAA]

Farida Waziri was in HK not above 2 weeks ago to attend a conference. There were fifty Nigerians attending the same conference. Now I dont think that all of them were part of her entourage, but I believe about two parastatals were represented by the fifty individuals which to my thinking is forty five ppl too many (five ppl attending will not raise eyebrows). This is certainly something that she needs to look into, if she wants her organization to stay relevant. Fifty nigerians attending  one and the same conference is very very fishy. I would suggest that Farida stops hounding El rufai and Ribadu and look right under her nose for miscreant behavior. I think this shows that she is doing exactly what Rubadu was accused of doing,  that is selective persecution.
As to El Rufa'i's assessments, unfortunately he is right, infact he hasnt even hit the nail on the head.

[usman11]

Husnna, really?  ??? He hasn't hit the nail at the top?
Please go ahead, you hit the nail at the top. I await your expose'. Ranka dede!!!