Between Soludo And Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala: The Decline Of Professionalism – By Lawrence Chinedu Nwobu

Incidentally both Professor Chukwuma Soludo and Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala are two individuals and technocrats of international repute that I greatly admire for their stellar accomplishments and professionalism. One particular attribute which has endeared them to so many is their “denigerianised” outlook and conduct in the sense that quite unlike the typical Nigerian government officials neither Soludo nor Ngozi Okonjo–Iweala got themselves involved in the filthy lucre of Nigerian public life, nor did any of them get involved in the vicious do or die struggle to remain in power or get involved in the pedestrian name calling, abuse and subterfuge that is typical of Nigeria’s public officials.

This “denigerianised” demeanour of both individuals is evident from Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala‘s decision to resign as minister of foreign affairs in 2006, a feat which is very un-Nigerian as the typical Nigerian  would fight to the grave rather than resign under any circumstances.  Soludo on the other hand decided not to go to court to challenge the gubernatorial election results after Peter Obi was declared winner in 2010; again a rare un-Nigerian feat as Nigerian politicians are known to  go to court and in some cases resort to violence even when the election was clearly free and fair. As the saying goes, “little things matter” and these things though little did suggest that both Soludo and Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala were individuals who were very un-nigerian and professional in their conduct and outlook.

But all that changed with Soludo’s recent article “Buhari vs Jonathan: Beyond the Election” and Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala’s angry rebuttal.  I must hold Soludo responsible for firing the first shot by writing an article that marked a departure from his much respected professionalism and denigerianised demeanour. Soludo aside from being a professional, Soludo spends a lot of time outside Nigeria and cannot be ignorant of the fact that former government officials in saner climes don’t comment on public policy or criticise the government of the day. Even when they do sometimes very rarely offer a commentary it is usually very constructive and avoids the blanket condemnations or denigration of the government of the day as Soludo’s article ostensibly did.

This is an unofficial code of conduct that is usually respected by former government officials for many obvious reasons. This is why former American or British presidents and top officials are never on air criticising or condemning their successors, neither would Alan Greenspan the former chairman of America’s equivalent of Nigeria’s Central Bank engage in criticisms or condemnations of the government of the day. The business of criticising the government of the day and offering alternative policies is left strictly to outsiders like us, the professional media and the opposition parties in parliament who do so through formal channels devoid of abuse and the campaigns of calumny that is notoriously embedded in Nigeria’s dirty politics. Soludo thus departed from his professionalism when having been a government official he chose to write an article that wholly denigrated and condemned a successor government in a very partisan way.

Among the surprises in the article is Soludo’s endorsement of former president Obasanjo himself a  failed leader and shameless hypocrite who is responsible for much of the problems  arising from this democracy and general Ibrahim Babangida  who institutionalised corruption and created much of the problems Nigeria continues to confront.  That Soludo could endorse such heinous individual who wreaked havoc on Nigeria and in the same article totally denigrate and condemn President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration only goes to show that Soludo has abandoned his professionalism and descended into the gutters of Nigerian politics. Another shocker was Soludo’s reference to Peter Obi as a trader. One would have thought that the derogatory reference to someone as a trader can only come from the typical ignorant Nigerian and individuals who cannot count their fingers and not an economist in Soludo’s mould.

As a professional economist Soludo’s knows more than everyone else that everything in the world revolves around trade. Nations trade their oil and other resources while manufactures trade their goods. The wealth of nations is measured in the amount of trade they engage in with other nations. China is rising because their global trade has increased. The global economy is hinged on global trade and organisations like the World Trade Organisation (WTO) amongst others exist to regulate and promote global trade.  Amongst ordinary individuals, Soludo who spends much time abroad and who as an economist should be aware of the efforts and resources committed to encourage the creation of small businesses and other such trades in advanced and well governed nations.

Small and medium business traders are considered the bedrock of every economy that governments invest so much to create and sustain.  Whether by nations, multinationals or individuals trading is the most important global activity around which the world revolves. It is thus a grave act of self immolation that a professor of economics in Soludo’s mould has chosen to join the crowd of ignorant misfits that make trading an object of denigration in his haste to join Nigeria’s hall of shameful politics.  Soludo is well within his right to have an opinion but having been a government official he must exercise that right with care. His opinions will be better served if they are constructive and if they are devoid of the denigrations, condemnations, false claims, abuse and campaigns of calumny that are the hallmarks of Nigeria’s politics. Soludo must remember that what goes around comes around and if he returns to government someday, he could quite easily be a victim of what he is presently dishing out to others and I can bet he won’t find it funny.

Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala on her own part responded to Soludo with a rejoinder that was unbelievably laced with abuse and name calling. Such an acidic response is clearly beneath Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala. While she is well within her right to respond she should have stood on the moral high ground by penning a response devoid of Nigeria’s well worn tirade of vile and abusive language. In sum both Soludo and Ngozi are accomplished professionals. I see no need and no gain in abandoning their much admired professionalism to join the putrid waters of Nigeria’s political behaviour by engaging in needless pedestrian media attacks and seeking to pull each other down. They should abandon this shameful journey and return to their much vaunted professionalism and principles.

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Lawrence Chinedu Nwobu

Email: lawrencenwobu@gmail.com