My NANmobile which never reported Minister Adeosun’s resignation in the first instance had dismissed almost as fake news, the online news according to which the former finance Minister had resigned. But barely a day after, the “fake news” had turned to be the “real news”. The woman at the center of it all had since thrown in the ministerial towel.
In a widely published letter to President Buhari she wrote that having “become privy to the findings of the investigation into the allegation made in an online medium that the Certificate of Exemption from National Youth Service Corp (NYSC) that I had presented was not genuine”. She went further to say that “This has come as a shock to me and I believe that in line with this administration’s focus on integrity, I must do the honourable thing and resign.” Since the former Minister had reportedly returned to U.K. where according to her letter she was “born and raised”, my interest here is purely academic.
Since the NYSC certificate saga broke out in July, Minister Kemi had courted an army of traducers who in good measure demanded for her dismissal and prosecution. It was certainly scandalous that she left such critical issue of certificate of exception from national service to “trusted associates”. She never for once even visited the premises of NYSC – true to the arrogance and indulgence of Tokunbo/diaspora boys-and-girls on the block. But all said, it’s time we reflect and identify some Godliness in the Kemi/NYSC saga. For one it is commendable that however belated, she had resigned. Kemi has indeed shown that women in governance could demonstrate worthy sensitivity where many men sit tight amidst sundry allegations and even trials. This is the second resignation by notable women in public office in this dispensation I can remember.
In 2002, Mrs. Margaret Icheen then the Speaker of the Benue State House of Assembly in an outstanding and exemplary decision stepped down amidst mob action of a male dominated assembly who preferred corruption agenda as distinct from genuine legislative agenda. When will many men accused of public improprieties also do the honorable and resign? And lest we forget, the former minister of finance, Mrs Kemi Adeosun has made noteworthy achievements in the nation’s ministry of finance worthy of recalling here. She was a visible face of transparency and accountability. I agree with some objective observers that since assumption of office in 2015, there has not been dull moment with “the enthusiastic minister”. Worthy of mentioning is the Clearing of Pension Arrears for 2014, 2015 and 2016 totaling some N41.5billion to the national pension commission for payment to retirees being their accrued pension benefits. Also the minister released additional N12billion being outstanding for January, February and March 2017, bringing the tally to over N54billion.
Significantly too, the Minister also initiated the Creation of Efficiency Unit that “ensures that all government expenditures represent the best possible value for money. The unit which reportedly saves the nation some N15 billion annually is headed by the current director general of Debt Management Office (DMO), Ms. Patience Oniha. It was also reported that “the efficiency unit has been monitoring the ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) of government, identifying and eliminating wasteful spending, duplication and other inefficiencies; and identifying best practices in procurement and financial management”. It will also be recalled that the former Minister “piloted the introduction of the ever celebrated voluntary assets and income declaration scheme (VAIDS), a time-limited initiative that allows defaulting taxpayers to regularize their tax status relating to previous tax periods. VAIDS is an amnesty programme that provides tax defaulters a nine-month opportunity to voluntarily and truthfully declare previously untaxed assets and incomes.” This singular initiative promoted general tax awareness and compliance consciousness. At the last count, VAIDS reportedly generated “over $50 million in revenue between June 29, 2017 when it was launched and october 31, 2017”. Two foreign companies reportedly “agreed to pay $110 million in regularizing their tax status. It is also on record that the former Minister initiated the establishment of the new Development Bank of Nigeria (DBN) to “…to spur growth of micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMES)”. DBN was given $1.3 billion as the take-off. The DBN which became operationalized in the first quarter of 2017 following the issuance of operating license by the central bank of Nigeria (CBN) “has commendably created a credit line of N5billion to be accessed by MSMES through its partner financial institutions”.
Yes, Mrs. Adeosun might have failed the test of the compulsory one year post university national service, but she undoubtedly served the nation for the past three years as an active Minister of Finance.