Okonjo-Iweala and Aso Villa Prayer Warriors By Simbo Olorunfemi

-


I do not know what Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala set out to achieve with her book,‘Fighting Corruption is Dangerous: The Story Behind the Headlines’ but if it is to help repair the damage done to her image on account of her last stint in public service, I doubt that some of the excerpts from the book in the public domain will help in that regard.

Her own account:

"I was privileged that part of my daily routine was to join the President and his family and his few close friends in Christian fellowship and morning prayers in the Residential Complex of the Villa. It was a way to gain strength for each difficult day. The prayer normally began at 6am so by 5:45am every day..."

Prayer is the master-key, someone sings. But the Minister of Finance having to be a part of daily routine of prayers with the President at 6 a.m?

Was that really about the prayer or a yearning to be a part of a kitchen cabinet, masquerading as prayer warriors?

Madam had to be in a prayer session with the President on daily basis to gain strength for each difficult day?

How did someone who negotiated herself into a specially- created, all-powerful title "Coordinating Minister of the Economy" become someone who had to become a 'set-forth-at-dawn' prayer warrior to maintain her influence?

So important was the daily prayer session to the Minister that even when she was denied entry on the first day, she didn't shrug it off and move on to gaining strength for the day through other means. She had to come back over the next three days to face the 'humiliation' of being turned back at the gate?

Was it really about the prayer? She had to call one of the go-to men at that time, Mr. John Kenny Opara who promised to discuss this with the villa pastor so they could intercede on her behalf! What was it about this early-morning prayer that Madam Okonjo-Iweala had to be there?

And her presence was so important that for a daily routine which was only for the President, his family and his few close friends, the President would not notice the absence of this his 'close friend' for all of 3 days to be able to bring it up with her?

Could it be that the President knew that, as with a lot of these things, many of the prayer warriors were not necessarily there for the prayers, but for other things?

How did the all-powerful "Coordinating Minister of the Economy" become someone a Presidential aide would block her access simply for doing her duty? How petty can it get that she would be barred from a 'private' prayer session? How disorganised can the Villa be that protocol will be blatantly breached such that the MD of IMF usually accorded the Head of State status would be denied entry through the proper gate, just to spite Dr Okonjo-Iweala?

And Madam who knows about protocol, having once served as Foreign Affairs Minister, did not deem it fit to bring up this embarrassing breach of protocol with the President! She chose not to rock the boat?

To think that this incident reported by Madam happened in as early as 2011. So, how did she cope as Coordinating Minister of the Economy over the next 4 years? How did she cope without the daily prayer session?

Prayer warriors as palace courtiers

So influential have prayer warriors become, over the years, that Chaplains, Diviners and Alfas have become powerful men who opened doors of access to people in power.

Some do not even have official titles but they make things happen as powerful palace courtiers. Those who know, know them.

Who would have known that a Minister has to grovel to be a part of prayer sessions to be able to 'function'?

Power is good. Even for some who never let us forget how they were doing us a favour by opting for public service.

The things people have to put up with just to remain in office.

Who would have known that Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala was also one of the Prayer Warriors?

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

5 facts about O TO GE slogan and the collapse of Saraki's dynasty

-
Image
Kwara Must Change 1. Alh. LAK Jimoh was the first politician in modern history of Kwara state to use the O TO GE slogan in a campaign. O TO GE simply means, Enough is Enough.  Alhaji Jimoh first used the slogan in 2011 when he was contesting the Kwara Central Senatorial seat under the People's Democratic Party (PDP). Bukola Saraki eventually won the ticket and went ahead to represent Kwara Central at the Senate.  While the slogan wasn't popular at the time, there's no taking away the fact that Alh LAK Jimoh used it first and could be rightly credited to be the originator. 2. 8 years later, the slogan idea was pitched again in 2018 immediately after the All Progressive Congress primary election in Kwara State. After the APC primary election, Islamic singer, Aminat Obirere produced a song titled o to ge as part of a joint album coordinated by Kwara Must Change to promote the candidature of APC governorship candidate, Alh. Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq. The album itself was titled
Read more

Brave lady quites her job because her boss persistently calls her sweetie

-
Image
A lady, who goes by the name Sarah Mcgovern on social network site Facebook, has quite her job over what she described as harassment and persistently being refereed to as sweetie by her boss. Sarah took to Facebook on December 7th 2017 to narrate her experience. She wrote: I don't post many deeply personal things online, but I want to share this. I quit my job about a month ago because of harassment. Below is my letter of resignation. I think it's important to share this truth, and to know that many of us will not tolerate the abuse. We can and should walk out. #metoo "Hi Elias, This is my letter of resignation, effective today, October 31, 2017, my last partial day of employment. Since the second day of my employment, on October 12, 2017, I have asked you not to call me "Sweetie." I have asked you not to call me Sweetie more than 5 times since then, and you have still not respected this request. I nearly walked out because of this last Tuesday, Oc
Read more

CONSTITUENCY PROJECTS AND NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT PROCESS: THREAT OR OPPORTUNITY? BY JAYE GASKIA

-
Image
Fourteen years after the practice and phenomenon of Constituency projects began to evolve in the legislative practice and appropriation process of the 4th Republic, the phenomenon has grown to become pervasive across the Federation with both Federal and state legislatures now fully embracing the practice. Yet, nearly a decade and half on, there is still no clarity regarding the practice, with respect to any form of agreed framework guiding its implementation. There is, as of the moment of writing this piece in 2018, no policy, legislative nor institutional framework underlying and providing not only pragmatic, but also scientific criteria and parameter for determining the why, how, and where of constituency projects. And even though there are currently draft bills being considered by both chambers of the National Assembly [NASS] aimed at providing a regulatory framework for the practice, the bills have nevertheless remained stuck within the opaque labyrinth of the legislative proce
Read more

2019 Election: FPP condemn reckless remarks by political parties and foreign interests

-
........ call on Nigerians to trust INEC An independent Non Governmental Organisation, Foundation for Peace Professionals (FPP) has called on the Nigerian people to have faith in their country & give chance to Government Institutions like Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), being the Nigerian electoral body to finish up what its started. The elections cannot be concluded if announcement of Presidential election results cannot be made. The organisation frowned at reckless statements coming from political parties, organisations and foreign  individuals aimed at heating up the polity just to pitch Nigerians against each other. In a statement issued by the Executive Director, Abdulrazaq Hamzat, FPP stated that after the successful conduct of the 2019 general election, the two leading political parties in Nigeria have been raising false alarms without basis. According to Hamzat, "the baseless and unsubstantiated alarms being raised by the ruling All Progress
Read more

IBB had no respect for sycophants - Col. Abubakar Dangiwa (Part 2)

-
Image
The Col. Abubakar Dangiwa Umar story (part two) "My relationship with General Babangida" “I had on several occasions in the past explained why I enjoy a very close relationship with IBB. IBB was my instructor at the Nigerian Defence Academy. Since then, I found him to be a very brilliant and inspiring officer. In fact, he had great influence on my career choice of the armoured corps, being an amour officer himself. Of course, we had disagreements, some of them quite straining, but they have not succeeded m changing my perception of him. This is true with most officers who worked closely with the man. With all this, I had never allowed such a close personal relationship to becloud my vision and judgment of his performance as a superior officer, particularly during his eight‑year rule as President and C‑in‑C. Mr. Edwin Madunagu, a man I have high regards for as an accomplished intellectual and a socially concerned person, confirmed what I have always suspected that most ou
Read more

Kwara Must Change unveil list of Offa robbery victims, urges govt to immortalize them

-
Image
Victim Kwara Must Change has compiled at least, 14 names of victims murdered in the deadly armed robbery attack that took place in Offa Community, Offa Local Government Area of Kwara State. The names gathered so far include 10 police officers and 4 civilians. However, we shall continue to update the list as we gather more details. It would be recalled that on 5th April 2018, a deadly armed robbery attack took place in Offa Local government Area of Kwara State, in which several innocent lives were lost. While several figures were claimed by police and several media houses, Vigilance Group of Nigeria in Offa said vigilantes in the state counted about 50 dead bodies after armed robbers attacked and robbed five banks. It was on this basis that Kwara Must Change has set out to preserve the memory of the victims, through compiling and documenting their names, not only to ascertain the figure, but to also immortalize them. We believe that only by documenting the names of the victims, wi
Read more

What Drake has in common with Davido

-
Image
If you have been following the American hip hop scene lately, you must have heard about the beef between Drake and Pusha T, the President of kanye West Good Music. On Friday, Pusha T dropped Daytona, a 21-minute album currently making wave in America. Closing out the album’s seven-track run was “Infrared,” a lyrical track addressing the dubious artistry of Drake, a longtime thorn in Push’s side. On the infrared track, Pusha T slammed Drake once again for using ghost writer and many others. In the usual Drake manner, the God’s Plan hit maker fired back with a track titled “Duppy Freestyle”—released less than 24 hours after Pusha T’s album dropped, where he dispensed the grievances about his history with ghostwriting. Drake went further to drag Kanye West into the rap battle, saying he had once assisted Kanye on a track, a collaboration well aknowleded by Mr. West. In the Drake’s response, he also dragged the name of Pusha T’s wife into the battle and all hell let loose.
Read more