Editor’s note @ naij.com: It wouldn’t be an irony to say President Goodluck Jonathan kissed his chances of a second term goodbye as a result of his inability to expunge corruption, a major cause of poverty in Nigeria kissed.
After years of devastating effects from corruption, Nigeria has become a shameful centre for different kinds of corruption parasites. Corruption under Goodluck Jonathan exceeded epidemic level.
For many Nigerians, “Change” was needed; this to a large extent cemented the victory of a 72-year-old former dictator-General Muhamadu Buhari who intelligently capitalized on this singular factor (corruption) to win a historic presidential election with the slogan of “change”.
One name that has been greeted with strong connection with corrupt practices will be no other than Diezani Alison-Madueke, the first Nigerian petroleum minister to be elected OPEC President and the Minister for Petroleum in the Africa’s most populous country.
The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author only, and do not necessarily represent those of Naij.com’s editors or other contributors.
Story Highlights
What happened to a mother with high expectations from Nigerians?
One of the pillars of democracy is transparency, Diezani please tell us what happened to the alleged missing $20b
Diezani ponders easiest route out of jail, embraces exile.
(Naij.com) – Being the first Nigerian petroleum minister to be elected as OPEC president (a female for that matter), God has been so good to Diezani Alison-Madueke
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After a careful perusal of her profile, it was gathered that the current Minister of Petroleum Resources and a mother of three children has never lacked the good things of life as she was born into a royal family, went to one of the best schools in the world, Howard University; worked in one of the best companies in Nigeria, Shell Petroleum.
At government level, Nigeria has given Diezani the best she could have ever asked for. Diezani Alison-Madueke has held three significant positions in the Nigerian federal government.
She was appointed Transport Minister in 2007. In 2008, she was named as Minister of Mines and Steel Development. And after Vice-President Goodluck Jonathan became acting President in February 2010, with Diezani was named as Minister for Petroleum Resources.
Why then did she choose to throw the trust Nigerian gave her into the waste bin?
For years and especially the Jonathan years, newspaper headlines compete for stories on ministers and other top government officials embroiled in scams that involve millions and billions with the number one culprit being none other than Mrs Diezani Alison-Madueke.
The fairy tale of corrupt practices labelled against Mrs. Madueke has been quite dreadful.
Last year, The House of Representatives ordered an investigation of an alleged squandering of billions of naira from government funds by the petroleum minister on the maintenance of a private jet.
The lawmaker who tabled the motion for approval, Samuel Adejare, representing Lagos State, said the allegation was based on “reliable evidence” indicating that Mrs. Alison-Madueke has committed about 500,000 Euros (N130 million naira) monthly to maintain the aircraft, solely for her personal needs and those of her immediate family.
Diezani however, described the allegation against her as a mere fabrication. According to her, leasing jets is more cost-effective than buying them as is often done in the highly technical and competitive oil industry around the world.
The minister said it would have been unwise for anyone to spend N10 billion in leasing jets, an amount which can conveniently buy three new jets, depending on the type.
Apparently! Diezani made it quite clear to us that it’s very normal to use jets in the oil sector around the globe.
Months after, she’s clouded by another scandal as it was reported that sum of N70m donated by the Minister of Petroleum Resources to the Peoples Democratic Party in Bayelsa State pre-election period, caused division between the chairman, Col. Sam Inokoba (retd.) and the members of the State Working Committee.
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