‘’Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds’’.
-Albert Einstein.
For the first time in a long while, former presidents, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo and Dr.Goodluck Jonathan as well as the current president, Muhammadu Buhari decided to pursue a common cause, irrespective of political differences. They took it upon themselves, individually to throw their weight behind one man, a Nigerian who was recently embattled with allegations of foul play in his onerous duty to the continent and the world.
Furthermore, they deployed their vast influence to ensure that 15 other African presidents got battle ready to stand by this same man. They knew that his traducers had something up their sleeves. They smelt a rat! Unperturbed, they rallied round him and he did not disappoint them as he was eventually cleared of all the allegations. So, who could this man be?
He is none other than Dr. Akinwunmi Adesina, whose professional pedigree and political trajectory one has followed with close and keen interest for about two decades. He is a patriot, who one can proudly say that the God of Nigeria has adequately prepared to lead this nation to greatness. He is the current President, African Development Bank (AfDB). Before then, he was the Minister of Agriculture and Natural Resources under the Jonathan-led administration. Ever since, Jonathan has not hidden his immense respect for the man he considers as one of the best technocrats he has ever worked with. Even before that, he had also received accolades when he was the Vice President (Policy and Partnerships), Alliance for a Green Revolution, Africa (AGRA).
It was one rude shock therefore, when the recent call for him to step aside and be investigated on ethical charges as made by a whistle blower, with the tacit support from the United States came to the public sphere. It raised some burning questions: Why must the image of one of the best minds Nigeria can offer the world be rubbished right before our eyes? Why must it be at this crucial time, when he should be ready for a second term as the president of AfDB? What are the implications for Nigeria in the comity of nations, should the masterminds and mischief makers have both their say and their way? That was the worry.
But the relief came from the Chairman of the Board of Governors of the African Development Bank, Mrs. Niale Kaba who is the Cote d’Ivoire’s Minister of Finance. According to her, the fraud allegations brought up against Adesina have been investigated by the ethics committee and the noble Nigerian was given a clean bill of health!
It would be recalled that the first time Nigeria made an attempt at the presidency of AfDB through one of its Vice Presidents, Dr. Bisi Ogunjobi, that ambition was cut short by the same America! The exercise was inconclusive, right there in Nigeria’s capital, Abuja. It was that sordid and scandalous stalemate that paved the way for the emergence of Rwanda’s Dr. Donald Kaberuka. It was after his two terms that Dr. Adesina took a well-aimed shot at the plum post and succeeded.
It is worthy of note that Mrs. Zainab Ahmed, Nigeria’s Finance Minister and a member of the Board of AfDB had written a letter to the Chairman, warning that any other probe outside that known to the establishment was unacceptable to the country. But let us take a closer look at the defence made by Adesina in response to the allegations on appointments.
On the appointment of Mrs. Chinelo–Anohu Amazu he said: ‘’She was recruited through a globally advertised and competitive recruitment process. The search process was carried out by a top-notch external recruitment firm Russel Reynolds of the U.K. She was one of the two candidates (women) recommended to me as president to consider for appointment by the panel. But I can state it categorically that the allegations made against her are untrue and defamatory.’’
In a similar vein, on the appointment of Mr. Martin Fregene, he debunked the erroneous allegation that he is his brother-in-law and went further to list his qualification was squarely based on merit. He is an internally renowned genetist who worked earlier at CIAT, Colombia one of CGIAR centres. And subsequently, as the Director at the Danforth Plant Science Centre, regarded as the second largest private agric research centres in the United States.
He also dismissed the allegation of the appointment and promotion of Mrs. Maria Mulundi, who according to him was part of his transition management. And in his words, “all Presidents of the Bank are allowed to bring in and appoint their own Chief of Staff.”
Furthermore, on the allegation that the TAAT programme was mismanaged, he cleared the air. ‘’TAAT is an initiative of the Bank developed to help take agricultural technologies to the scale of millions of farmers across Africa,” he said. He admitted that though ‘’some mistakes were made in the procurement process and the issue was being investigated,’’ he noted that ‘’the bank does not get involved in contractual issues’’.
And on the querulous issue of one Mr. Ezinwa, a Nigerian accused of sexually molesting a colleague during the probation period and yet getting his contract confirmed, he said that as the President of AfDB he does not know the person so accused and does not get involved in the appraisal done by the Vice President. Besides, the HR Director, David Ssegawa evaluated the allegation and the accused was absolved of any criminal act.
Also, on the laughable accusation that he, Adesina introduced a Nigerian Country Directorate, he reminded his haters that the decision was taken and the implementation began under his predecessor, Dr.Kaberuka. But they were not done with him just yet.
They came up with a more ridiculous accusation that the costs of the prestigious international awards he won were borne by AfDB. He had to tell them the truth and in the process brought out the rare gem in him. Said he: ‘’I received the World Food Prize ($250,000) and the Sunhak Peace Prize ($500,000) in recognition of a life of accomplishments in the field of agriculture.
“Although they were individual prizes, they brought great credit and prestige to the AfDB. I brought further credit to myself and the bank by donating these two cash awards for the establishment of the World Hunger Fighters Foundation.’’ Interestingly, these currently fund the Borlaug Adesina Fellows Fellowship for young African Agribusiness Innovators.
It should be noted that the bank, established in September, 1964 is owned by 81 countries, 27 of which are outside Africa.The membership is global. The ownership structure is 60percent African and 40percent non-African. Nigeria, with 9.28percent share is the highest shareholder in AfDB. USA has 6.563percent, Japan 5.494percent and Egypt 5.379percent.
The hard lessons to learn include the fact that Africa should never allow to be dictated to by the US or any other country for that matter, when it comes to internal issues such as that of AfDB. Given the shoddy handling of COVID-19 pandemic and that of the brutal killing of George Floyd, the Donald Trump-led US should realise that the time for throwing herself about as the policeman of the world has come to a halt.
On a personal level, it always pays to be the best at one’s professional calling and exhibit integrity in policies and processes, no matter the odds. That is what Dr. Adesina has come to represent in and outside Nigeria and should serve as a lasting lesson for all.
