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Good morning, my brother @olusogaowoeye. I promised to find some time to respond to your thoughtful thread of yesterday on the Seun Onigbinde appointment. I hardly do threads these days because of a lack of time, but here goes: I will take your points one-by-one. Thread...
You first asked about the impact on the people that look up to Seun of his accepting the appointment. I hope that his admirers have learnt that criticism is different from extremism. That you should not ridicule people with a different view. And that people change their minds.
You talked about Buhari and Seun have diametrically-opposed economic ideology, one being pro-liberalism and the other being anti. First of all, I don’t think you can fit either party so neatly in one box. There are always degrees, shades and caveats.
Secondly, these ideological arguments are even more heated among economists within the IMF and World Bank that you mentioned than many realise. Also, the prevalent thoughts of many of these organisations have evolved and they now officially recognise the role of the State.
However, like @Omojuwa said in his book, our education system is still stuck on answering old questions, while our economy is asking new ones. Many that claim to align with the the position of the Bretton Woods organisations don’t realise that those organisations have moved on.
Anyone saying people like @DoubleEph or @nonso2 are “angry because of appointment” would be insulting them. I hope they will agree to serve Nigeria if given the opportunity. It will enable them to see things from the inside and to see that, in govt, it is not enough to be right.
You said the worst thing Seun did was to delete his Twitter account. I think that that is a personal issue. Some people are more emotionally fragile than others. I know people who have felt suicidal after been “dragged” online. Personally, I would not have deleted my account.
I would have issues a statement explaining my decision and then take a break from Twitter for some time while I get into my government role. The abuse will come in torrents, but by the evening I will no longer be trending because Big Brother Naija would have taken over.
You asked “Who is Seun?” I see him as a very intelligent young man. An innovator and a big thinker. We don’t always agree but there’s mutual respect. I believe I was one of the first people he told about his appointment. He had the humility to ask for my guidance in the role.
One of the hallmarks of high intelligence is the ability to change your mind in the face of new information. To be perfectly honest with you, I believe that Seun’s life work on budgeting and transparency will remain stagnant if he doesn’t understand issues from the inside.
Because you can never have as much information when you are outside as when you are inside, he will remain yet another voice in the wilderness. People in government will simply smile and say “He doesn’t understand.” I think the appointment will be beneficial for his development.
Will he bow when he meets the President? Of course he will. You will bow to the office he holds. You will stand up when he enters a room, just like everyone else. You will bow to the office, even if you don’t have enough home training to bow to the man on the grounds of age.
Let’s not even go too far. You will bow to the Senate President of you are to be appointed Minister. You will not rant, curse or misbehave during your screening. You will bow to a judge when you are in court. Forget all these rants. Real life is very different from Twitter.
I wish Seun well and will always be there when he needs me. I have high hopes for him as a young Nigerian I hope he doesn’t give up at the first sign of disappointment. There will be many. There will be times when the right thing is so obvious but people will refuse to do it.
He will not perform any miracles in government, particularly as he will have no executive power and no money. The test for those of us in governance is: Have you moved it forward? Have you left it better than you met it? I have no doubt that Seun will answer “Yes” later. End. ✌🏽
