The Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Disaster Management, created by the erstwhile president, Muhammadu Buhari will go down in history as the most corrupt and stinking government organ ever established. The ministry was created to bring relief to the poorest of the poor, with the intention to eradicate poverty in Nigeria.
Since its formation in 2019, the story of what is coming out in that ministry can better be imagined; more so, when the economy is almost on its knees, and citizens lamenting daily as a result of economic hardship ravaging the society, taking its toll on the most vulnerable. Ordinarily, the ministry and minister in charge are supposed to be on the side of the citizens since its primary goal, right or wrong, is to alleviate the sufferings of the people.
But because of who we are, and what politics means in Nigeria, the reverse has been the case, and the citizens, unfortunately, are abandoned to their own fate. In response to the public outcry, President Ahmed Bola Tinubu suspended the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Disaster Management, Betta Edu, as a result of alleged financial impropriety, bordering on her directive to the Accountant General of the Federation, Oluwatoyin Madein, to transfer a whoping N585m to a private account, belonging to one Oniyelu Bridget.
The scandal, regrettably, is happening when the former occupant of the same office, Sadiyya Umar Farouq is keeping a date with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), for alleged misappropriation and mismanagement of over N37 billion, during her time in office. What a coincidence! Just recently, the former governor of Ogun state, Chief Segun Osoba declared that Tinubu government inherited an empty treasury and that, the government will go on borrowing to be able to cope with the cost of governance.
This postulation attracted deluge of criticisms from Nigerians, but the truth remains that, a government, whether past or present, whose ministers like Nigeria’s, freely dip hands into public funds, taking as much as they could, without considering what happens to the masses, certainly will not meet its statutory social interventions and cost of governance. This is not the first time a minister is indicted in Nigeria. The suspension of the minister by the president was quick and prompt as expected, but the real issue here is what would become of the investigation at the end?
The Renewed Hope government should understand for a fact that; Nigerians are not ready to be patient again with the political shenanigans that had been the story of the nation all these inglorious years. While investigation is ongoing to determine why the minister acted the way she did, Nigerians want the President also to beam its search light on other ministries before it’s too late. By May this year, the Tinubu administration will clock one year in office, meaning that, if it is the story of people such as Edu that endures, coupled with acute hunger in the land, it then means that the country is in for trouble.
Considering the monumental scandal that trails the Humanitarian Ministry, claiming it fed millions of school children, even during the COVID-19 pandemic when the pupils of primary and secondary schools were at home, it’s high time to look closer into the activities of the ministry. The country is heavily indebted and has over 100 million poor people she should worry about, and not creating opportunities for a few who are bent on increasing the woes of the citizenry in the name of politics Edu’s saga must be thoroughly investigated and findings made public if indeed the fight against corruption which this government swore an oath to eradicate, is anything to believe. Those found culpable should be sanctioned appropriately. Government also should go beyond the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Disaster management and not wait for the bubbles to burst in other ministries before she moves into action.
