MAYBE I should add here that during the President Olusegun Obasanjo administration in which Dr. Okonjo-Iweala was also an influential member, I wrote some critical opinion articles on the activities of the President, Vice President Atiku Abubakar, Nasir el-Rufai, Mrs. Oby Ezekwesili, and the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, among others. During the short-lived administration of President Umaru Yar’Adua, I x-rayed some of the President’s policies and those of Segun Adeniyi, his spokesman.

I even wrote critical commentaries on my supervising Minister then, Mr. John Odey, who on some occasions, publicly responded to and addressed some of the issues raised in my write-ups. As late as 2012, I wrote an article on President Goodluck Jonathan with the title: “Flood in the Eyes of the President” and it was published in most national dailies.

Following this, I received words of encouragement even from some of his aides and was consequently requested to support my postulations with photographs.

The Director General of the National Emergency Management Agency, NEMA, Muhammad Sani-Sidi, who had intervened several times to resolve the current issue with Madam Minister, is one of the bosses who have tolerated my critical opinions on various issues. We disagree and later agree on issues like normal human beings do.

In essence, encouraging responses that I have received in the past have served as the impetus for me to continue with my cherished hobby. To me, I am simply contributing to the betterment of our country. It was in view of the above, therefore, that I was encouraged to pen the open letter to the Finance Minister on some developments, which I strongly believe she has the capacity to address.

I was initially elated when I received a telephone call from the Minister on Wednesday March 20, 2013 at 6.15pm. Naturally, I was happy that, once again, my effort has yielded fruit. Receiving a call from someone that a reputable international news organisation described as one of the most influential women on earth is humbling. I felt jubilant when I heard: “Shuaibu, this is Okonjo-Iweala!” However, when she added: “Why should you do this to me? You can’t praise me and condemn me and call it constructive criticism. Haba Shuaibu!” I knew that my opinion had not been viewed positively.

Despite the huge difference in age and status, the Minister took her time to explain to me why so much of what I concluded was not the case. During the conversation, the Minister even read portions of my write-up.

While feeling flattered and honoured that a world-class technocrat like the Minister was humble enough to personally call me and explain her position to me, I couldn’t help wondering why this particular piece attracts such concerns and why so much more meaning than I intended has been read to it.

To me, the article was as harmless as every other that I had written in the past. I was still contemplating how to tackle the seeming complications when just a few days afterwards, hate comments and rejoinders, pointing out that my article had been inspired by ethnic and religious considerations, began to appear in newspapers and Nigerian online forums.

I want to emphasise, once again, that my article was written with the purest of intentions, and even a cursory internet search will reveal that I have done this religiously in the last 20 years. Contrary to insinuations of ethnocentrism, sectionalism and sponsorship in many of the reactions and rejoinders to the opinion, I take full responsibility for the views that were expressed. I have never written with, or caused articles to be published with malice. I am a strong believer in the oneness and potentials of this country, and most of my opinions have been centred on great Nigerians that I admire and will not want to see fall into disrepute.

Despite this, however, I have realised that the said opinion has caused great discomfort to some individuals and groups. I want to reassure my elders and my good brothers and sisters, especially from a section of the country, who might have felt offended by my write-up that I harbour no grudge against them. I will not like to see this discomfort and the continuation of unnecessary hate comments. After all, we are one big family.

Mr. YUSHAU SHUAIB, a public affairs commentator, wrote from Abuja.