By Donu Kogbara
Last week, I praised Mr President for appointing Rotimi Amaechi and Babatunde Fashola to his Cabinet but told you that several concerned citizens had contacted me to express the view that Mrs Kemi Adeosun, Buhari’s new Minister of Finance, is not experienced enough to hold such a sensitive and senior portfolio.

I told you that having watched Adeosun’s Senate Screening last month, I shared the above viewpoint and I said that while I wish Adeoshun success and hope she proves me wrong, a) I feel that she is nowhere near as distinguished as her World Bank-trained predecessor, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, and b) she does not strike me as someone who possesses the gravitas to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with her accomplished counterparts in Britain and the United States…or with Christine Lagarde, the formidable French CEO of the International Monetary Fund.

A number of Vanguard readers wrote to say or imply that they thought I’d been unfair to Adeosun. In the interests of journalistic balance, here are some of the emails and text messages that pro-Adeosun Vanguard readers sent me:

From: Caleb Ogbonna <[email protected]>

I have been an avid reader of your weekly column for quite a while now and I must confess that you write with a perfect understanding of contemporary issues.

My only frown was at your description of Mrs Kemi Adeosun, the Honourable Minister for Finance as an unfamiliar neophyte in the financial terrain and your strong emphasis on international recognition.

May I oppose your bias and humbly say that it is not the years of experience and international acclaim that qualifies one for such tough job, rather it is the grasp of peculiar challenges and cultural/socio-economic maladies that arise from the ‘Nigerian economic model’ that places one in a vantage position to solve problems.

International theories

Nigerian economic woes do not need those excellent in international theories and models but people with a touch of local intuition and relevant intelligence.

I am only an undergraduate student and I hold your opinions in high esteem, so I am reluctant to question your basis for drawing certain conclusions. But my own take is that we  should give people who are familiar with the Nigerian terrain and our economic dynamics a chance to flex their cerebral muscles.

From 08035827823 Temi Kingsway Eyoyibo

I am happy that Rotimi Amaechi now controls our transportation sector. The Northerners saw in him what some of us in the South-South refused to see because of wickedness. Babatunde Fashola is also very capable. As for the beautiful young woman, Kemi Adeosun, let’s give her all the encouragement we can give her.

08068232727 Yinka Ogunjobi

Dear Madam Donu, I agree with your assessments of Amaechi and Fashola but disagree on Adeosun…Why not wait and see how she will perform when she has settled down? Rome was not built in a day.

08034513498 Olorogun ( Alhaji) Adams Braimoh

Why are you doubting Kemi Adeosun’s abilities? Do other ministers possess any better skills and knowledge? Please let us give her a chance to serve Nigeria. Stop running down your fellow woman. Time will tell whether she will prove you wrong with an excellent performance.

08056126016 Prince Churchhill Owamiyemi

Kogbara, you are dead wrong about Kemi Adeosun. What you wrote about her is misleading and in  bad faith. Your European mentality made you compare her with British, French and American finance ministers. You even compared her unfavourably with arrogant Okonjo-Iweala who abused governors and spoke carelessly to senators. I am not Yoruba. I am an Itsekiri from Warri and I do not know Adeosun from Adam.   But for now I see her and Fashola as the best ministers.

What more can I say?!…Except that I don’t see why I should suppress any reservations I may have about a particular public official simply because she happens to be a fellow woman, but I am glad for Adeosun’s sake that she enjoys considerable support from certain quarters…and will continue to keep my fingers crossed that she justifies Mr President’s faith in her and does well for Nigeria.

On a lighter note

A 22-Year-Old University of Port Harcourt computer sciences graduate, Pamela Leesin Peter-Vigboro, recently won the 2015 Miss Nigeria beauty pageant contest.

Even though Pamela comes from my village (Bodo City in Ogoniland), she represented Cross River State instead of her own state, Rivers. And it is good that Nigeria has progressed to the point where an individual doesn’t necessarily have to have ancestral links to a location to represent that location in a competition.

Location in a competition

Pamela was not the only Miss Nigeria contestant who didn’t represent her home state. Jigawa State, for example, was represented by a non-Jigawan called Kehinde Itunu. And the curse of tribalism will surely wane if this trend continues.

Pamela

But while part of me heartily applauds this advancement of the nation-building ONE NIGERIA dream, I cannot help feeling rather miffed that it is Cross River rather than Rivers that is enjoying the kudos associated with pretty Pamela’s win!

Having said all this, I don’t even know why I am grumbling about Cross River getting the credit for Pamela’s victory because I don’t even approve of beauty contests!

Girls parading up and down catwalks in skimpy swimsuits – while their bodies are being scrutinized by judges who are mostly male and mostly old enough to be their fathers – is not my idea of how 21st century women should conduct themselves.

If I had a pulchritudinous daughter, I would beg her not to enter sexist contests that promote vanity and the idea that women are mere decorative objects to be lusted after; and I’d advise her to allow her beauty to be celebrated informally and urge her to concentrate on developing her intellectual and social skills.