“If this factory ever produces a shell
that can actually be fired, I’ll be very unhappy.” -- SCHINDLER'S LIST
Schindler
(to his accountant and right-hand man, Itzhak Stern, about
his munition factory):
We waited!
For some of us, it was with bated
breaths. For others, the period waiting, was also a period scheming to get their
names into the List. Somehow the most prominent schemers, whose plans even
played out on social media, have won no success as yet -- ( it is hoped there
would be an addition to this List, and they may yet succeed) .
 |
| THE LIST |
It was to be an earth shaking, game changing
list. When it came, it tip-toed in with a whimper -- Nothing earth shaking
about it.
It came as
if in a distant reverse directional echo to
Oskar Schindler's command to his accountant, a paraphrase of which would
be like :
"If this engine room never
produces a
game-changing machinery, I
will be very unhappy!!"
It would be
the hope of the Nigerian masses though, that
this engine room may really in
spite of the odds be able to produce a real, game changing machinery , and
ultimately engineer the country to the path of transformation.
While many
have criticized the President's proposed LIST of Ministers, and many more have
defended him, no one can deny that it is the President's responsibility to
provide such a list . Except for journalists who have to create content and talking points by stoking the flames of
criticism at this point , I would think it is altogether too late for this now. The man was
voted in. He should be left unshackled to perform his responsibilities to the
best of his ability, only then can we have authority to evaluate the
performance of this nation under his watch without bias.
So what's my
point writing about this List? My point
is that we should begin to look at the possibilities for transformation that
this engine room may provide for us? One
name in the List that stands out for me is Babatunde Raji Fashola (SAN) who has
been mentioned in various circles as
favored to be Minister of Justice. No doubt this Senior Advocate of Nigeria is eminently
qualified to head this Ministry but I
think Nigeria needs him in a more vital Ministry -- either Power and Steel or Works
and Housing.
My reasoning? He demonstrated as Governor in Lagos for 8
years that he could put a team together and supervise the execution of actual projects that can really touch on the
everyday lives of the masses. Consider that Lagos State has a massive 18
Million peoples with over half of them a hub of constantly moving masses --
people who move and do business 'at the speed of light' -- people who
congregate and occupy spaces at the snap of a finger -- you would understand the
challenge of actually executing projects that touched their lives. I absolutely believe it is a man like him, who
can pick up the baton and run with it, that we need in either of these
Ministries.
And then the
others can be given whatever the President wishes that they try their hands on.
"I
could have got more out. I could have got more.... If I'd just...I could have
got more." Oskar Schindler
"Oskar,
there are eleven hunred people alive because of you , look at them" --
Itzak Stern
"I
could have gotten one more person... and I didn't! I didn't" -- Schindler
Victor Omotayo Sawyerr
7/10/2015
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