By Eddie Onuzuruike
Aruma Oteh is an Abian, born of Item parents 50 years ago. Her first class degree came from a first class institution, the University of Nigeria Nsukka. She updated through Harvard Business School, another classy citadel and began a professional journey of life through first class organizations like the ADB. There is no doubt that she is carved out for greatness. Her appointment at the Securities and Exchange Commission SEC, in 2009 was made by late Ya’Adua, obviously supported through valuable recommendations. Using the hackneyed expression, Gold Fish has no hiding place; the genius in her no doubt spoke volumes.
Sooner it was discovered that the job was no tea party. It is never easy to be plain in a stained system. Where corruption has stained, cleansing no matter how pure you may be becomes a herculean job. That was Arunma’s lot at SEC. This may not be peculiar to Nigeria alone.
Some years ago, the Wall Street, the American money market, famous financial mover and shaker was rocked by and Insider Trading. It made so much news that a lot of people saw it as gold rusting and the world started wondering what iron would do. The man at the center of the American rot is still in jail.
Arunma identified stunning causative agents of rot and when appointed moved ahead to sanitize. No doubt, financial heavy weights and wheeler dealers manipulated stock trading to suit and soothe operational whims and dirty caprices. As she revealed in a BBC interview, Wash Sales, Market Rigging, Pumping and Dumping Shares were the order. In such a situation, investors lost where they should gain. Minions and financial goons called the shots and as Arunma’s pruning forks set in, the guilty moved against her. Without being told, some shady people grew fat on financial misdeeds and so would not watch this Item girl send their unholy transactions into crumbles.
Arunma suffered for this. There were so many negative actions culminating in the Federal House of Reps exercising one of their oversight functions of empanelling a public hearing. Before this, the annual budget and appropriation of SEC was not approved for a year or two. How Arunma survived without money was a secret she would still tell the world. Her staff got enmeshed as some were incited to protest for her removal.
All said and done, Oteh came out cleaner than she was. A can of worms was opened, and heads rolled as some of her hunters became hunted. Chairman of the hearings committee’s underbelly was turned and he had to resign. This was a rare demonstration of solid character where the order of the day before her would have been to join the band wagon. A little hindsight would have told her traducers that a woman who thrived on a supposed terrain of the male, [computer science] should have much to offer.
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Are we not lucky that our women are coming without so much arousal?
There are 54 OAU countries in Africa. There are hundreds of countries in the world and out of Nigeria, Abia in particular, our daughter emerged as one of the world’s best on good merit. Mind you, her sterling qualities have not been lost to many as she had been greatly recognized by the world, Nigeria and her state, Abia. In 2013, the T A Orji led administration recognized her as Oke Ada Abia- a great daughter indeed.
This is a lesson to Nigeria that good things will continue to elude us if we continue to degrade our best. There is need to restructure our mentality from now on. If we take seriously the “change” slogan of the President Buhari government, much could be achieved.
On a larger scale, the lesson should be taken home to our grassroots at least for mentorship. Our little girls in primary schools could be pepped by the Arunma phenomenon. I pray that the principal of Owerri Girls Secondary School Owerri, would ring the school bell and tell the students that an alumna of that school is now the vice president of World Bank, handling highly prized portfolios. I am very sure that if Arunma is invited to talk to the students, that she would oblige whenever time permits. Not only in Owerri Girls, all the schools in Item her home town and the whole of Abia State. The result could be overwhelming for certainly many would like to be like Arunma Oteh, as she would tell them, ‘if I could make it so would you!’ This would shore up their self esteem and would rebuff the inherent chauvinistic tendencies that have for ages pushed back our women. In a rippling harvest, there could be 100 Arunmas in Lagos, 100 Arunmas in Abia, the
same for Akwa Ibom, Delta, Kebbi in short in the whole 36 states of Nigeria.
The previous cascade of the Naira to all time lows was not based on normal economic and market forces. Where people buy up the dollars, pounds and EUROs in a frenzy to stash away ill-gotten wealth and resultantly, undeclared cash, the Naira bears the brunt as it bites the dust. Consequently, the rest of us suffer.
We hold our destiny in our hands. The much sought presidency of the World Bank by another illustrious daughter a few years ago could be just there for the asking by Arunma.
My kudos to Nigerian women-kind like late Akunyili, Abike Dabri, Onyeka Owenu, Obby Okwesilieze and others who mean well and thus far, have lit up the path for others to follow. This is our chance!
Eddie Onuzuruike