Six months into her reign as the chairman of the Federal Character Commission (FCC), the pessimists who would rather like a business-as-usual approach by Dr. Muheeba Farida Dankaka against the new ways of doing things based on the targets given by the president to execute the mandate wrote a lengthy petition against her based on issues relating to alleged certificate forgery and falsifications.
The allegations were investigated and found to be untrue, however, this did not also stopped the scheming by those against her.
I can write with all sense of responsibility that her leadership was applauded to have recorded great successes and achievements which was perceived to have unsettled many of her detractors. Notable among her early achievements as of that time is the centralisation of the administrative structures of the monitoring and enforcement departments. This singular achievements of hers, is a rapid departure from the past approach which has made things difficult to achieve, to a systematic approach to the future.
These improvements she brought to the commission was already giving the advocate of merits over sentiments some levels of justifications and so their urge to go after her by all means.
The mischief against the chairman of the FCC did not start today as it has been building up since she was declared the chairman. This mischief, for those who have been following its build up from the beginning, was properly planned to initially put an integrity question of the head of the institution mandated to introduce reforms that would culminates in achieving the mandates given to the commission.
To the surprise of all, these mischief makers have refused to stop even when their antics are now under the purview of the Nigerian public. This mischief to many that have followed it since it started, has only one intendment and it is simply to stem the changes and reforms Dr. Dankaka is carrying out at the commission.
First, it was the lyge youths leadership initiatives that wrote a petition berating the senate from clearing her after alleging that her present names are not consistent with the ones presented in her certificates. They immediately demanded the sack of the chairman because of the inconsistences and irreconcilable differences in the certificates she presented.
In her defence, which the group later found to be the truth both legally and when common sense was applied, she said her certificates carries are maiden names, hence the differences in her current names and the one carried in her certificates.
To put the record straight, it is not unexpected that when a woman marries, she takes her husband’s name and this is no difference with Muheeba Dankaka.
It is also found out by the general public that as against the allegation by LYGEL, that she got her masters degree in 1989 before she got married and this fact found to be true nipped this allegation in the board.
We should not be unmindful of the plot by some forces within and outside championing the well coordinated and richly funded campaign against the office and person of the chairman Dr Muheeba Dankaka.
We should also today be aware of the antics of the youth and leadership initiatives LYGEL which is the well oil group fronting for the detractors of the chairman. This is indeed the group which moved to the next step of their campaign we saw carrying placards in their holistic desire in truncating the reform mandate of the chairman to the FCC. one of the most important agencies of government which Mrs. Dankaka is vigorously pursuing.
Let it be known to proponents of business as usual which is now an outlier now rather than the norm that our president is satisfied with the changing of the narratives at the commission thanks to one woman Dr. Muheeba Dankaka that no selfish antics from within can do anything to remove her. We should be grateful that this woman has changed the narratives of the past of getting jobs by Nigerians only if the applicants knows any one at the top or buy himself up to the job, as a condition for securing a job.
Her appointment signalled the intentions of the Buhari administration to tackle corruption and job racketeering and she is gradually making Nigerians to come to terms with the new trend which goes to show and underscores the direction of this country as a nation where mediocrity will no longer find space, a nation where patriotic and incorruptible citizens will be harnessed to re-work a country that has been corrupted by insensitive, and uncaring successive governments.
She is concentrating with this arduous and herculean tasks of reforming one of the most important agencies of governments. We must all rally around support for rather than being part of those bent on derailing her duties by hawks at the commission.
Nigeria is getting better and together we shall overcome.
– Musa Wada writes from Abuja.
