Recession Is Not Just a Word — Kelechi Replies Nigeria Finance Minister

Kemi Adeosun

I constrained myself from commenting on anything that has to do with Mrs. Kemi Adeosun, and the Ministry of Finance for reasons best known to me. I was never this generous with her predecessors starting from Anthony Ani to Madam Ngozi Okonjo Iweala.

I am of the persuasion that being one of the youngest to head such a big ministry, and also being an 'Ajebo', born and bred in London before Wale Edu brought her back and took her to Ibikunle Amosun, she needed some time to understand the behaviours of the live snake she is carrying around as a toy .And that Ogun State is not Nigeria, even though we have had Finance Ministers who rose from State Ministry to Federal. There is nothing in the books that say someone cannot move from state to federal and still excel.

Kalu Idika Kalu was Commissioner of Finance in Imo State in 1984. It was while serving Imo State that he introduced the concept called Imo Formula. The Imo formula was an unusual economic solution to unusual economic problems.His success in Imo attracted IBB, who snatched him to federal level.But it is important to state here that Idika Kalu was already an accomplished economist at the Brettonwoods Institution before coming back to Nigeria.

Back to Madam Adeosun...

When I heard she denied saying that "Recession is just a word", I put calls through to some friends and colleagues for the video clip of that presentation. Kemi Adeosun made a very beautiful presentation on the state of the Nigerian economy, what is being done, and what needs to be done. Her speech was great, especially with her beautiful 'Cockneyed' accent. She went to University of East London, mind you.

My question is, why did she infuse that phrase "Recession is just a word"? Her speech would still flow beautifully without that phrase. Even when she said it, she did not make any effort to explain recession, or say any revealing thing about the recession we are facing. She just said it, either unthinkingly, or for what reason.So why did she say that? My first reaction was that it was an after thought, aimed at satisfying her political support base. Or it was one of those hubris induced moments speech writers exercise their poetic licence without thinking.

Madam Kemi Adeosun, reminded me of just one other woman in history, who like her was equally young, and like her was thrust into a shoe bigger that her feet.

She reminded me of that famous French Queen, Maria Antoinette, who in the heat of the Revolution, when informed that the poor people cant eat bread, retorted without thinking, "Let them eat cake".  Les pauvres gens se rangèrent devant le château et crièrent : "Nous n'avons pas de pain, nous n'avons pas de pain !" Tant ils étaient miséreux. La reine Marie-Antoinette regardait par la fenêtre et demanda à un officier : Que veulent donc ces gens-là? Majesté, répondit l'officier, ils veulent du pain, ils n'ont pas assez de pain, ils sont trop affamés.a reine secoua la tête avec étonnement : Ils n'ont pas assez de pain ? demanda-t-elle. Mais alors, qu'ils mangent de la brioche !

Though the veracity of this statement has been in contest due to all the accusations everybody was manufacturing against the Queen at that time just to see her guillotined. The phrase originally appeared in Book VI of the first part of Jean-Jacques Rousseau's putative autobiographical work, Les Confessions: "Enfin je me rappelai le pis-aller d'une grande princesse à qui l'on disait que les paysans n'avaient pas de pain, et qui répondit: Qu'ils mangent de la brioche".

In saying that Recession is just a word, Madam Kemi Adeosun displayed the highest sense of verbal impropriety from a public official at a time the people are passing through daily nightmares just to put food on the table.

In saying that Recession is just a word, Madam Adeosun showed a haughty insensitivity about the plight of Nigerians, as if the people of Nigeria are simply claiming that things are hard just to rubbish the government she is part of.

I saying that Recession is just a word, Madam Adeosun highlighted an aspect of her inner belief experts in psycho-linguistics can decipher to mean that deep down, she does not believe we are in a recession, even after latest figures from the Statistician General of the Federation points so.

In saying that Recession is just a word, Madam Adeosun expressed a contempt similar to that she manifested when she said weeks ago that 'Technically, we are in a recession", which still projects that her refusal to acknowledge reality.

Madam Adeosun took time to analyse the fact that  the growth were recording for over a decade,hid other fundamental flaws in our economy, for example, the lack of inclusivity in that growth and the widening gini-coefficiency in the system. She also noted that that growth was more of a paper growth because its foundations were weak. That I agree with her, and I have written about that many a time. She equally said that some of the real problems facing the economy were masked under the growth mantra. She is right. But in severally questioning this recession, she is not only wrong, she has exhibited the highest form of insensitivity bordering on high contempt for the crying poor masses of Nigeria.

Recession is not just a word Madam.

Recession is millions of parents watching their children go hungry on daily basis because they've lost their means of livelihood.

Recession is millions of parents who will not ne able to afford school fees this month because they lost the I jobs.

Recession is the army of new beggars swarming every nook and cranky of this country..

Recession is millioms who may be tempted to take to crime as last resort because of hard times....

Recession is the hopelessness you see on the faces of millions of Nigerians on daily basis.

Recession, Madam Kemi Adeosun is not just a word.

It is life and death...

I think, she should simply throw in the towel and help  kick-start the much needed weeding President Buhari must as priority start forthwith within his cabinet. There is need for a cabinet reshuffling.President Buhari must bring in hands, and brains that know what their onions.

I know there is no individual Buhari will appoint today that will make crude oil to start selling at $100pb. I also know there is no individual that will cause uninterruptible power supply across Nigeria overnight.Or fill every pot-hole on our roads in the next one month.

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But, if we cant have miracle workers, at least we can have those whose words can assuage the pains, inspire hope, faith and belief that there will be light at the end of the tunnel, and that it is not an oncoming train.

Let us have people who feel us........

Compassion is a very important trait in leadership.....