By Simbo Olorunfemi
SUNRISE NEWS, Lagos, July 22, 2020 What played out at the National Assembly was a tragicomedy, even if it is the comedy that has resonated with us more than the tragedy. But that is to be expected. Tragedy has become commonplace that we must force comedy out of tragedy lest we choke on the stench coming from many sides at once, as yesterday goes on overdrive to overcome today and hijack tomorrow.
The Professor was at the House of Representatives yesterday. That should make it the 4th time I was seeing him at the National Assembly making some explanation. The first time, it was a casual statement about expending N1.5 billion on Covid-19 palliatives. The next time, he was finding it difficult to reconcile some figures and asked to be excused to so he could come back to properly explain the mix-up. The 3rd time, I saw him raising his voice at the legislators, refusing to respect a ‘point of order’, staging a walk-out from the Chambers, forgetting he had promised to offer an explanation the last time he was there. Then yesterday, he was offering explanation when he appeared to have experienced convulsion, supposedly fainting.
It does not appear that many believe that there was a genuine medical emergency. But who really knows? What I find intriguing in the riot that broke out was that the one who fainted is a Medical Doctor, his colleague, the Executive Director seated next to him is a Medical Doctor, but what we saw from both did not look like what Doctors would sanction. Rather, we had an ‘unknown’ man springing into action, trying to force-open the mouth of a Doctor and Virologist, one of the most knowledgeable Nigerians about Covid-19, in a most unhygienic manner, completely in variance with the protocols for administering first aid and management of Covid-19.
The tragedy in that irony sums it all up. We had a ‘medical emergency’ with a Medical Doctor as victim, another Medical Doctor to his side, but it is a man of unknown expertise who takes the lead, adopting a Madagascar approach unknown to science, in the full glare of the world. The crowd there circled around in confusion, some running commentary, others enveloped in the confusion of it all. It did not come across as if the House had a procedure in place for possible emergencies. It did not appear as if anyone knew what to do. I doubt there had been a dry run or drill in the past so that people might know what to do, faced with such a situation. The tragedy of that moment conveniently lost to the comedy of it.
As events unfolded yesterday, my friend who was once a member of the House of Reps like many others wondered aloud if the Prof was actually a Professor. That question is particularly important given the argument that had been advanced by some that, for some deliberate reason, the best of Niger Delta are never given the opportunity to serve at NDDC. Also important that some here are fond of lumping all politicians as one, claiming that they are the singular problem we have, calling for appointment of Technocrats rather than politicians. They forget that many of the politicians in leadership positions have rich histories as professionals and technocrats in different fields.
Prof is a Professor. He ticks many of the boxes many of us often erroneously put out there, downplaying the most important consideration which should be Character.
Prof is a Professor.
He is a Medical Doctor and Professor of Medical Microbiology (Virology).
“Professor Kemebradikumo Daniel Pondei MBBS (Lagos) PhD (Nottingham) is a Professor of Medical Microbiology (Virology) and presently the Provost of the College of Health Sciences, Niger Delta University. He has considerable academic administrative experience, having been Acting Head, Department of Medical Microbiology and Parasitology, and Acting Dean, Faculty of Basic Medical Sciences, College of Health Sciences, Niger Delta University. He is a member of Senate and also represents Senate in the Governing Council.
Prof. Pondei is a past Chairman of the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA), Bayelsa State and is currently the Chairman of the Nigerian Medical Association National Committee on Research Grants. He is a member of the Board of the Bayelsa Health Insurance Scheme (BHIS) representing Public Interest. He has published widely and has special interest in infectious diseases.”
I am presently reading Prof’s inaugural lecture titled “VIRUSES: IGNORED, NEGLECTED, POORLY UNDERSTOOD WITH RESULTING DEVASTATING CONSEQUENCE” as it speaks to the time we live in.
Prof is a Professor.
The question of wrong people being deliberately appointed to represent the interest of the Niger-Delta people in NDDC is a difficult one to sustain.
The pioneer MD/CEO of NDDC, I think, was the Deputy Managing Director at Shell, the first Nigerian to rise to that position before he left to serve at NDDC.
A lot of what played out yesterday, just like what has been playing out in terms of revelation, just like what has been playing out at the NDDC, just like what played out at OMPADEC is tragic.
You wonder at the idea of this intervention agency. You wonder at so many ideas that had been generated but never left the paper. You wonder what became of the Niger Delta masterplan. You wonder if there was something that the founding fathers knew by limiting the lifespan of the original Niger Delta Development Board to 10 years (1959-69), except the parliament passes a law to extend its life.
What played out yesterday is a multi-dimensional tragedy.
If things were properly functioning, there would be a proper Board in place, as envisaged by the law setting it up. There would be no IMC. But these are not normal times. The times have never been normal at NDDC.
If things were functioning the way the way they should, Prof would not have left the University for the Commission. He would not have been at the National Assembly reeling out billions like a BBC Announcer reading results of football matches to pool players in distant climes.
So, in a sense, Prof had no business being at the House of Representatives yesterday. Ideally, he ought to have been busy in a laboratory or working in some other related capacity putting his knowledge of molecular and clinical virology to the benefit of the Niger-Delta people and Nigeria which invested so much money to train me. He should have been busy working with colleagues around the world, fighting the plague, for the benefit of mankind.
February was a critical month in the war against Covid-19 pandemic. February was a month where Prof Pondei should have been in his elements, faced with an opportunity of a lifetime to work on a virus that triggered a global pandemic, such that is only witnessed once in a lifetime. That was the month Prof came on-board as Acting Managing Director of the NDDC. At that time, the world was gasping, looking for guidance and direction from experts like him. Prof probably thought that he could better impact the lives of his people, not from the laboratory, but from the offices of the NDDC. So, rather than putting on the virology cap, Prof was busy signing off on Covid-19 palliatives for the benefit of mankind. Tragic.
As Prof slumped, the argument by our intellectual elite on some superior knowledge of where we should be headed, administrative acumen or technical know-how slumped with him. And Prof slumped…Tragic.
Olorunfemi first published this piece on his Facebook Timeline