Professor Bolaji Akinyemi berates Lawal for calling 2014 national Confab delegates ‘boys’.

Nigeria’s Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Babachir David Lawal is one man that courts controversy consistently.
– Lawal has been chided severally for his choice of words in public functions.
– A former minister has called the SGF to order.

Nigeria’s former minister of external affairs and deputy chairman of the 2014 National Conference, Professor Bolaji Akinyemi, has berated the SGF, Babachir David Lawal, for referring to delegates of the 2014 conference as “boys”. 

Professor Bolaji Akinyemi Akinyemi lambasted Lawal, saying the language used by Lawal is crude and unbecoming of the office he occupies. In a statement signed and distributed to the media, Akinyemi said though he his unfazed with the opposition of the Muhammadu Buhari’s government to the confab report, he won’t subscribe to the delegates been called names. He noted that most of the delegates at the confab were people who had paid their dues and served the country in high and exalted positions.

Part of the statement read: “As a matter of principle, since the end of the conference, I had refrained from playing an advocacy role vis-à-vis the position of this government as regards the Report of the 2014 Conference. “But my attention has just been drawn to the interview granted by the SGF… I have no quarrel with the SGF reiterating the opposition of government to the 2014 National Conference. But I find the language in which his views are couched to be crude, rude, offensive and unbecoming of the high office of state he occupies. “He referred to the delegates as “boys”. 

Among the delegates are the Emir of Ilorin, the Lamido of Adamawa, King Alfred Diete Spiff, the Gbong Gwom of Jos, Emir of Yauri, Emir of Dutse, Emir of Askira, the Amanyanabo of Nembe, judges of the High Courts. “Delegates included a former Chief of Defence Staff, a former Chief of Air Staff, three former foreign ministers, a former Inspector-General of Police, two former Senate Presidents, a former SGF, several former ministers, SANs, former governors, professors etc. “Presiding was a former Chief Justice of Nigeria and a former minister of external affairs. 

“My own upbringing and diplomatic and scholar’s disposition will not allow me to yield to the temptation to call Engineer Lawal by the name his own choice of words has reduced him to. “Most of the delegates there were people who had paid their dues, served this country in high and exalted positions, risked their lives in the civil war and other domestic insurrections and showed exceptional excellence in the performance of their duties, obviously more excellence than Engineer Lawal had demonstrated in his one year in office.” 

Lawal had granted an interview to a national newspaper over the weekend, saying the present administration has not taken a decision on the 2014 National Conference.

 Engineer Lawal is known for his careless statements His words: “I understand that some Nigerians want it implemented, but the government has been too busy with key areas of governance to talk about an exercise that we thought was essentially diversionary and a sort of, maybe, a ‘job for the boys’, because if you remember, it was reported that almost everybody in the committee got N7 million, and we consider it essentially as job for the boys.”

 Akinyemi however denied Lawal’s claims that the delegates collected N7 million each. “Come on, Mr SGF. Grow up. You have been in the office that funded the conference and you have been there for over a year, and all you need to do is to send for the files to know that what members were paid is much less than N7 million per member. You do not have to depend on rumours or “dem say”. 

“Frankly, I will not plead for the report of the conference to be considered by your government. Governments come and governments go. The problems will remain. We will all be judged by whether we were part of the solution or part of the problems,” Akinyemi stated. 

Eight months ago, Lawal made a statement that riled Northern leaders. He gave credit to Asiwaju Bola Tinubu and Chief Bisi Akande who are chieftains of the All Progressives Congress for making it possible for him to get his appointment. He further said that if left to northern leaders, he would not have gotten the nomination being a Christian.