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Reacting to the report, which has gone viral, Diezani said the report represented 'everything ridiculous and despicable about professional media practice and global best practices in the war against corruption.'. She said she's being demonized and that even market women have jewelry. Read the full statement personally signed by her and given exclusively to Signal after the cut...
My attention has been drawn to a report
by Al Jazeera, which was released on Monday as a testament to the
effectiveness of Nigeria’s Economic and Financial Crimes Commission
(EFCC) in its war against corruption.
In the video report, which has been
widely circulated in the social media, there are claims about me owning a
property in Abuja allegedly worth $18 million. The report, which
represents everything ridiculous and despicable about professional media
practice and global best practices in the war against corruption, is
the latest attempt to give a dog a bad name in order to hang it. Clips
of jewelry allegedly worth over $2 million were also copiously displayed
as if to feed the cravings of an audience gratified with the notion
that every wealthy Nigerian is corrupt.
This will not be the first time
calculated attempts have been made to demonise and damage my reputation
in the public space. Many times, my detractors have gotten away with
these irresponsible smear campaigns because they have become accustomed
to my characteristic approach of silence in the face of these callous
attacks.
The latest in the string of propaganda
attacks launched against my person since I left government as Nigeria’s
Petroleum Minister is this Al Jazeera report, which without any court
conviction anywhere in the world attempts to dress Diezani Alison
Madueke in the garb of a common criminal. This, to say the least, is the
height of journalistic brigandage and a sheer mockery of Nigeria’s
anti-corruption war before the eyes of the world who are watching and
asking if the war against corruption is a circus show where suspects are
prosecuted and sentenced on the pages of newspapers and video blogs
without anything as remotely in the semblance of a trial in the courts
of law.
When did it become a crime to own a
property in Nigeria? When did it become a crime for a woman of my status
to have in her possession, jewelry? Jewelry, which women all across the
world, including the woman selling tomatoes in Bodija market have in
abundance in their closets? In which court of law, anywhere in the world
was I prosecuted by the EFCC and found guilty of corruption?
With all sense of modesty, I say this
only for posterity and for the records. I have strived within my means
and the blessings of God to live a decent and accomplished life. I
studied architecture in England and obtained a bachelor’s degree from
Howard University, United States of America in 1992. When I returned to
Nigeria that same year, I joined Shell Petroleum Development
Corporation. In 2002, I obtained an MBA at Cambridge University, United
Kingdom. In April 2006, I was appointed by Shell as the company’s first
female Executive Director in Nigeria. In July 2007, I was appointed by
the late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua as Minister of Transport. The
next year in December 2008 I became Minister of Mines and Steel
Development. In April 2010, I was appointed as Minister for Petroleum
Resources and served in that capacity till May 2015. During this period
as Petroleum Minister, I had the honour of serving Nigeria and
representing her in the Organization of Oil Exporting Countries (OPEC)
where I was elected first female President. All through my career, I
have strived to maintain a record of hard work, integrity and
excellence, giving my best to society, because my parents raised me in
the consciousness that a man or woman’s greatness is defined not by the
amount of wealth they have acquired but the impact of their service to
God and humanity.
Coming at such a critical time in my
life when I am battling cancer, this poorly executed propaganda bares on
its face like tribal marks, a clearly malicious attempt to victimize an
innocent woman in what appears an exaggerated plot to validate and give
credibility to the anti-corruption crusade under Nigeria’s new regime.
People who are battling cancer or those who have lost their loved ones
to this medical condition understand what I am going through at this
time. This is what makes me ponder at the cold-heartedness of those who
will go any length to defame and destroy in the name of propaganda. What
happened to our shared humanity?
I have absolute regard for the law and
believe that people who have breached the laws that govern societies
should be made to face the wrath of the law. But in a civilized society,
a responsible government owes its citizens absolute commitment to the
principles of rule of law, equity, fairness and justice. I have been
wrongfully and maliciously maligned and those behind this reckless
action know it.
I leave them to posterity, their conscience and above all the Almighty God who is the final judge of all.
Diezani Alison-Madueke13/06/2016
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