ARUNMA OTTEH: ARE NIGERIANS ASKING THE RIGHT QUESTIONS?

The Security and Exchange Commission's (SEC's) Director General, Ms Arunma Otteh is no doubt, in the eye of the storm. She has been SEC's top boss since December 2009. Her travails started when she leveled grave allegations of graft against the then Chairman of the House Committee, probing the crash of the capital market, Mr. Herman Hembe. Ever since, controversies have trailed her every move. 

In a televised public hearing by the newly-constituted House of Representative's ad-hoc Committee investigating the Nigerian capital market meltdown, both lawmakers and colleagues lashed at her, raising moral questions that border on her professional immaturity and lack of leadership. Typical of Nigerians, the drama playing out at the National Assembly has evoked deep emotions, just as intensely divided viewpoints dominate public discourse. Take a look at these divergent positions held by two Nigerian youths:

 Kelechi Deca wrote:  It is a pity that Nigerians, lazy as usual to ask relevant questions have all gone to market with the charade that played out at the House of Representative's hearing on SEC. But while I would not mind Oteh's head on the platter for underestimating the power of tribal knowledge in management - which is also a problem most returnee Nigerian have been faced with as soon as they are called to come home and serve - there is this 'we-don't-want-this-tokunbo-to-tell-us-what-to-do-attitude among many Nigerians at home. This is principally to maintain their entitlement mentality.

I would also like the House of Representatives to dig deeper and get to the real issues. The first question we should ask is: "who supervised the crash of the capital market in 2008? Oteh or all these 'hirelings' who were already executive directors while the market was having a free fall,with two of them already over 20 years at SEC?

Because they are afraid Oteh may not recommend for their second tenure with their first tenure expiring next month after 4 years, they want to push her out so they can get someone they will intimidate into recommending all of them for another 4 years. Since she came in, they made it open that they do not want an outsider. They wanted to continue business as usual. That's why they had rooted for one of their own Daisy Ekineh who is as old at SEC as the institution.

How could the executive directors deny knowledge of the Project 50 when most media outfits that participated interfaced with most of them? Visit the SEC website gallery and see these shameless old people performing one duty or the other. How I wish they could upload the videos for Nigerians to see how otherwise respected people could come and swear on oath and tell lies. Nigeria we hail thee!

Was it not the same Daisy Ekineh who delivered the votes of thanks and spoke glowingly of the project and how it captured the road SEC has traveled being the oldest staff of SEC? Was it not Mr Charles Afamefuna Udora who introduced Alhaji Shehu Shagari, for an award for establishing the SEC in 1980? Its a big SHAME because there are evidence of their contributions in all the things they openly denied knowledge of. Nigerians should learn to ask critical questions.

Whereas SEC commissioners accuse OTTEH of not convening meetings, but rather communicating with them through text messages and emails, this picture was taken after SEC's Strategy Meeting held on August 15, 2011. For more pictures of SEC's activities, please visit ... http://www.sec.gov.ng/galleries

  Disagreeing with Kelechi Deca, Kunle Rotimi wrote:

"...In public service in which Ms Oteh has found herself, her act is called gross misconduct. Her management officials openly alleged that she was highhanded, that she took decisions outside statutory bounds. She has lost the confidence of her team and finally she is not qualified to hold that post, in that she's not a chartered stockbroker with minimum of 15yrs experience in stock broking! Her appointment is in error, out of person specs!

Ms Oteh is not qualified to hold that post in the first instance, her appointment is flawed, so she should leave. Every position has person specification, (relevant qualifications, years of experience, etc). Ms Oteh is not a stockbroker and she has no 15 years experience in stockbroking (that is the bottomline). She is occupying that post in sufferance and therefore now that her imconpetence is glaring, my recommendation is simple, she should recuse! QED.

 FOLLOW THE DISCUSSIONS HERE...ARUNMA OTTEH: A GUSH OF CONFLICTING VIEWPOINTS 

ARUNMA OTTEH: A GUSH OF CONFLICTING VIEWPOINTS 2 

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