When the Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria confirmed Dr. Muheeba Farida Dankaka as the chairman of the Federal Character Commission, it ushered in a new era at the commission. Having been part of a 38-man list submitted by the President, Mohammadu Buhari for appointment into the Commission, Dr.Muheeba Dankaka, a native of Offa in Kwara State, was confirmed as the chairman of the commission on merit.
The circumstances sourrounding the appointment of the second principal officer of the Commission raised some eyebrows as Mohammed Tukur Bello is from Taraba state also from the north. This was perceived by the many cynics to be a non-application of the principles of Federal Character.
Firstly, six months into her appointment as the chairperson of the commission, her leadership was applauded to have recorded great success which was perceived to have unsettled many of her detractors and notably among her achievements as of that time is the centralisation of the administrative structures of the monitoring and enforcements department. The improvements she brought to the Commission was already giving the advocates of merits over sentiments some levels of justifications.
Secondly, the excitements and the achievements so far recorded by the chairman,Dr.Mueeba Farida Dankaka appeared to have been unsettling some who are not happy with the strides and the achievements of the chairman, as some commissioners within the commission petitioned the independent corrupt practices and other related offence commission,ICPC, this time around, accusing the chairman of the offences relating to the abuse of office.
It should be noted that prior to her appointment to head the FCC, Dankaka was the immediate past president of the Kaduna chambers of commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture, an endeavour she undertook meritoriously. Dankaka was far from controversy when she was the head of affairs at KADCIMA.This got many wondering and talking as what could have happened to a trusted entrepreneur who got a national award for her contributions to the National economy while outside the government employment. She was confered with the order of Merit of order of the Niger, OON,by President Mohammed Buhari for her contributions to the Nigerian economy, as an entrepreuneur per excellence.
A response by the FCC boss at that time which was later proved right suggests there was personal motives and interest clash between her and the petitioners who are out just to tarnish her image and the credibility of the leadership of the commission for personal gains.They wants business as usual which was not possible under her watch.
The petitioners who as earlier stated are commissioners in the commission then have accused the chairman of infractions such as granting of waivers to advertise to MDA,s and shunning the principles of federal character in job allocations.She was also accused of acting alone without recourse to fellow commissioners.After investigations by relevant agencies,the petition has nothing in it and it therefore failed.
From findings,the petitioners appears to be using a new tactics to stage a media war of calumny against the chairman.
Today, the same masters of calumny against the FCC boss are at it again.
They are unrelenting even when they know their antics would take them no where.Today the trending issue is the usage of the mass media to dessiminate falsehood by alleging that the FCC chairman was involved in a certificate forgery case.It would have been advisable to ignore the petitioners entirely by not attaching any importance to this brazen falsehood but just to clear the air once and for all.There basically six things this petitioners needs to know about Dr.Mueeba Dankaka and they are as follows:
Educationally, she is a graduate of the Kaduna Polytechnic and the Ahmadu Bello university, Zaria, Kaduna state. She is from Offa, Kwara state of Nigerra.She is a Kaduna based successful business woman who is before her appointment as the FCC boss was into construction and consumer product developments.
Her past leadership role includes her headship of the Farida Ventures limited which she served as CEO and she was the immediate past president of Kaduna chambers of commerce, industries, mines and agriculture, KADCIMA.Her political affiliation is that she was a member of the governor Abdul-.Razak APC transition committee in the year 2019. She has many awards and honours and this includes the conferment on her the prestigious National Productivity merit award of the order of the niger by President Mohammad Buhari for her contributions to the Nigerian economy as an entrepreneur per excellence.Her people conferred on her the title of the ERELU of Offa, kwara state.
Today, the furore over certificate is nothing but the height of the act of desperation from jealous and greedy merchants of evil and campaign of calumny against a good woman who is committed to the development of Nigeria. Her maiden name should never be an issue because she is simply Farida Muheeba Dankaka, all names she got from her parents.It is adviseable that this ugly campaign of calumny which was targeted to stop her from achieving the mandate given to her by the president stop forthwith.She is delivering on her mandate and we should support the president by supporting her.
Musa Wada is a public affairs analyst and writes from Abuja
