(Sylvester Udemezue)
“Do not criticise what you don’t understand.* ~ Elvis
Presley
??My dear, I hope you’ve read the two reports— the earlier
published and newer version.
?? I must kick off this comment by making it clear, all over
again, that I do not and will never support fraud or underhand
dealings; I’ve on several occasions, in spoken and written form,
stated my principled stand against any form of corruption or
corrupt practice and against anyone who perpetrates, encourages of
supports it.
??Coming back to the present discussion, to the best of my
knowledge and understanding, from what I have seen in the two
versions, I personally, respectfully do not think any mischiefs
were intended or perpetrated.
??First, I must say this right away; no leader is beyond
mistakes; a leader who has never made any mistakes, is one who has
never tried anything new.
??Great leaders all over the world are never afraid of making
mistakes, neither are such leaders stoned to death, vilified for,
nor judged based solely on, their honest mistakes, especially where
such mistakes have not led to any injustice or fraud, or otherwise
occasioned irremediable hardships, and where such are clearly
understable to reasonably discerning minds.
??Accordingly, if an honest mistake is suddenly noticed and then
quickly, honestly explained and transparently corrected, in my
mind, there shouldn’t much need for any fuss about a non issue.
??We all are mere mortals and making mistakes is part of living
a long active life, just as it is a part of business and leadeship
decision and action process.
??I think this is what Dean Smith had in mind when he declared,
”What do you do with a mistake: recognize it, admit it, learn from
it, forget it.”
??Then, in his book titled, ”Words of Wisdom For My Daughter,”
Dr. Marshall Hennington had advised of further steps to be taken
after noticing an honest mistake. Says he, ”… one thing that I have
learned over time is that when you make a mistake, recognize it,
admit to it and figure out why the mistake was made, then do
everything in your power to avoid making the same mistake
again.”
??In the present instance, it is clear what the errors in the
earlier reports were, which were the sole reasons for their
withdrawal and subsequent replacement; the authors of the reports
had mistakenly published reports for two NBA National
administrations (the present and a past administration) — and then
lumped the both into one as if both were all Paul Usoro’s.
??Example, from the later (correct) report, the Paul Usoro
administration is reported to have received a total of over N700
million in the last one year.
??Out of this sum, N400 million was reportedly put into a FIXED
DEPOSIT ACCOUNT in NBA’s name .
??The question is, how could an administration that had/has
received only a little above N700 millions (and out of which N400
is in a fixed deposit account) be now accused of having spent N1.5
billion in the same period (of one year)?
??It’s obvious the accusation is not correct and or someone
somewhere is out to do some image-tarnishing work against Paul
Usoro, SAN.
??Evidence of all monies received is clearly documented.
??If we don’t learnt to begin to support progressive and
pragmatic leadership for success, and to make our criticisms only
constructive, we may find it hard to advance this profession as a
body.
??We must all learn, not only to not fear change, but to embrace
it enthusiastically and, perhaps even more important, encourage and
drive it (Tony Hsieh)
??Criticisms are good, as they put leaders on their toes.
??But, people should try and learn to not criticise merely for
the sake of criticising, to boost or massage their own big ego or
simply for the fun of it.
??Useful criticism ought to proceed from constructive intents
and directed towards altruistic ends.
??Accordingly, i respectfully advise that , where and if there’s
nothing to criticize, and no need to criticize, then we should
learn to refrain from vain criticisms not having, or not intended
to have, any useful or beneficial purposes.
??Elvis Presley’s wise counsel is apt here for all these
armchair critics: “do not criticise what you don’t understand…”
Best regards, please.
Respectfully,
UDEMS