Hannatu Musawa: The insolence behind Arts Minister’s N197m Hermes bag

A virtuous woman is never moved by fashion labels and flamboyance. For her, luxury scarcely lies in nametags and ornate markers but in the absence of vulgarity. But Hannatu Musawa does not know that. If she does, she doesn’t care.

Thus her inclination to brazenly carry and flaunt a Hermes bag valued at Î116,261.89 Euros (197,008,446.628) while on a diplomatic trip with President Bola Tinubu to Qatar.

There hasn’t been any more repellent sight, several pundits averred, since Nigerians were plummeted into economic depression following President Tinubu radical surgical economics.

Nigeria’s Minister of Art, Culture and the Creative Economy Hannatu Musawa (previously deputy spokesperson for Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s campaign), does not understand perhaps how insensitive and vulgar it was to carelessly flaunt such a vulgar fashion item while many Nigerians are battling to survive the severity imposed on the country by her principal’s economic reforms.

Musawa ought to understand that only a self-centered, acquisitive woman would clad in the cloak of intransigence would carelessly flaunt such vulgar possession amid so much suffering and pain.

There is no gainsaying her action was at once deemed ugly and insensitive by diverse segments of netizens. Among other things, it brings back memories of the scandalous conduct of past female ministers, particularly former petroleum minister, Diezani Alison-Madueke.

There is no gainsaying Alison-Madueke, among others, made news for the wrong reasons. She set the pace for vulgar acquisitiveness in Nigeria’s corridors of power.

About $40 million worth of expensive jewelry was recovered from her by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, (EFCC).

The expensive jewelry comprising wristwatches, necklaces, bracelets, bangles, earrings and more were reasonably suspected to have been acquired with proceeds of unlawful activities of the former Minister. Some of the recovered items were listed as 125 pieces of wedding gowns, 13 pieces of small gowns, 41 pieces of waist trainers, 73 pieces of hard flower, 11 pieces of suit, 11 pieces of invisible bra, 73 pieces of veils, 30 pieces of braziers, two pieces of standing fan, 17 pieces of magic skits, six packets of blankets, one table blanket and 64 pairs of shoes.

The EFCC was granted permission by the court to seize the jewelry from Allison-Madueke after establishing that her known and provable lawful income is far less than the value of the jewelry sought to be forfeited.

Alison-Madueke, 63, served as petroleum minister from 2010 to 2015 under former President Goodluck Jonathan and also acted as OPEC president from 2014 to 2015.
She was arrested in London in October 2015, a few months after leaving office, and has also been the subject of investigations in Nigeria and the United States.

The ex-petroleum minister has denied the corruption allegations even as assets worth millions of pounds relating to her alleged offences have been frozen as part of an ongoing probe by the UK security agency.

The NCA accused her of having benefited from at least £100,000 ($127,000) in cash, chauffeur-driven cars, flights on private jets, and gifts from designer shops such as Cartier jewellery and Louis Vuitton goods, to mention a few.

The US Department of Justice also recovered illicit assets totalling $53.1 million linked to Alison-Madueke in March 2023. Nigeria’s EFCC claimed that about $153 million and more than 80 properties had been recovered from Alison-Madueke.

In August 2023, British police charged Alison-Madueke with bribery offences.

“We suspect Diezani Alison-Madueke abused her power in Nigeria and accepted financial rewards for awarding multi-million-pound contracts. These charges are a milestone in a thorough and complex international investigation,” said Andy Kelly, Head of the National Crime Agency’s (NCA) International Corruption Unit.

It would be really nice if Musawa could learn from the sad fate of

Allison-Madueke; the latter was equally known by her lust for expensive jewelry and bags.

Already, Nigerians are critical of her performance as she made the news recently for bungling a rare opportunity to put the country on the global map of culture and entertainment industry.

No thanks to Musawa, the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (commonly known as The Recording Academy) held off its announcement of the creation of an African edition of the Grammy Awards and of several hubs throughout Africa. The announcement was initially supposed to happen after the 66th awards ceremony held in Los Angeles on February 4, but was cancelled after Nigeria’s sudden about-face.

Lagos is one of five cities selected by the prestigious American academy to be a regional hub, along with Johannesburg, Nairobi, Kigali and Abidjan (AI, 03/11/23). However, much to the Recording Academy’s dismay, Nigeria’s Minister of Art, Culture and the Creative Economy, Musawa left LA with the contract she was supposed to submit.

Pundits contend that she was ruffled by the fact that none of the five Nigerian artists nominated for a Grammy this year – Burna Boy, Davido, Asake, Olamide and Ayra Starr – won an award. But when contacted, the ministry explained this last-minute U-turn by the absence of Ugochi Akudo-Nwosu, the director of its Entertainment and Creative Services Department.

Notwithstanding, Nigerians, particularly entertainment stakeholders in the country, are hoping that Musawa would seize the opportunity of a few days reprieve granted the country by the Academy director, Harvey Mason Jr, and send the signed contract within a few days.

More Nigerians are calling on the minister to commit herself ardently to the serious task of governance and the development of the country’s entertainment, culture, and creative economies.

These are more noble and acceptable callings that require her devotion; and while she commits to the task, let her not forget to shun the lure of obsessive passion and lust for vulgar fashion items lest she ends up like Alison-Madueke and her ilk.