Since Betta Edu, the disgraced former Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Reduction was removed from office following her alleged involvement
Since Betta Edu, the disgraced former Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Reduction was removed from office following her alleged involvement in the high-level corruption case, little has been heard of her.
But all of that seems to have changed with her most recent appearance. She made a sudden appearance recently during the 50th anniversary of the University of Calabar, Cross Rivers State.
She received an award for her outstanding service to humanity, with her name in the institution’s Hall of Fame, an honour reserved for people of high moral standard and values.
The honour bestowed on her shocked many as not a few people remember quite well how she messed up her name in her short stint as a minister with many condemning it. Many think that the Cross River State-born ex-minister should have covered her face in shame and shouldn’t be seen with people of integrity. Many others said she should have been punished for the corruption charge she was involved in.
Edu was suspended from office by President Bola Tinubu over an alleged N585 million scandal in her ministry.
Until she had her hand in the cookie jar, Edu commanded a lot of respect and her popularity soared across the country. She was generally regarded as one of the top ministers in the present regime on account of the sensitivity of her job and the impact on our nation. Those close to her proclaimed that she was such a generous woman as she spent money like sand.
But little did many who idolised her and adored her know that her ways were allegedly not what they believed. Edu was initially suspended in January 2024 over the alleged diversion of $640,000 of public money into a personal bank account.
President Tinubu then ordered an investigation into her ministry.
The president would later direct the Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to conduct a thorough investigation into all aspects of the financial transactions involving the Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, as well as one or more agencies thereunder.
Despite the scandal, no one can deny that at 38, Edu is a brilliant professional in the medical field. She registered herself in the consciousness of Nigerians in 2015 when she emerged as one of the youngest aides appointed by the then Cross River State Governor, Ben Ayade.
She was also later to become the youngest Commissioner in the cabinet. A former student union leader at the University of Calabar where she studied Medicine, Edu is blessed with oratory prowess.
Before she was appointed Health Commissioner in 2019, Edu was first appointed as Special Adviser and later the Director-General of the Cross River State Primary Health Care Development Agency (CRSPHCDA), and Special Technical Adviser to the Governor on the Cross River State Privatization Council.
In 2022 when the post of National Woman leader of the APC was zoned to the South South Zone, Edu became the favourite of the party. Party chieftains who rooted for her described her as young, vibrant, and energetic; an advocate for women, a great grassroots mobilizer, one blessed with oratory skills and sound education.
She won the competitive election for the top woman party job, a position she held until her nomination and inauguration as Minister in August 2023.
Apart from her medical degree from the University of Calabar, Dr Edu holds a Post Graduate Diploma in Public Health for Developing Countries from the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, UK, and a Master of Science Public Health in Developing Countries from the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, UK, and Doctor of Public Health from Texila American University.
