Strange things are happening in Nigeria’s Senate. Maturity and immaturity are on display.
While the minority PDP members demonstrate a bit of political know-how, APC, with majority membership, seems to be power drunk.
Last week, the two chambers appointed their Committees and the Chairmen. Ridiculously, the House, with 360 members, raised the ceiling to 97 while the Senate, with 109 members kept its own at 65.
That means in the House, only 194 members will serve either as chairmen or vice chairmen while in the Senate, every senator will either be a chairman or vice a chairmanship.
Most senators are usually uncomfortable when journalists compare the 20 Standing Committees of the United States Senate to that of the Nigeria. Their argument is that Nigeria is still developing while the US has fully developed. Inexcusable!!
However, today, I am more interested, or rather; my eyes are on President Muhammadu Buhari and his angelic ministers. I will return to the Senate and its unwieldy committees another day.
The question in the last (almost half a dozen) months was: when will President Buhari appoint his ministers? Now it has shifted to: when will Buhari swear in his ministers; and which of the ministries would he merge?
As at the time of writing this report, the president was yet to administer oath of office to his little angels and assign them portfolios. It has been a long wait for Nigerians.
I have this feeling that some of the ministers will resign in frustration; some would be sacked by the retired general for petty offences; and some may go to jail even before the end of this administration on allegations of corruption.
I hope I’m wrong, but there is this has-refused-to-go-feeling that not all the ministers confirmed by the Senate will accept the offer to serve in some ministries.
I recall that in 1999, Senator Udoma Udo Udoma made history when he rejected President Olusegun Obasanjo’s appointment as minister. Before the inauguration, Udoma had insisted on knowing which ministry he would be sent to.
Udoma’s reason for turning down the appointment was that after being voted to the Senate by his people, it was pretty mean of Obasanjo to pull him out of that exclusive club of distinguished gentlemen and make him a junior minister in charge of environment.
He refused to honour the invitation to the inauguration ceremony at the Presidential Villa. The Senate was in full session that day at the same time Obasanjo was administering oath of office on the newly appointed ministers. The press corps noticed that Udoma was absent.
Then, when it was least expected, he walked into the hallowed chamber with an unusual swagger and a princely smile. The ovation that greeted his arrival knew no political boundary or ethnic lines. Colleagues stood up to offer back-slaps and hugs.
Before his arrival, they were worried that he would bow to pressure and executive intimidation to accept an offer that would not only be against his conscience but was meant to belittle his status and reputation.
For embarking on that rare act of bravery, Obasanjo marked Udoma down in his little black book of political enemies till the respected senator left the National Assembly after two eventful terms and Obasanjo left the Presidential Villa.
That was not all. When the evil issue of tenure elongation, known as third term, surfaced in the National Assembly, Udoma was the first PDP principal officer of the Senate, and indeed the National Assembly, to openly dissociate himself from it.
He told me in Port Harcourt during the retreat for members of the constitution review committee that “in this matter, everybody will answer his father’s name.” The price he paid for such acts of patriotism is a subject of discussion another day.
My point is that in spite of what anybody would say, among Buhari’s new ministers are men and women of integrity whose independent mindedness can be taken for granted.
I keep wondering who will be the minister of justice! Truly, I have lost count of the number of lawyers – most of them Senior Advocates of Nigeria, in the collection. There are so many lawyers of no mean repute that picking one from the pack may pose a great challenge.
My concern principally is that Buhari may have a bunch of bright, patriotic ministers by his side (not all of them), but will he listen to them; will he take their advice; will he give them a chance to think independently for the good of the country?
Between May 29 when he was sworn into office and whenever he would choose to inaugurate his cabinet, the retired general with a mean look, has been ruling and will continue to rule the country alone.
He has created this atmosphere of a man who knows everything and who is not ready for any divergent view.
He has been quoted as describing his ministers as noise makers. I’m not sure whether he actually said that. If he did (and I learnt he said so while speaking to international media), then it was quite undiplomatic of him.
To the ministers themselves, it’s time to show the stuff they are made of. Talk is cheap. Excuses are cheaper and easier. One thing is clear; Nigerians are not in the mood for excuses. They are eager to see problems solved.
The wait has been too long. This is no time for them to start criticising their predecessors. It’s time to draw up a road map for the future. The only expression we want to hear is: let’s roll.