I’m very impressed by president Buhari’s ministerial nominees. The list is sparkling. That it took several months to come up with these names is even more impressive. That means many months of deliberation and re-deliberation. and that the individuals on the list are individuals of timbre and calibre. What’s more, you can’t get any other set of humans to become ministers in Nigeria. These are Nigeria’s best.
For example, Festus Keyamo SAN is perhaps one of the best in Delta state. “What has he done?” people ask. Let’s get something clear, it’s not about what he has done. It’s about who he is. To reiterate, these are men of timbre and caliber. In that light, let’s tease out the worthiness of this SAN who the president has hurled on us. It’s about his skill. It’s not about what. For those who don’t know, politics is a hard game and it takes men who are skilled at foaming in the mouth to make headway. Keyamo has that blatant skill of bringing down ceilings by mere opening his mouth. There are confessions of this. Another important skill is that he knows how to speak with both sides of his mouth. That is, he can be saying “hey” to one party and another party can hear the word “come”. It’s important to highlight here quickly that it’s not an easy task to say two words together and we are not talking about homonyms here. I think the president knows the power of this skill and deems it fit for his political agenda.
Elaborating, in copious details, the achievement of each individual on that list is a hard chore. I won’t put the dutiful reader through that mundanity. However, one must quickly cover the achievement of another leader-in-leader by the name of Lai Mohammed. For a fact, we know the effective communication skill of this man. For a fact, we know he can turn water to wine with his miraculous abilities. I’m forced to reason that the president genuinely believes in this miraculous capabilities and expects Lai to pronounce Nigeria a golden state by opening his mouth. One morning, one day, Nigerians would wake up and see that the country is a smart city with floating skyscrapers and golden institutions.
Again, I do plead with you, dear reader, to take time to look at the list. Who on that list isn’t fit to be on a fit president’s list? An introspective survey reveals three things. First, there are no good men in Nigeria. Hence, why it took the president some months to produce his ministerial list. The only good men are all ministers now. Second, if one sits down to calculate the input of these men in their past roles, one would begin to see that their contributions have been like that silly basket used in fetching water from a well. Third, perhaps, the only reason why we must be happy is that these men understand the construct of the Nigerian fabric. They understand the machine that produces the fabric and know when and where to oil it. They are national mechanics and would be happy to get their hands dirty.
But, there is an important element here. There needs to be a screening of the list presented by the president. That is, a further investigation whether these men can walk their talk. The screening, I can say this for free, will be markedly characterized by backbiting, sleight of hands and some
tickling of private pockets. The screening, in general, is a nice name and it’s simulacrum to asking a police chief to place some inmates in his prison in leadership positions in the police force. Whatever it is, Nigerians will get these fantastic beings to bring Nigeria to an enviable global position.
I’m on twitter: @moshoke