Re: Senate’s bow and go tradition

I just saw the screamer, “Out of 43 ministerial nominees confirmed, 23 were asked to bow and go”.
This got me wondering or for the lack of a better word, I thought it absurd for the names to have gone to the Nigeria senate at the first instance. I will come out to this much later after I have touched on traditions in other climes that we seem to look up to a.k.a the U.S and the U.K.

In the U.K, there are no confirmation hearings. This way, the Prime Minister can appoint absolutely anyone he feels can serve under any portfolio as minister. The parliament cannot question his decision whatsoever. This means that a minister can oversee a ministry without have the prerequisite knowledge of the workings of that ministry.

The civil servants are relied upon with the minister being just a manager. It was in the news a couple of days ago that Mr. Boris Johnson, the new U.K prime minister appointed his brother as minister and heaven did not fall. This system of appointing ministers also affords the P.M the opportunity to reshuffle his cabinet seamlessly from time to time, case in point, a Sajid Javid can be Home Secretary for a year and Chancellor of the Exchequer( a.k.a Finance Minister), the next year.

In the U.S of A on the other hand, there are confirmation hearings for a president's cabinet nominees. Their qualifications, expertise and experience are thoroughly questioned and examined. Their knowledge of the agency or department they are being assigned to lead, is extensively queried. A president's appointee can be rejected by the Senate. 

I put that of the USA in bold letters so that you can immediately see immediately contrast the difference between both obviously tested and trusted systems, which is quite interesting. 

Nigeria seems to be a Pseudo UK/USA system, where some are asked to now and go and some others quizzed, some more intense than others. The “engineers” of this system probably have the best intentions but I am always averse to copying for the sake of it.

How well has Nigeria fared with this system of screening the president’s Cabinet members? Is there a review? Can a better system be enacted? Is there a need for screening at all in terms of the time, energy and resources expended? 

After all said and done, I cannot wait to see how people like Fashola will do this time in whatever capacity and how a “newbie” such as Sunday Dare will fare because I thought most of them were thoroughly brilliant. 

—— Oladele Fameso

Excerpts from Fashola’s ministerial screening

Fashola, the former minister of works and housing, now a ministerial nominee, was yesterday screened at the National Assembly by the Senate and below are some extracts from the exercise.
1. Road projects are delayed because of lack of funding.
2. Federal projects were on going in all states of the federation
3. The Off-grid power initiative is gaining ground with the completion of the Ariaria and Sura markets and more coming to completion soon.
4. States have been empowered to generate and distribute power.
5. Ministry of Power ceased to be a major player. They only deal with regulation now

Lagos carnival holds amidst pomp and pageantry

The fourth edition of the Lagos carnival held on Easter Monday at the Tafawa Balewa Square in Lagos amidst pomp pageantry.

The event which climaxed with a series of events scheduled over the Easter festivity kicked off with student carnival trains closely followed by trains representing the different local government areas of the state.The trains all had different mascots ranging from animals like oxen to flamboyant ferries and queens as well as other symbols of royalty.

Speaking at the event, the chief host of the carnival, Governor Babatunde Fashola of Lagos, described the carnival fan fair as sustenance of a tradition that spans over a hundred years.The event was an enchanting display of color, dance, choreography, acrobatics, stunts and many more.