• Saraki unveils last batch of 16
THERE was drama in the Senate yesterday as the ministerial nominees, the list of which was sent by President Muhammadu Buhari on September 30, 2015, took turns to appear for screening in an exercise that was filled with thrills, excitement and jokes. The upper chamber screened 10 ministerial nominees before it adjourned the screening to today and tomorrow. Those that appeared before the Senate yesterday are Senator Udoma Udoma, former Governor of Ekiti State, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, former National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Chief Audu Ogbeh, former Governor of Abia State, Dr. Ogbonaya Onu, Osaghie Ehanire and former Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Gen. Abdulrahman Dambazzau (rtd.) Others were the National Publicity Secretary, All Progressives Congress (APC) Alhaji Lai Mohammed, Special Adviser to the United Nations Secretary General on Post-2015 Development Planning, Mrs. Amina Mohammed, Eng. Suleiman Adams and Ibrahim Jibril. The screening had to wait for the Senate President, Bukola Saraki to unveil the 16 nominees in the final batch the president sent on Monday evening. In the list were: Khadijah Bukar Abba-Ibrahim, Omoleye Daramola (Ondo State), Prof. Anthony Anwuka, (Imo State), Jeffery Onyema, Brig. Gen. Mansur M. Dan Ali (rtd), Zamfara State and Barrister James E. Ocholi, (Kogi). Others are Zainab S. Ahmed, Okechukwu Onelemah, Muhammadu Bello, Mustapha Baba Sheshuri, Miss Aisha Abubakar, Heneikin Lokpobri, Adamu Adamu, Prof. Isaac Adewole (Osun ), Pastor Sanni Useni Ughuru and Abubakar Bwari Bawa. MOHAMMED (Kwara State) caused a stir when he stepped into the hallowed chamber for his turn. He dramatically bowed to the senators, as was customary, then accentuated the bow to the Senate President, Bukola Saraki, drawing loud cheers from the House. “Don’t ever mention it at all; don’t ever say it,” an unidentified senator shouted when the Majority Leader, Ali Ndume moved that Mohammed should take a bow and go, as he , Mohammed was walking to the dock where other nominees had stood to be screened. Mohammed said he must have ruffled a few feathers in the course of his years as the spokesperson of the opposition party and that no one should bear grudges against him as he was only performing his duties as was expected. He said: “I know that it is service to be in the opposition, but it is higher service to be in government. I know that, in government, we would not be as harsh as you were to us when we were in the opposition.” The Minority Leader, Senator Godswill Akpabio called for decorum, asking that Mohammed drop one or two propaganda before he is allowed to go and that the nominee “exhausts his heart.” Picking up the gauntlet, Mohammed said: “My soul mission and vision if I am confirmed as a minister is that I am going to be as passionate, committed and patriotic as I was as an opposition in government.” He didn’t leave, however, without repeating the bowing ritual, this time, with the same stress as the first and rousing laughter from the House. OGBEH, whom Akpabio referred to as a donation from the PDP, after his introduction, described himself as a farmer who has interacted with some of the senators in the past. While he suggested the need to take strong steps to revive the nation’s educational system, the former PDP chairman said most of Nigerian universities have become intellectual ghettos. On the sentiment raised concerning his nomination, Ogbeh said he was before the Senate not because he wanted anything new, but because President Buhari asked him to serve in his cabinet. “I wouldn’t be here if I don’t believe I can do it. For a party to surrender authorities to the President or governors, at state levels, is harmful. “Since I left office in the Second Republic as minister, I have been in school, not in any classroom but in the school of life, travelling around the world and exploring agriculture, why we are failing where others are succeeding. The chamber erupted in big laughter when Akpabio moves a motion that Ogbeh, being a donation by the PDP, should take a bow. FAYEMI suggested urgent solutions to salvage the nation’s education sector. He specifically identified career mismatch, unfavourable school curriculum and school admissions difficulties, among others as problems bedeviling the sector. Describing himself as a teacher and researcher, he lamented that only 10 per cent of admission seekers get into the universities. He therefore urged that the national university systems respond to the educational challenges of the people, as well as having quality teachers to match the demands. On his tenure as the governor of Ekiti State, Fayemi debunked reports that he ran the economy of his state aground. He also denied ever purchasing a bed for N50 million. Responding to a question put to him by Senator Olusola Adeyeye (APC Osun Central) to clarify reports that he left Ekiti in debt and that he spent too much money on the Ekiti Government House, the former governor said they were all rumours, clarifying that the government house was built with just N2.5 billion. He stressed that he was enticed to embark on the Ekiti State Government House, when he visited Akpabio and saw the magnificent Government House in Akwa Ibom. According to him, the controversial N50 million bed in the Government House was not purchased at that price. “None of the beds in the government house cost above N1.5 million,” he added. ONU lamented that Nigeria relies so much on hydro and natural gas to generate power. He stated that in Tanzania, the country has shut down their hydro power plants due to water problems. Onu noted that the supply of natural gas to power electricity is not forth coming. “We need to diversify our power generation. We need to rely on coal. Nigeria has one of the best types of coal in the world,” he stated as part of his response on how to generate stable electricity. EHANIRE from Edo State said peer review and crosschecking of medical diagnosis by medical doctors would reduce the incidence of wrong diagnosis. He also called for the regulation of traditional medicine practice. He said: “Traditional medicine should be well- regulated. Something should be done to set standard.” DAMBAZZAU, on his part, said there is the need for the country to review upwards, the allowances of soldiers sent to war front N1000 daily, adding that the country also needed to take good advantage of the United Nations reimbursement fund, noting that the annual budget is not enough to maintain the Nigerian Armed Forces. On the restiveness between farmers and the Fulani herdsmen, a big issue now affecting food production in Nigeria, the retired general said Nigeria must first and foremost address ecological issues. According to him, “while the North is being affected by desertification, the South is facing the challenge of erosion. These two issues are pushing people to the centre land where large concentration of population is making space becoming smaller. “One of the immediate solutions is to recapture land from desertification. The Fulani herdsman are not restricted to Nigeria, they are scattered all over West Africa.” He said Public Private Partnership should be considered for the Defence Industries Corporation of Nigeria (DICON). He believes the private sector should be involved in arms manufacturing while DICON acts as watchdog. “I was passionate about the welfare of the military, a reason I came up with the idea of establishing new barracks like the Abacha Barracks.” ADAMU, who claimed to come from a family with a public service background, said reason projects failed in the country is because “projects do not evolve through proper method.” He suggested that project must be planned the way it should. He further emphasised on the need for Public Private Partnership as he also suggested that financial institutions in the country must start to focus on long-term finances. Adamu said: “As a minister, my first priority would be to look into uncompleted projects in the country. On the issue of collapse building, Nigerians must allow professionals to do their jobs. Agencies responsible for implementations in the housing sector must also be well equipped. MOHAMMED (Gombe State), said she was committed to leveraging on the experience of handling the MDGs, to work on the next leg of the programme, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). She noted that the reason for the disparity in implementation was due to the fact that some states were not meeting up with the requirements for conditional funding and that those who were willing were assisted in building capacity to access the fund. Noting that there has to be a synergy among state and local governments in project implementation, as well as, concerted efforts to make the country attractive to foreign investment, she emphasised the need to build strong institutions, which would help in fighting corruption and other vices in policy and project implementation.

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