Ministers: Senate confirms Okonjo-Iweala, Aganga, others
By Oluwole Josiah, Abuja
Thursday, 7 Jul 2011

The Senate on Wednesday confirmed the nomination of 10 additional ministers, bringing the number of ministers confirmed by the Senate to 24.

Those confirmed were World Bank Managing Director, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala (South-East); immediate past Minister of Finance, Olusegun Aganga (Lagos); Prof. Barth Nnaji (Enugu); Dr. Bello Mohammed (Kebbi); Mr. Abba Moro (Benue); Dr. Samuel Ortom (Benue); Prof. Viola Onwuliri (Imo), Prof. Ita Ewa (Akwa Ibom); Senator Idris Umar (Gombe); and Chief Olusola Obada (Osun).

While Nnaji, Okonjo-Iweala, Aganga and Ewa were subjected to rigorous questioning, the others were left to go without much hassles.

Ortom was asked to take a bow and go after senators were stirred by an account of his background as a school dropout, a motor park tout and one who struggled to attain education through very difficult means.

After running through his curriculum vitae, Senator Ehigie Uzamere, moved a motion, asking the Senate to allow Ortom to take a bow without further question because of his sincerity in uncovering his background.

The motion was promptly seconded and passed after the President of the Senate, David Mark, put the question to a voice vote.
Bello, the Acting Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, also received a “bow and go” approval, but not without a little ruffling of his feathers by Senator Kabir Marafa, who is of the All Nigerian Peoples Party.

Marafa asked Mohammed while he was not towing the line of an elder statesman, by retiring from the scene instead of continuing to be ‘recycled’ in government circles since the First Republic.

Marafa said, “When will you give room for fresh blood in Kebbi State? When I was in primary school, you were a commissioner in the old Sokoto State. Forty years after, you are standing here in this chamber to be screened as minister.”

http://www.punchng.com/Articl.aspx?theartic=Art201107072523550

First off, let me make it clear that I have no issues with anyone starting from humble backgrounds and pulling himself up by his own bootstraps.

The bit I watched yesterday of the senate screening of ministerial nominees was to me nauseating.

A man who said he started his "working career" as a motor park tout and in the course of reading his academic qualifications pointed out that there was a ten-year error in the date of his obtaining his WAEC school certificate. He also said he obtained his doctorate degree from a university in Belize whose name I did not catch was asked to simply "bow and go".

I can just imagine someone going to a job interview and saying he started his carreer as a tout, pointing out an error on his CV and capping it att by saying he obtained his highest degree from an obscure institution being appluaded by his interviewers. Comical!

While some may argue that the honourable minister (that is what he is now), was being sincere by stating that he started out as a tout and that might give hope to some other (If you think I am referring to the likes of Auxiliary and Tokyo, you are OYO [On Your Own]), one could also argue that everyone of the other nominees could have presented a romantic pat of their life to play to the gallery and ease their clearance as the minister did is declaring that he dropped out of school due to poverty.

The senators were obviously acting out a script with the manner Senator Ehigie Uzamere, moved a motion, asking the Senate to allow Ortom to take a bow without further question because of his sincerity in uncovering his background and the  motion was promptly seconded and passed after the President of the Senate, David Mark, put the question to a voice vote without any objection from senators who showed off their "superior knowledge: by tasking the "enlightened and more fortunate" nominees like Okonjo-Iweala, Aganga, Nnaji and Onwuliri.

The "bow and go" session of the senators with Dr. Ortam followed a similar one with  Mr. Abba Moro (also from Benue State) who was asked him to bow and go because he ran a successful political campaign for the PDP in Benue state. Pathetic!

It was obvious that these two nominees were cleared in this manner because o their affiliation to the Senate President who is from their state.

On the recycling issue, I started watching the session with the ex-PDP chairman (I believe he is ex now), when Senator Smart Adeyemi (PDP Kogi) stood up to raise a point of order that an uncomplimentary language had been used to address the chairman of the largest political party in Africa.

At this point, the senate president began to ask senators from Kebbi State (Bello's home state) if there was "fresh air" in their state and then proceed to ask for a voice vote after a motion to ask Bello to bow and go had been moved.

I know that Senator Kabir Marafa is of the opposition party and could have been up to some "mischief" by asking the questions he asked but really, those were pertinent questions!

I reiterate:

Marafa asked Mohammed while he was not towing the line of an elder statesman, by retiring from the scene instead of continuing to be ‘recycled’ in government circles since the First Republic.

Marafa said, “When will you give room for fresh blood in Kebbi State? When I was in primary school, you were a commissioner in the old SokotoState. Forty years after, you are standing here in this chamber to be screened as minister.”

I was a motor-park tout, ministerial nominee tells Senate
Wednesday, 06 July 2011 18:30 administrator    . By Richard Ihediwa

A ministerial nominee, Dr. Samuel Ioraer Ortom from Benue state surprised many senators yesterday during his screening, as he pointedly told them that he started his working life as a motor-park tout.

According to him, he did this before he later went to school to earn his doctorate degree. This whipped up sentiments in his favor as some Senators expressed satisfaction with his sense of honesty.

Dr Ortom, who until his nomination was the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) national auditor made references to his humble background as he tried to convince senators on why he thinks he is suited to serve as a minister.

He was eventually, cleared as ministers by the Senate along with former Minister of Finance and Managing Director of the World Bank, Dr. Okonjo-Iweala (Abia), the acting National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Dr. Bello Haliru Mohammed (Kebbi) and seven others.

Others cleared by the Senate yesterday include the immediate past Minister of Finance, Olusegun Aganga (Lagos); former Special Adviser to the President on Power, Prof. Barth Nnaji (Enugu); Senator Idris Umar (Gombe); Comrade Abba Moro (Benue); Prof. Viola Onwuliri (Imo); Erelu Olusola Obada (Osun) and Prof. Ita Okon Bassey Ewa (Cross Rivers).

While Okonjo-Iweala, Nnaji, Aganga, Obada, Onwuliri were grilled by the Senate, senators allowed the PDP acting national chairman and the national auditor as well as Senator Umar and Moro, the campaign director for Senate President David Mark in the 2011 National Assembly election to bow and go.

Aganga was confirmed despite the opposition from Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) members from Lagos state. 

The Senate President overruled a question posed to the PDP acting national chairman by Senator Kabiru Marafa (ANPP Zamfara), who queried his decision to become a minister even when he has been in government circle for over 40 years and asked him when he will “allow fresh air into Kebbi state”. 

However, introducing himself to the Senate, the PDP national auditor said he was a school drop-out and a motor-park tout in Benue state. Ortom said he dropped out of school because of poverty and became a motor-park tout before he moved to become a taxi driver in other to make ends meet.

“I dropped out of school because of poverty. I started my working life as a tout in a motor-park in Benue state before I became a taxi driver,” he said.

Also answering questions, Nnaji declared that the Federal Government would need to inject the N1.5 trillion ($100 billion) into the power sector if the country must achieve stable power supply in the next 10 years.



http://www.peoplesdaily-online.com/news/national-news/16160-i-was-a-motor-park-tout-ministerial-nominee-tells-senate

Jonnie,
I am rather surprised at your naivety (with all due respect).
How can an intelligent man like you expect any thing different from these charlatans?
These man and women are in a different world.they do not care about you and i nor the poor masses.
Boko Haram can bomb the whole country for all they care.Even if one of them is caught up in the bombings, they will just carry on wth biz as usual.
They can only be bothered if their source of looting is threatened extensively or cut off while they are still alive.
Irrespective of their Party affilations,they are all the same.
You call this fresh air?
a govt that has two SA for special duties and one for ethics and values?

mbulela:

I just wish all of them without exception very painful deaths.

Surely you don't mean that!

Be careful what you wish for.

Unease trails Jonathan’s cabinet .
Thursday, 07 July 2011 00:00 Charles Ike-Okoh    . .

Nigerians, including a growing number of investors and leading corporate executives, say they are uncomfortable with most of the nominees put forward by President Jonathan Goodluck and describe some of them as “an uninspiring club of party cohorts” and “ineffective loyalists”.

The delay in forming the cabinet itself and some of the names on the list spotlight the increasing pressure the Goodluck administration has had to put up with as it searches for a way out of the economic challenges facing the country. Analysts, who are equally critical of the quality of the cabinet, say his handling of the pressure underlines a weakness in his leadership.

Besides, the gaping hole perceived in the administration’s economic and financial policies and the team that has been assembled to drive them, at this fragile time, raise concerns and doubts about the president’s ability to deliver any tangible change in the next four years.

Analysts are concerned too that what has received far less attention since his May 27 inauguration is the administration’s promised new and urgent solutions to the painful electricity issue. There appears also to be no effort at removing the bureaucratic bottlenecks that impinge on policy implementation; nor is there an economic team with real presence in charge of driving, in the right direction, all the reforms intended to protect the economy from further hemorrhage.

While the administration’s economic attention has been consumed by the struggle to strike a budget-cutting or balancing deal that would free more fund for capital projects, critics have also been complaining that there is little attention or manpower devoted to other pressing issues. Having taken such a long time and energy away from the pressing issues to focus on forming a cabinet only adds to those problems, analysts said.

Leading commentators and influential Nigerians say most of the 34 nominees undergoing screening by the Senate fall short of reflecting the wishes of majority of Nigerians who voted decisively to return Goodluck as president.

They say many of them have not acquitted themselves when it comes to understanding the economy which the president passionately talks about.

“He is simply recycling failures,” Frederick Fasheun, a social critic and founder of the Oodua Peoples Congress (OPC), told BusinessDay.

“He talks about turning around the fortunes of the country in the next four years, but to achieve that goal, he would have to surround himself with people with the same ambition. I don’t think he has the people in this group and I don’t see or expect much change ahead,” Fasheun added.

Maxi Okwu, a barrister and former presidential candidate of the Citizens Popular Party (CPP), described the appointments as “regrettable”.

“The country is yet to see any positive sign. I don’t have any problem with his inputs in the ministerial list or what he does with the list. It is within his purview to appoint members of the federal executive council. My problem is that I can’t see any fundamental changes. At inauguration he promised that within two weeks, there would be changes in the country, but nothing seems to be happening.”

Okwu, seemingly pained by the development, said Jonathan’s decision to bring back those who served in the last dispensation is “very shocking”.

“Except for Okonjo-Iweala who is overwhelmingly approved by Nigerians, if what we are seeing now is a sign of things to come, we may not expect anything new.”

Okwu’s comment reflects the desire by Nigerians to see a team of technocrats driving policy initiatives and implementation. For them, an individual like Okonjo-Iweala will not be enough to bring about a change.

According to an analyst with a foreign media in Nigeria, what will bring about the desired changes is the assemblage of more than a dozen Okonjo-Iwealas, a team that will make things happen.

Isa Mohammed, HoD, public administration, University of Abuja, sees them as good people individually.

“But the collection is sickening and may not be able to make a dramatic turn from the past.”

Some analysts told BusinessDay they had anticipated a cabinet that would be dominated by technocrats who are young, enterprising, experienced and patriotic, and who have the expertise to run technical sectors of the economy and deliver timely dividends to citizens.

Samuel Oloruntoba of the Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Lagos, said the president already had about two months.

“In my view, the problem is two-fold. His slow pace is regrettable. About two months are gone without the government achieving anything. Again, if removing and adding of new names on the ministerial list can make him get his leadership bearing, I have no problem with that. To me, Senate screening is just ritualistic; they are not doing any intellectual work there. The screening is not achieving the desired purpose. They ought to find out the nominee’s pedigree, what new ideas they are bringing on board and all that. The Senate has not rejected any one of the nominees; I stand to be corrected by anybody. The screening does not achieve anything worthwhile,” Oloruntoba said.


A number of the appointments have been hailed, particularly that of Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, while some have been dismissed as wrong choice.

A top presidency official told BusinessDay that Okonjo-Iweala inspires confidence and credibility.  He said her appointment will help drop Nigeria’s cost of transaction.

“That is the social capital she brings to the table,” he said.

Jafaar Saad, chairman, Splendid Microfinance Bank, says he is encouraged by people like Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Segun Aganga and Shamsudeen Usman. They appear serious and will add value to the economy.

“I want them to bring their experience to bear on the economy because we want a more robust economy and the one to lead to achieving the vision 2020. The fact that we have young people who are of substance shows we are moving with the global trend.”

The return of Deziani Alison Maduaeke however, has been viewed largely as controversial and the circumstances surrounding her appointment are interpreted by her critics as another sign of the government’s dysfunctionality.

One top downstream oil industry executive described her return to the petroleum ministry as a sad development.

“This is a woman who ran the oil industry for a year and within that period no new oil discoveries were made and the country recorded its worst period in terms of new investments in the sector,” he said.  According to him the net effect of her reign is exemplified by her needless revocation of the oil lease operating licence earlier granted to ExxonMobil by her predecessor,  Odien Ajumogobia.

Those who support her say those who don’t are ‘those who are not in the pie’. “Her personality is not the issue,” one analyst told BusinessDay. He said the position itself is a controversial one bound to attract controversy.


http://www.businessdayonline.com/NG/index.php/news/76-hot-topic/24229-unease-trails-jonathans-cabinet

johnie:



Surely you don't mean that!

Be careful what you wish for.

Retracted.
But sincerely, something close to that.
I am so pissed with this lot.

remember Jonathan also walked without shoes, he had no school bag

But where in the world is he going to put this dude? Ministry of Labour, Defence, why not just give him a role in mark's office?

^^^
does Mark not need a SA?
or that one is not a money making venture?
GEJ will probably make him junior minister in transport or education.

Dis Guy:

remember Jonathan also walked without shoes, he had no school bag

But where in the world is he going to put this dude? Ministry of Labour, Defence, why not just give him a role in mark's office?

Exactly! Quite a number of people can sing hthe "I walked without shoes song!"

He should have been made special assistant on legislative matters. I think that was the job Senator Ita-Giwa was handling during OBJ's regim and then Abba-Aji took over.

mbulela:

Retracted.
But sincerely, something close to that.
I am so pissed with this lot.

I am equally miffed!

mbulela:

^^^
does Mark not need a SA?
or that one is not a money making venture?
GEJ will probably make him junior minister in transport or education.

Education? Abeg, no o!

I hope you are not suggesting transport because of his humble beginnings. Take time O!

OMG!! I am here suffering as a Self-Employed Technologist, when i should have dropped out of school and headed to Oshodi when it was still alive and kicking, Kai!! see Good Opportunity missed. - Please somebody point me to the nearest Motor-Park sharp-sharp 

with this I did not have a school guy on seat people like Tokyo, Mc omo, Auxillary etc are springing up fighting over motor parks