Vindication, Vindication, Vindication

What a Revelation! What a Country! Earlier this morning in my previous post on the unresolved question of the state of origin of a married woman who moved in with her husband at her husband's place of birth, I labelled our political leaders as seemingly too timid, and most often, shamefully evasive on most national issues - pandering consciously or unconsciously to political correctness, even when the occasion calls for action. And I mentioned PIB, National Conference, True Federalism, etc. Some excerpts.

"We must stop finding excuses to evade challenges and national issues that appear insurmountable - PIB, State of Origin Concept, Federal Character, True Federalism, Resource Control, State Police, etc., etc., etc."  "Where is the man in us, or the intellectual in us, or the sovereignty in us, if we as a nation-state and as a people are too timid and too politically incorrect to confront national questions that directly and indirectly impact the Nigerian Project adversely?" See "In Nigeria, If A Woman is Married, What State Does She Come From?", posted about 9 A.M this morning."

Few minutes ago, we observed that our honorable Senators would rather a Ministerial nominee take a bow (leave the Chamber), than answer questions about PIB and the strategy for implementing the report of the last concluded National Conference. Senator Ekweremadu (the Deputy Senate President), asked the first nominee to be screened (Udoma Udo Udoma) to address (1), the PIB and how he would ensure its passage given the fact that the nominee alluded to foreign investments in his resume, and (2), to articulate the steps he would take to ensure the implementation of the decisions of the last National Conference. Three times, the nominee tried to answer the questions, three times, honorable Senators, obviously representing some powerful vested interests, shouted no. To save the situation, the Senate President, asked for a vote. And it was voted that the gentleman take a bow, rather than answer the questions from the Deputy Senate President. And he walked away

I am not a writer. I take to Blogging, because I have one or two stories to tell - common sense related stories, most often, told in a unique way, generating profound impacts in the politics of nations world-wide. Thanks to Google and the Internet, I am able to tell my stories my own way and at my convenience - making invaluable impacts in the way we live, the way we govern and the way leaders manage changes at home and abroad. What you are reading right now is one of those stories - ignoble deeds clothed in legality, and acceptable as norms. 

Exerting undue pressure on a ministerial nominee - who, under normal circumstances or in other climes should have been subjected to barrage of thought provoking questions - to take a bow and walk away from questions already asked is a cowardly display of recklessness and a blatant deviation from the spirit and letter of the new dispensation (change). Given the unique position of the lawmakers in helping to build and sustain our constitutional democracy, failure to thoroughly scrutinize potential presidential nominees is a deviation from the fundamental principles of Separation of Power and Check and Balances.

Indeed, strictly construed, the Senators were fair to Mr. Udo Udoma, who is on trial, so to say, but they were not fair to the Nigerian people who were watching with rapt attention, looking forward to forming an opinion, especially given the fact that the nominees were screened without portfolios or a designated portfolio.

I do  not have cause to question the integrity of the honorable members of the Nigerian Senate appearing deferential towards their former colleagues who appear before them for screening, but not after a Senator stood and put questions before a particular nominee - questions that some Senators were not comfortable with. The shout of "no" and "take a bow" came after the questions. Assuming the shout of "no" and "take a bow" erupted before the question; it would have been understandable, and I would not have written this piece. Indeed, it was the intent to preempt the answer that motivated the protest on the floor of the Senate and not necessarily the prevailing culture in the Chamber of Senators paying obeisance to one of their own. And that is a perversion of fair hearing.

(For those who do not know, PIB is an acronym for Petroleum Industry Bill - a Bill written to revamp the Petroleum Industry and alleviate the unrest and militant activities in the Niger Delta. Unfortunately, the Bill is yet to be passed about seven years after, and is today, languishing in obscurity in the National Assembly).

Senators, especially those from the Niger Delta who, naturally, should have insisted on the nominee answering the questions, were visibly absent-minded. They couldn't fathom what was going on right in front of their eyes. Some very active Senators swooped into action and make sure that Mr. Udoma Udo Udoma did not address the two questions about PIB and the National Conference as posed by Senator Ekweremadu.

Just few days ago, October 7, 2015, on the long essay, titled "If Not Sonala Olumhense, Who? And, If Not Now, When?", we had this to say: "... the Bill [PIB] may likely die untimely death, because Southern political leaders who are in position to talk or who should have taken action are too timid to make pronouncements, either out of observance of political correctness or unduly sensitive of offending the sensibilities of the more powerful and arguably more vocal Northern political leaders."

And just few minutes ago, some legislators put their craftiness into good use and stopped a potential Minister from addressing questions about the PIB and the report of the National Conference held about a year ago. As always, Senators from the affected areas were absent-mined, visibly amused and laughing out loud, not knowing what was happening or staying alive to confront their honorable colleagues who demanded a bow, or at least, overrule them, when a nay vote was asked for by the Senate President.

In spite of everything, it was not all that a sour moment. Dr. Kayode Fayemi, another nominee, came and did a wonderful digress on the state of our union and how to position it for greatness. He stepped into the podium, and in his intro, went ahead to lecture the honorable members about the need for devolution of power and the urgent steps germane for unbundling Aso Rock (decentralization), without actually mentioning the report of the National Conference. It was a superb contribution. I must give it to him. His digress on educational advancement and devolution of power echoed our views on this Blog. Nigerians can now see the difference between the style and manner of the often vilified diaspora and the home grown political leaders. It is about speaking truth to power.

Alex Aidaghese