Senate Ministerial Screening: Season Of Drama, Frivolity And Absurdities.

Each season of ministerial screening by the Nigerian senate, comes with comic drama, pedestrian responses to questions asked and of course, the unearthing of the very dirty past of those who aspire to be our Servants as well leaders.

This year’s exercise has taken off in the nation’s capital city, Abuja, on a most predictable note. Yesterday on the day of it’s opening, came a certain quantity named Bello Mohammed, from one of the core northern states. Bello was well dressed for the occasion. He donned a  resplendently white ‘agbada’ with the right embroidery, and expertly starched with a marching cap to complement. To be honest, I didn’t pay attention to his shoes, so, I wouldn’t offer an opinion on it. But, my instinct tells he couldn’t have missed spotting the right shoes.

Painfully, that was all and the best that, Bello Mohammed had to offer. The resume he presented to the senate plenary had a foundational defect. He claimed to have attended a university but, his credentials, especially, what he needed to possess to be able to pursue any discipline in any Nigerian university was shockingly inadequate. To the utter dismay of the senators and those who watched the event on live TV,  Bello had just two credit passes in his external secondary school exams, the one we refer to as WAEC in sub saharan Africa.

The question therefore, is, how did Bello gain admission into the university? He attempted to offer an explaination though. Unfortunately, the more he tried to, the more he exposed his intellectual inadequacies. He was not only incoherent, but, his attempt to justify the inclusion of a certificate with just two credits passes and sighting Constitutional provision, made a mockery of whatever schools he attended, if any.

Besides exploring the constitutional angle and failing at it, he told the senate that, there were some other certificates he had, but, left them at home. Can you imagine that? One would expect a ministerial nominee who understands the importance of what appearing before the upper chamber of his nation legislature meant, to be well armed with his best qualifying papers. But Bello Mohammed reasoned differently for reasons best known to him. Can you imagine a football coach who has a difficult game that he must win at hand and leaving behind his best players?

You can take this to the bank. Bello didn’t not leave any ‘shit’ at home. He could just be one, like others before him, who bulldoze their way into public life and institutions using the back doors. Before he was asked to take a shameful bow and leave, he was however, instructed to re-package his resume and return same to the senate through the office of the clerk of the house. Do not be surprised to have Bello Mohammed as a minister during the ministerial inauguration, with or without the requisite papers. The connections that had taken him this far, would continue to take him to even far higher heights. This is Nigeria where just about any thing goes, as long as you are from a certain geographical location or belongs to a certain clique.