Nigeria Ministerial Screening: What went down; The Questions and Responses

The Nigerian Senate on Tuesday conducted screening of the ministerial nominees. Ten of the nominees were shortlisted for screening, namely:

1) Udoma Udo Udoma

2) Kayode Feyemi

3) Audu Ogbeh

4) Ogbonnaya Onu

5) Osagie Ehanire

6) Abdulrahman Dambazau

7) Lai Mohammed

8) Amina Mohammed

9) Suleiman Adamu

10) Ibrahim Jibril

The screening kick-started with former Senator, Udoma Udo Udoma who said he was surprised by his nomination and he is ready to hit the ground while he spoke about his past records. While addressing the Senate, he aldo said: 

"We cannot turn this economy around if we rely solely on public sector; we have to focus on the private sector."

Former Ekiti state Governor, Kayode Fayemi was called up next for the screening. He responded to several questions and also talked about the Nigerian education system. When he was asked about the debt problems during his administration as the Governor of Ekiti state. He said he met an excess debt profile of Thirty billion naira (N30b). 

Photo: Cross-section of Senators during screening

Fayemi said "I did not borrow to pay salaries. I only borrowed for capital projects." While answering Senator Uba's question on the educational system, he said

"We have not been able to do well in the Technical and Vocational part of our Educational Sector. We have a problem of enrolment. We need to do something about our Curriculum and Teacher Quality. We need to do something about our educational quality and quality of our Teachers. We need to make our Public Schools attractive and all this boils down to enrolment". 

On the judicial system, Fayemi said the prison is filled with people who have no access to justice. 

Chief Audu Ogbeh was invited to the floor to speak on his prior public service experience. Chief Audu during his address said he has been into agriculture since he left office in 1983. He said every local government in Nigeria should have extensions to teach Nigerians how to farm. 

Ogbonnaya Onu took thr floor after Chief Audu. He spoke on power generation pointing out alternatives. 

"We have abundance of coal in some parts of the country, we need to use coal for power generation. Renewable energy is important, either directly or indirectly as it is done in Brazil."

Onu said unemployment cannot be reduced unless there is an increase in production. He ended his address by saying we should not be afraid of our present problems but be happy that it can be solved. He took his bow and left. 

Next was Dr. Osagie Ehanire from Edo State. Ehanire responded to series of questions concerning majorly the health sector. He pointed out the lack of proper system of management in the hospitals coupled with corruption. 

Also, he stated that patients get more respect from private hospitals than they get from public. Availability of equipment, trained staff & affordability of the service are the problems of health care, Ehanire said. 

Next was Lt. General Abdulrahman Dambazzau from Kano state. He rolled out his experiences in the military. Senator Wakili launched the questions series for Gen. Abdulrahman.

It was the turn of Alhaji Lai Mohammed. Some senators shouted 'Bow and Go' as soon as he took to the floor but the Senate President, Bukola Saraki asked thr lawmakers to allow him speak and answer some questions.

Alh. Lai Mohammed however said he might have ruffled some feathers in his course of duties but it wasn't personal. In his words:

"My mission/vision if confirm minister is; i'll be passionate committed & patriotic as I was when I was in government" 

Amina Ibrahim took to the center stage after Lai Mohammed. She is from Gombe state. The nominee who had earlier faced some petition from the state based on origin scaled through the screening after talking about developmental goals.

She noted that she was part of a survey which had 25M Nigerians respondents who say they want 'Good government, Good Healthcare system and Jobs'. She said the SDGs will be incorporated into Nigeria's vision 2020.

Next on the stand was Engr. Suleiman Hussaini Adamu from Jigawa. Adamu wasted no time in listing some of the factors militating against our development.
#MinisterialScreening

Because of budgetary concerns, we take on cheaper labour that brings about poor quality results. The focus of F.C.T should be on satellite towns to improve their conditions of living

He also stated that project managers should always be carried along to get the best out of awarded projects.

After Audu took his bow, it was the turn of Mr. Ibrahim Usman Jibril. He talked on issues of resettlement and thr inconsistent policies in land allocating which is the main cause of half-hazard allocations.

With Jibril as the last nominee screened for the day, the Senate President asked him to take a bow and leave. The Senate adjourn til the next legislative day, 14th October.