Keyamo’s N52bn brief

Welcome dear reader and I also welcome members of the National Assembly some of whom, during the week realised that the forces behind an arrow are beyond the bow. I hope the few minutes it would take you to read this would be worth the while, and I hope to make it worth the effort. I will strive to make the writing worthy of your time. Welcome once again, and I pray you please follow me on this journey with an open mind. I don’t mind open arms too – male or female, young and old.

The month of June ended on a varying mode of high and I pray that July would be a breather. The death and burial of former Governor Abiola Ajimobi of Oyo State was still the raging issue until the month was capped by that stormy visit of Mr. Festus Keyamo (SAN) to the National Assembly.

Keyamo, who is the Minister of State for Labour, Employment and Productivity had a session of unfettered riles with members of a joint committee of the National Assembly on Tuesday. The issue in focus here isn’t the programmes designed by the Federal Government to see to the biting poverty in the land, it’s that shameful altercation between Mr. Keyamo and the distinguished lawmakers.

I saw a determined Minister Keyamo making sure that he’s not cowed by the members of the National Assembly, his hosts. And he stood his ground so stoically like a resolute lawyer until the current owners of the house showed him the door. From a casual interpretation, it appeared like a direct confrontation between members of the executive and legislative arms of government.

Interestingly, it was not how the Federal Government’s innovative but now controversial Special Public Works Programme (SPWP) 2020 will run smoothly that marred the meeting.  It was also not how the two arms of government would ensure a transparent implementation of the token that drew the ire of the contending powers. It was simply mutual suspicion and entitlement mentality.

Keyamo had accused the lawmakers of pointing fingers at him and by extension, the executive on issues surrounding the appointment of a 20-man committee to drive the scheme. He said he therefore sought to be heard to explain his work towards the take off the programme in the presence of the media since the allegations against him were also in like manner. But the members of the National Assembly joint committee refused his plea. It appeared just that simple but the forces behind an arrow are much more than the bow. There obviously is more to the issue than meets the eye.

Mr. Keyamo’s unspoken words to show his disdain and disrespect to the members of the joint committee were not properly veiled. In a statement he issued to maintain his ground that the National Assembly is just there to pass unbinding resolutions and make ineffective recommendations, he said “I never walked out on the respected committees as they may want to bend the narrative.”

To the committee members, he was emphatic in his statement before them that all they could do was make recommendations to the plenary. As a senior lawyer, he had argued strongly from the standpoint of the Constitution and made his submissions. He had also set it before them that the Executive executes and that their best could be oversight, after which they could only still make recommendations or resolutions.

Keyamo SAN said: “I regret to say that their powers under section 88 of the 1999 constitution are only limited to investigations but not to give directive to the executive. A committee or committees of both houses do not even have powers to pass binding resolutions. They can only make recommendations to the plenary. In this case, even the plenary cannot give directives to the executive.”

To cap it all, he gave the distinguished lawmakers a peek of where his own powers were actually coming from: “The joint committees purportedly suspended the work of the selection committees nationwide until they decide how the programme should be run and who should be in those committees. My opinion is that it is tantamount to challenging the powers of Mr. President.”

While Keyamo, via his statement, seems like a raging bull, the NASS members have come appearing easy and have slithered their response through to the public and dared Keyamo and his committees to continue work. The suspension of the implementation committees was first announced by the chairman of the joint committees on Labour, Employment and Productivity, Senator Godiya Akwashiki, who held that the NASS and NDE knew of an eight-man implementation committee of the SPWP “so how did the minister arrive at a 20-man committee?” The question might seem like cornering Keyamo, but what do I know? Na dem dem…

To further expand the frontier of the feud, the Senate through Bashiru Ajibola, its spokesperson, reiterated that the committees must stop work and that if the president felt that his powers were being encroached, “he can go to court.”

The Senate’s disposition appears to be that of child of a fire is the best emissary to the fire. But while the controversy rages the executive and legislature must remember that Nigerians are under their feet and are currently suffocating.

It might appear trite but it’s always true that when two elephants fight, the grass suffer. Sadly, the entire attention on this job opportunity has shifted from what drop of good it is in this frugal, menial times. NASS, FG and all in such positions have a duty to serve Nigeria and Nigerians indeed.

Considering the killing economic conditions Nigerians daily contend with, millions will see this 774,000-job opportunity as a true oasis in the desert, even though it has been scheduled to last just three months ‘in the first instance’. We should therefore be saved the ongoing brickbats so that they can think of what would become of the eventual beneficiaries after the three months.

The 1,000 beneficiaries per local government are expected to earn N20,000 each per month. It might look like a gba ma pa mi (take and let me be) sort of offer considering the N52 billion budget, but getting it from October till December would still mean a lot to hungry Nigerians.

We need to ponder like Senator Ifeanyi Ubah noted, “how much is N20,000?” and they must deeply reflect on this tiny drop.

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