19 Nov 2008 |
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Bode Agusto: Will Affliction Rise A Second Time? If Bode Agusto makes it at the Ministerial screening at the Senate this time around it will be a testimony to the fact that here in our Nigeria all manner of oddities are possible. In the business of absurdities, we can beat our chest that ‘We Can’. When Yar’Adua first recommended Bode for ministerial appointment, nothing prepared him (Bode) for the shock he was to receive at the Senate because at that time, Obasanjo had just left Aso Rock and the traces of his influence had yet to be washed off from the Presidency which had cowed the previous legislature into subservient status, dancing to every tune emanating from the Aso Villa. With David Mark, a sworn ‘Obasanjo-man’ heading the new Senate, he had expected ease of passage at the screening, but got the opposite. The Senate said in no uncertain terms that Bode was unfit to be Minister. In all fairness, Agusto is a brilliant man, a qualified accountant and finance expert, who managed the Budget Office during the last dispensation efficiently, at least by our standards. He has a proven record of success in the financial sector and those who are close to him also have this testimony about him that he is very frugal with resources, a virtue most desirable in a public officer. But as it is often very common with brilliant men, he comes across as a very arrogant and pompous personality. So when the Senate refused to approve his nomination, the fact of his arrogance came handy as a reason. Bode was reported to have told the distinguished Senators that their questions were better directed to his eight-year old daughter. Nobody found this funny. The Senators saw this as contempt. Even then many an analyst cried foul, querying the rationale for using a subjective criteria like humility as a yardstick to measure capability. It was also reported that Chief Agusto was instrumental to poor implementation of national budgets during his tenure as the DG budget office. Other senators cited the fear that he would be loyal to the former President and may likely take instructions from him in regards to the implementation of some economic policies he initiated before leaving office. Asked to comment on the screening, Senator Bala Muhammad Duguri [ANPP, Bauchi] had told the Daily Trust reporter that Bode Augusto was unfit to be Minister as he had been frustrating the implementation of the national budgets and uses disparaging language on the National Assembly. He said, "Bode Agusto was dropped because he is unfit, not because he is intellectually unfit but because of his conduct, because of his bad antecedent, because of his repugnant attitude towards the implementation of the budget in the past eight years. He is somebody who has frustrated the National Assembly, somebody who has frustrated the ministries, departments and agencies in terms of budgetary implementation, and somebody who does not have respect for the Senate. His arrogance during the screening exercise was very evident, so most Senators found it untenable". So If Yar’ Adua has decided to send Bode’s name again to the Senate for ministerial appointment, then the question one would ask is what has changed about Agusto? Has the leopard changed her spots? Or has he become ‘born-again’? I am waiting to see how the Senate will handle Agusto’s screening this time around. Will they be wiser now and direct their (childish) questions to the man’s 8-year old daughter or still make the same mistake and stand the risk if being mortified by Agusto? Or will they hire the services of professional examiners to set tougher questions deserving of or Agusto’s personal reply? If Bode makes it this time, it will not be due to a fundamental change in his personality or experience or any of those factors that contributed to his earlier rejection. It would be more due to a change in circumstances both within the Senate and the PDP as a party. Yar’Adua may have also gauged the mood of the Senate and noticed the mellowing down from the vigorous zeal of the early days of this Senate to a more ‘settled’ and perhaps compromised body. What will happen to the records of the Senate as related to Bode’s previous screening, which he failed to pass? Will the Senate re-write history to give Bode a new name? Or would they simply ignore the past? Perhaps, Agusto may just need to show some humility to the Senate this time, having learnt his lessons in the ‘purgatory’ to which his earlier rejection by the senate sent him. Obviously the Senate may not wish to be seen as having a preconceived agenda against Bode and hence may be compelled to accept him on’moral’ grounds. Thus Yar’Adua may have subtly outsmarted the Senate as the they may feel morally bound to clear Agusto this time because even the Bible says affliction should not rise a second time. But this will put a big question on the integrity of the Senate. In other lands, it would have been a Herculean task for them to justify to the public the approval of the same person they termed unfit to be Minister barely a year ago. But trust our Senators. As Nigerian politicians, they don’t need to come up with any coherent reasons for this or any other thing for that matter. They have the liberty to speak from both sides of the same mouth not minding which principles of integrity are violated. In fact listening to Nigerian politicians could be the most frustrating and nightmarish experience for someone who looks out for meaning from words. The more they talk the less meaning they make. Politics, after all, was defined by someone as the art of using many words to say nothing. So I will not be surprised if they now turn round to tell the world that their earlier rejection of Agusto was a mistake. In which case, it should call for resignation of the Senate President because, the ‘mistake’ of the Senate, of which he is head, may have denied the country the good services of a competent hand this past one year, who was sacrificed on the alter of politics. On the other hand, would the Senate have the courage to stand their ground and tell Yar’Adua that a bad product is a bad product any day and thus reject him a second time? Nigerians are watching. Let me conclude this piece by stating that I am impressed with the presence of Dora Akunyilii on this list but a bit disappointed that Y’Adua could not bring up many fresh names in the polity. Most of the other names are just recycled stuff with nothing new to offer. It also does not seem to have fulfilled his promise to bring in technocrats to man key ministries. Apart from Dora and maybe Arc.Bunu Uwais, the rest are ‘active’ politicians who have been around political cycles for a while and do not fit into the description of ‘technocrat’. Lukman may be very experienced and exposed, but at 70, he is too old for the active role of a minister. Having been Nigeria's Minister of Foreign Affairs (1989-90), OPEC President (1986-89), Minister, Petroleum Resources (1986-89) and Nigerian Minister Mines, Power and Steel (1984-85), I think Lukman has contributed his quota to nation building and should be allowed to rest.
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