I watched Minister of State for Labour and Employment, Festus Keyamo’s two recent television interviews with absolute bewilderment. And if the situation in Nigeria was not so grim currently, one would laugh at the minister’s posturing during these conversations.
For starters, his appointment as a spokesperson for the Asiwaju Bola Tinubu/Kashim Shettima campaign council is confounding.
Keyamo is the junior minister for labour and employment, which is an all-time important portfolio anywhere in the world. It is more so in Nigeria, which is currently ravaged by all forms of unemployment, serial industrial actions and brain drain challenges. Unless the minister is as redundant as he makes the Office of the Vice President look in recent arguments, how does he plan to hold these two roles together without dropping the ball?
Spokesman-ship for a presidential campaign is a critical role requiring round-the-clock intellectual and emotional vigour. Without this, the holder of the office will succumb to cheap sentiments and become a cry-baby running after trifles. He or she will ultimately lose the plot and the grand opportunity to persuade. So, how does a minister of the federal republic, who should attend cabinet meetings and lead policies for national re-emergence, play these two roles effectively?
Even if we would not have this predictable role conflict, there is the question of how ethical it is for a minister, appointed to serve all Nigerians regardless of what they represent, to take this new role. It is untidy that successive governments in Nigeria mix public office with partisanship. This abuses the sensitivities of millions of Nigerians who don’t belong to political parties but fund public offices.
Beyond Keyamo’s qualifications, however, is his disposition and the responses that he gave to two key questions.
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Published by Punch Newspaper