By Cosmas Omegoh, Lagos
These are happy days for former Minister of State for Labour and Employment, Festus Keyamo (SAN). He is obviously in Cloud Nine at the moment, savouring every bit of the time he spends there.
But who will be Keyamo not feel ire? Keyamo almost missed out as President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s ministerial nominee. Even when his name finally made the list on August 4 as the 48th person, the Senate almost dumped him out.
But now, it is almost as sure as the day will follow night that Keyamo would be a minister again, the second time in a row.
Perhaps Keyamo’s heart ached endlessly wondering what his sins were after Tinubu left him out. Tongues had begun wagging, and questions were asked. Was that an oversight on the part of Tinubu, or a mistake or an outright snub?
Most people had believed that if there was anyone Tinubu was going to appoint from Delta State, Keyamo was the one. Keyamo was looking like the anointed one, given that he was Bola Tinubu’s presidential campaign spokesman – a job he gave his all. He made enemies in the course of duty, sight set on the rewards that awaited him after the victory song. He had waited for his appointment as minister for reasons of “political patronage,” or as compensation for work done. It was more of “his turn” to come and “chop” than come and work, a practice that has seen Nigeria cascading into the plains.
Therefore, one could read Keyamo’s mind when he plunged into his job as a presidential campaign spokesperson. He manifestly overreached himself. In some instances, he went overboard, saying unsavoury things. He once told Nigerians that the “jungle will soon mature.” Those who heard him said the statement was pregnant with meaning. Did that prefigure people’s belief in the alleged behind the scene deals of his party, the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the elections whose outcomes are still being fiercely challenged?
In the days leading to the elections, those who followed Keyamo’s trajectory will tell you he acted more like an attack dog. In some instances, he was vulgar. Some people insist he threw caution to the winds, raising doubts about himself, his Senior Advocate status and his appellation. People believed he ought to have carried on with dignity and decorum.
However, those who defended Keyamo with their blood held he was right. They held that politics is like war. And in war, all is fair. They held on to the Machiavellian standard that “the end justifies the means.” That, thus, bolstered Keyamo who seemingly went on a spree.
But now, all that is history. His APC party has hit the commanding heights, straddling the affairs of an estimated 200m Nigerians with gusto.
Indeed, time changes everything. That is an English aphorism as ancient as the hill. Time changes even itself; there is nothing it cannot alter including mankind.
In Nigerian political space, we have seen avowed Marxists jettisoning their time-honoured Marxist ideologies and idiosyncrasies to embrace the bourgeois values they once condemned. In some instances, such individuals have been accused of embezzling humongous sums. Nigerians have seen clerics who frequented churches and mosques placing their hands on the till. Teachers nowadays are molesting their pupils; parents are abusing their own. A culture of anomie has been belted.
When, therefore, Keyamo plunged straight into politics a few years ago, perhaps not many were surprised. He had become an activist turned politician. Why APC, some people asked.
Before the Keyamo metamorphosis, he was so friendly with the media. He cannot deny that it was the media that made him. At that time, Keyamo was always speaking to the media on anything and everything. He was every newsman’s delight. Like his mentor, the late iconic Gani Fawehemi, he spoke for the people and stood with the people.
Many believed if Keyamo ventured into politics, he would go for a people’s party. He would invent people-centred agenda.
When, therefore, Keyamo joined the APC, he left some of his followers aghast, wondering if APC’s ways and words were in tandem with what he earlier stood for and professed.
Each time Keyamo was seen stoutly defending the sheepish Muhammadu Buhari government, some of his many followers counted it that they had lost one of their own, although some insisted he was merely doing his job. When he mounted the mountain as a minister, the gulf between him and his former constituency widened. Was that the Keyamo many used to know, some people wondered.
But Keyamo has a right to live his life the way he wanted, many contended. No one is entitled to dictate to him.
When, therefore, the 9th National Assembly in 2020, invited him to explain some grey areas in the employment scheme under his watch, which saw to the recruitment of 774,000 Nigerians into the public works programme, he allegedly ignore them. But he forget it was not over yet.
When he recently appeared before the 10th National Assembly – because he earnestly needed their imprimatur to be a minister again, they cornered him.
A member of that Assembly had raised the matter. And that led to the suspension of his confirmation.
When Keyamo appeared before the Assembly again, this time, they handed him a humble pie. “I apologise to the Senate. I’m sorry. I’m sorry and I’m sorry,” he toned as he seemingly sobered up.
Then he explained: “Regarding that programme, the account was handled by the World Bank. So, we, the head of the agencies never saw one kobo. We only generated the list and the money was paid directly to the people’s account.”
Perhaps, not many were satisfied with the Keyamo defence. But what else would anyone do?
In a true democracy, power belongs to the people. But regrettably, the Nigerian people have been stripped of their power. They are rather harangued and helmed in.
As it were, Kayamo has passed the Assembly “sugar” test that passes for screening which some people rather describe as a “charade.”
But wouldn’t rejection of Keyamo rather be unfair? After all, a number of persons have been cleared even when the dirty baggage they carried starred the lawmakers in the face. Such people were annoyingly accorded legislative privilege and asked to “take a bow,” and go.
Now, having come thus far, Keyamo is as good as becoming a minister under Tinubu. As he “hits the ground running,” all eyes are on him. Both his friends and foes will be looking to see how he will fare. Will he overcome those tantrums and get down to the business of reshaping and resetting a Nigeria in distress? Will he for all it is worth, forget politics and politicking and get the tasks assigned to him done? Will he cast aside his loquacious self and listen to dissenting voices out there in the wilderness eager to point to the way forward?
How he will answer these questions in the days ahead will remain to be seen!
