* Intrigues As President Tinubu Sacks Imam Barely One Week Into His Appointment
* Why He Dropped Okotete From Ministerial List
* The Fact and fiction of Their Backstories
Where he expected a nourishment of mutton, Imam Kashim Imam was fed a stinky gruel of broken bones. Just when he was settling to savour the perks and thrills of his appointment as the new Chairman of the Board of Directors, Federal Roads Maintenance Agency (FERMA), the 24-year-old got dropped like damp coal in a cold hearth.
Indeed, a blessing we do not understand or are ill-prepared for can be a curse. Ask Imam.
At the heel of the shrill backlash that trailed Imam’s appointment to the high office, President Bola Tinubu directed the withdrawal of the appointment granted to the 24-year-old with immediate effect.
Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Ajuri Ngelale, announced the decision in a statement he signed on Thursday titled ‘President Tinubu directs withdrawal of FERMA chairmanship nomination.’
Imam was dropped barely a week after President Tinubu appointed him as board chairman of FERMA.
Tinubu hitherto reconstituted the Governing Board and Management team of FERMA for a renewable term of four years.
Imam, the son of Borno-born politician Kashim Ibrahim-Imam, who ran for the Office of Governor of his State on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in 2003 and 2007, losing both times to the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP)’s Ali Modu Sheriff, was reportedly gifted the job as a form of compensation to his father, who stood by President Tinubu while he vied for Nigeria’s number one office.
To the consternation of Mr President and the recipient family, Imam’s appointment generated unanticipated backlash. A lot of eyebrows were raised in several quarters on the appointment of the 24-year-old.
Many accused the presidency of using public offices to reward his private cronies and their wards or lackeys. The appointment of Imam, a fresh graduate who had no prior experience in private or public enterprise was deemed ill-advised.
The social media was abuzz as netizens debated his appointment; while some Nigerians condemned his choice for such a sensitive post, others applauded it.
A concerned party noted that “His father is currently the chairman of the board of the TETFund. That’s not even the issue. Yes, it is good to appoint youths to positions of responsibility. Nonetheless, appointing a fresh graduate, with no cognate experience, into such a sensitive position is ill-advised. The truth is that Tinubu doesn’t seem to be getting it right with appointments made so far.”
On his part, All Progressives Congress (APC) chieftain, Femi Fani-Kayode, said the appointment gives hope to the younger generation.
He said, “I am deeply inspired and encouraged by the appointment of our son Imam Ibrahim Kashim-Imam as the Chairman of FERMA. This gives hope to the younger generation and clearly shows that Nigeria rewards and utilises the talents of those who are highly qualified and who have a good pedigree. I have known Ibrahim since he was born and I can testify to his ability, excellence and brilliance. His distinguished and highly respected grandfather, Alhaji Ibrahim Imam, was a great force in the politics of the First Republic, Secretary of the then-ruling NPC, one of the founders and patrons of the Borno Youth Movement and a leading member of the Northern House of Assembly.
His equally illustrious father, one of my oldest and dearest friends and brothers, Alhaji Kashim Ibrahim-Imam, is a dogged fighter and first-class politician and one of those who contributed so much to the victory of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu during the presidential election. He is also one of the most brilliant, forthright, reliable, honest, courageous and credible forces in Nigerian politics today, he served as Special Advisor and Senate Presidential Liason Officer in the Government of President Olusegun Obasanjo and served as Chairman of TETFUND in President Muhamadu Buhari’s administration. I have little doubt that Ibrahim will follow in his grandfather’s and father’s footsteps and do exceedingly well.
In the wake of the heated debate generated by his appointment, Imam’s appointment was withdrawn by President Tinubu.
They noted that Imam’s withdrawal was reminiscent of a similar situation involving Maryam Shettima, popularly known as Maryam Shetty, who had her ministerial appointment withdrawn just hours before her scheduled Senate screening.
Shetty, from Kano State, had arrived at the Senate and was waiting to be screened when news of the withdrawal broke.
It would be recalled that former ministerial nominee, Stella Okotete, suffered the same fate a few weeks ago. Immediately President Tinubu nominated the NEXIM Bank ED for a ministerial role in his cabinet, the social space erupted with uncomplimentary news and rumours about her. Apologists of Okotete, however, dismissed the allegations against her as products of malice. Some argued that her traducers find it challenging to understand how the 39-year-old has been able to achieve so much at such a young age and without a powerful godfather.
To this many have responded that Okotete isn’t the most brilliant or accomplished among her peers – both male and female – hence they adduce her inexplicable rise in politics and her career to the patronage and intervention of some very powerful godfathers. They argue that many who have no such backing have been left to roast and waste away the curbside of politics and the corporate business sector.
After all the hue and cry, she was dropped as a ministerial nominee by President Bola Tinubu.
Like the proverbial fantasist who counted her chicks before they got hatched, Okotete engaged in her victory dance too early for starters.
Okotete cruises on the rough deep of life, it would seem. For a woman plagued by infinite storms, the only thing that endures is her character or her lack of it. From a timid, shy girl seeking her place in a world of monsters, she has grown into a woman of strapping repute and appreciable lineament, who could no longer be frightened by the onslaught of malicious odds.
Yet her status and wealth are negligible illusions. The Executive Director (ED) of the Nigerian Export-Import (NEXIM) Bank has learnt the hard way that the political arena is remarkably different from the boardroom.
And going by her recent experience, she must have learnt, that, a politician’s grace, is nothing more than the quintessence of all the accomplishments or misdeeds collecting around a trumped-up name.
Against the backdrop of Okotete and Imam’s appointment and subsequent sack, some other school of thought has argued that the appointment of young Nigerians, like the duo, into big political offices, should be seen as a positive sign and affirmation of President Tinubu’s desire to use his administration to facilitate greater inclusion and participation of young Nigerians in government.
This is also in tandem with his campaign promise to involve the youth in public governance.
It is also in step with the spirit of the Not-Too-Young-To-Run, NTYTR, Act signed by former President Muhammadu Buhari on May 21, 2018. This Act was a culmination of agitations for the replacement of the old and tired oligarchs with vibrant young people to rejuvenate the engine of governance for greater productivity.
There is no gainsaying Nigeria’s youths have always proved their mettle when accorded positions in public offices. History attests to this as very few of Nigeria’s founding fathers were above 35 at the time of the country’s independence.
Recall that the late Sam Ikoku joined the Obafemi Awolowo’s Action Group, AG, and defeated his father, the illustrious educationist, Dr. Alvan Ikoku, 66, in an election to the Eastern Region House of Assembly in March 1957 at the age of 34.
Likewise, Navy Lieutenant Alfred Diete-Spiff was appointed as the Military Governor of the newly-created Rivers State in 1967 when he was 24 and had just returned from training abroad.
Notwithstanding these remarkable firsts in the annals of Nigeria’s public offices, the country seems unprepared to welcome the seamless inclusion of youngsters as administrators in public offices and governance in general.
Now that Imam and Okotete’s appointments have been withdrawn, sources close to the duo and the presidency revealed that there are plans to compensate them with lucrative positions in some other public offices.
There is no gainsaying that both Imam and Okotete were traumatised by their initial appointments and the sudden loss of the plum offices given to them.
It’s certainly a tragic denouement of their supposedly good fortune. And it happened just when their families and friends rolled out the drums and carpets to felicitate with them.
