The Senate yesterday screened and confirmed four ministerial nominees sent to it by President Goodluck Jonathan.

They are former governor of Kano State, Mallam Ibrahim Shekarau, Prince Adedayo Adeyeye from Ekiti State, Dr. Abdul Bulama from Yobe State and Dr. Stephen Orise Oru from Delta State.

Senate President, David Mark, while congratulating the new ministers, charged them to make Nigeria their constituencies and not their states, or political parties. “We hope that whenever they are given portfolio, they will see Nigeria as their constituency and not their state or political parties,” Mark said.

The Senate President remarked happily that all the four candidates had particular competences in the area of education. Shekarau, while responding to questions on unemployment in the country, advised that the issue of skills acquisition for Nigerian students in the first three years of secondary education as envisioned in the 6-3-3-4 curriculum should be revisited by government and effectively implemented.

He stated that the skills acquisition component of the 6-3-3-4 education curriculum which started in 1976 with the implementation of Universal Primary Education (UPE) and followed up with importation of Introductory Technology Material from 1979- 1982, for skills acquisition by Junior Secondary pupils, would have, to a very large extent, assisted the country in the production of self reliant and self employed school leavers at that level on yearly basis if the programme had been implemented has envisioned.

According to him, “Part of the way out for our dear country on the problem of unemployment which breeds indiscipline, unrest, etc, in the country is for us to go back to the curriculum by making it to practically serve as catalyst for addressing the issue of unemployment of school leavers right from the classrooms.”

The former governor also listed the fixing of the power sector by the government as a critical factor that can assist in solving the problem of unemployment.

On why he defected to the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) from the All Progressives Congress (APC) without regard to party ideology, Shekarau said he didn’t defect on account of personal interest but prevailing circumstances of political development in his immediate environment.

His words: “There have been some inconsistencies in the polity. The issue of changing political parties, if you read the history of the Americans, too, they did worse than what we are doing at this stage.

“Ideologies are not imposed; it’s a matter of ongoing process. Gradually we are learning, we are trying to develop. Ideologies will become institutionalised by themselves.

These movements (defection) I don’t totally agree that all the time they are for personal interests. They are dictated by circumstances of the political development around the environment you are in. I am sure with time ideologies will be institutionalized.”

•Adapted from a National Mirror report. Photo shows Shekarau (second right) with Adeyeye, Bulama and Oru.

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