Early on Friday, August 4, just when the Senate had convened to begin the screening of the second batch of the 19 ministerial nominees submitted by President Bola Tinubu, the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, read out a letter from the President at the plenary session.
The president yanked off Dr Maryam Ibrahim Shettima’s name, the nominee from Kano State, from the list and replaced it with Dr Mariya Mairiga Mahmud. President Tinubu also added Festus Keyamo’s name to the already bloated list. Keyamo was a Minister of State for Labour and Productivity in former President Muhammadu Buhari’s cabinet. No reason was given by Tinubu for the replacement, but THEWILL went digging and discovered from multiple reliable sources that not only was Maryam nominated by Femi Gbajabiamila, the Chief of Staff to the President, she is in fact alleged to be in an amorous relationship with him.
Maryam was drafted to be in the All Progressives Congress Presidential Campaign Committee Team Field Operations. She also served as a member of the Youth and Women Presidential Campaign Team, specifically focusing on Strategic Communication and was expected to utilise a variety of media platforms to express positive opinions on Tinubu and the party and consequently, sway her audience to vote for him in the general election.
Unfortunately, she was unable to deliver on the task. This explains why a few people who were privy to her woeful performance were alleged to have been dismayed that she was on the ministerial nominee list. Ironically, when she got a phone call that she had been nominated to be minister, she was visibly shaken and she quickly knelt down, forehead to the ground, to thank Allah for the honour. She then went on to give a speech about how God will bless Tinubu who is a patriotic person that loves Nigeria immensely. One wonders if she still thinks the same of him after her replacement.
For many who do not know, Maryam holds a Masters’s Degree in Sports Physiotherapy from East London University, Stratford, UK. Her career in physiotherapy, combined with her social entrepreneurship and educational philanthropy, has earned her recognition as one of Africa’s influential young leaders. She has worked with top-tier athletes including world record holder, Jamaica’s Usain Bolt. She has an Honorary Degree from the ESGT University of Technology, Benin Republic. She obtained a certificate and became a practitioner of Kingian Non-Violence, inspired by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. from Emory University in the United States. She runs the ‘We Believe Movement,’ an independent, non-governmental initiative aimed at promoting a national rebirth based on viable ethos and active citizenship.
Ivory Ukonu is a versatile journalist with many years of experience, with entertainment and society reporting as her area of core competence.
