Ask The Minister!
The Beer Parlour has it's first customer!
One of the aims of Beer Parlour Activism is to fight ignorance and misinformation among Nigerians. A BPA should normally have more knowledge to share than the average man on the street.
Personally I have often wondered how govt in Nigeria works. Yes we know in 'theory' how it's supposed to work but how does it actually work? How do decisions get made? How can one get ideas passed across to the highest levels of the Nigerian govt to the point where we as BPAs can influence change?
These questions are perhaps best answered by someone who has [or still is] been a part of the Nigerian govt at the highest level.
Our first customer is such a person.
Know Your Customer [KYC]
The person was one of Nigeria's most high profile ministers during President Obasanjo's second term. Very widely educated with qualifications in Law and Accounting.
Our customer held two different ministerial portfolios during President Obasanjo's second term and is today widely respected both in Nigeria and in the western world.
So as to not prejudice the questions, I will not reveal the customer's name until after all questions have been submitted. Hopefully this will help keep things objective.
The Questions
The Customer has offered to answer questions from Beer Parlour Activists on the workings of the Nigerian govt based on the person's experience in govt as a minister.
We are looking for questions from BPAs based around the following
What can a Nigerian minster do and not do?
How do contracts get approved? What is the process like?
How do budgets get allocated and what's the budget setting process like?
What's a typical FEC meeting like?
The above is by no means an exhaustive list [I have clearly run out of ideas] so please feel free to widen the terms of reference.
The whole purpose of this Beer Parlour session is to better understand the workings of the Nigerian govt and why it never seems to meet the aspirations of Nigerians.
Where possible, The Customer will try to use personal examples to answer the questions.
Please keep the questions as objective as possible. No long greetings and/or prayers necessary. Let your question go straight to the point.
Please include your name and country you currently reside in. If you are sending the questions from America, please include the state as well.
The last day for submission of questions is Friday 5th March 2010. 9pm UK Time. The Customer's name will be revealed immediately after the deadline has passed.
The best questions will be picked and submitted to The Customer to be answered. The answers will then be published on Facebook in a note form.
Please send your questions to naijabeerparlour@gmail.com before the deadline above, A team of 3 Barmen [editors] will choose the best questions to be forwarded to The Customer. Please do not be offended if your question does not make the final list...if we get a lot of questions we will be forced to cut out a few of them.
You are however allowed to send in more than one question.
Please not that this is not a PR exercise for the Nigerian government. The whole point is to gain an insight into how our government works because we are all shareholders in Nigeria Plc.
The honest truth is that a lot of us probably dont really understand how our government works and how decisions are made.
Please use your imagination and objectivity when sending your questions. Remember that as a BPA you are speaking on behalf of millions of Nigerians who cannot read, write, have no telephones, have no education and have no access to the internet or any means by which to speak to their representatives in government.
Hopefully some knowledge and insight will be gained from this process.
God bless the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
FF
Barman.
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