KEN UGBECHIE
President Muhammadu Buhari, even with his own weakness, does not deserve the cabinet he currently has. And much more, some of the appointees that dot his government should never have been there. The economy is dipping further into the cesspit because most of the appointees in ministries and parastatals are just not good enough for their portfolios. Perhaps, they could function effectively elsewhere but certainly not at their current stations.
And it’s all because party decision had to prevail. They were recommended and appointed as reward for their loyalty and commitment to the ruling party or for the loyalty of those who recommended them for such appointments. Any surprise therefore why they are not manifesting the requisite sublime qualities needed to collectively galvanise the economy to get the nation out of recession.
At a time like this, the nation needs creative and innovative managers, not routine supervisors. After one year in the saddle as ministers, it is hard to point to results and accomplishments which one can ascribe to most of the present crop of ministers.
Pray, what is the Minister of Sports, Solomon Dalung, doing in Buhari’s cabinet? He is not the right man for the job. It is curious that matters of youth and sports development were entrusted into his shaky, ungainly hands. Mr. Dalung is grossly incoherent in speech and it is obvious he does not understand the basics of sports administration and youth development. His handling of issues advertises him as a man shorn of ideas. In the matter of the Dream Team which got stranded in Atlanta en route to the Olympics in Brazil, he displayed a below par administrative skill. His wass not a case of honest mistake; it was a case of malignant incompetence.
A sports minister of Nigeria, a nation with a strong sporting pedigree in Africa, a nation noted globally for its style of robust football with brands like Kanu Nwankwo and Jay Jay Okocha as evidence, should know better than Dalung. He should be someone who will command the respect of the administrators and players of the different sports. Dalung does not command respect. He does not inspire confidence either. When he speaks, he stutters, not because he is a stammerer. No! It’s symptomatic of a man lacking in ideas. This is not the type of minister that would develop Nigerian youths and sports. Upon his appointment, sport was in a sorry state. Dalung was appointed as the physician to put life back to the nation’s dying sports. Never! Instead of revival, sports, all sports, have suffered recession in his hands. Buhari does not deserve such minister especially in this moment of economic recession. Mr. Buhari should say so long to Dalung and shoo him out.
Kemi Adeosun is Nigeria’s minister of finance. You cannot fault her finesse in spoken English. She speaks with a British accent and it comes natural to her. Brilliant when she talks but the portfolio of managing the nation’s finances at this time requires far more than an eloquent woman or man. Managing the finances of a state government is not the same as managing that of a nation especially one that lays claim to being Africa’s largest economy. Such portfolio at this time requires someone with a strong international clout; someone who can command the respect of Bretton Woods institutions (World Bank and IMF). Such a person must be conversant with international economic management, must be familiar with undercurrents and subtle lobbying that define international trade, monetary policies and associated behind-the-veil transactions that have come to hallmark the international financial markets. Mrs. Adeosun may be excellent in handling another portfolio but not managing the nation’s finances in a recession. Buhari should look for the right person to help him fix the economy.
On Tuesday, the Senate without wasting time turned down the request from Mr. President to borrow the sum of $29.96 billion (N9.12 trillion). One of the reasons adduced by the Senate for its action was that the request to borrow was not matched with a breakdown (borrowing plan) of how to spend the money. This is an indictment on the Finance Ministry as well as the Ministry of Budget and Planning. If there was any borrowing plan, the Senate should know about it. It cannot approve and appropriate blindly. But I wager there was no such plan. The nation just wants to borrow first before it begins to think of what to do with such stupendous amount. The President needs a fresh team in this regard.
There is a minister of Labour and Productivity. His name is Chris Ngige, a medical doctor, senator and former governor of Anambra State. Under Ngige, for no fault of his, more jobs had been lost than those created. The ministry that is supposed to see to the creation of more jobs has superintended the loss of thousands of jobs. What a cruel paradox! But Ngige has not helped matters, either. When the Federal Government mopped all its cash in commercial banks and locked them up in the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) in the name of Treasury Single Account, the aftermath was predictable. Commercial banks would be starved of deposits and the net effect would be job cuts. And it so happened. And what did Ngige do? The minister simply issued an order to banks to stop forthwith all retrenchments and recall those already retrenched. That’s not the language of someone who wants to create jobs; it’s the therapy of someone who does not know what to do. Ngige ought not to weary retrenching banks with his military-style order; he should think of how to create more jobs and opportunities in the nation’s information communications technology sector, in agriculture beyond the noise and clatter from the ministry of agriculture.
Time is running out on this government so also is the fountain of goodwill that heralded Buhari to power. The President must do something about his appointees fast. He does not need what a colleague calls Power-point ministers: those ministers who have a mastery of theoretical presentations via Power-point. He needs ministers who speak less but acts more; he needs ministers who would take action and not those who would brilliantly and most eloquently explain why action should not be taken at all.
If Buhari fails to take action and breathe life into his cabinet, he runs the risk of being remembered as the man who came but failed to conquer. The President may need to look beyond party lines to assemble his team. They do not have to be politicians; they do not need party affiliations. There are key ministries that drive other ministries. The Minister of Communication, for instance, should be an engineer conversant with communications technology; not an analogue-minded politician who would play politics with such an enabler sector.
If Buhari does not appoint the right ministers, the anticipated borrowing of funds may end up in the wrong hands as did other funds borrowed in the past. I am for borrowing of funds but such borrowing under this present crop of ministers may just be another misadventure. The President does not need to change all the ministers but his cabinet sure needs fresh legs with even fresher minds.