In our series of letters from African journalists,
Mannir Dan Ali looks at how Nigeria is coping
without a cabinet. It is now three months since Muhammadu Buhari
was sworn in as president of Nigeria and five
months since he won historic elections, the first
time an opposition candidate had won. His victory generated huge celebrations and
expectations of a new beginning, with many
anticipating dramatic changes to follow, and
analysts urging him to "hit the ground running". Most Nigerians expected President Buhari to shake
up the security services and make other key
appointments in his first few days - as former
President Olusegun Obasanjo did within hours of his
inauguration in 1999. But it took nearly two months for him to replace his
security chiefs and so far he has only made
appointments in about a dozen government offices. When commentators began to get agitated about the
lack of a cabinet, a former newspaper editor and
unofficial aide to the president wrote an article
entitled What is all the fuss about? He urged the press, social media and others to
focus on the "real enemies of Nigeria: poverty,
ignorance, disease and squalor" and not stand in the
way of "the most popular president in our history". "The new government came into power through
people's power…. Therefore, its duty should be to
constructively plan and execute people's policies
and not worry too much about who gets what post,"
he said. He is right up to a point - though the new democratic
halo around President Buhari does make it difficult
for many to publicly criticise him. 'State of decay' A leak from the highest level then said there would
not be a cabinet before September. The justification, according to the source, was that
"almost everything is in a state of decay". "There is absolutely no way the new government
can hope to achieve anything long-lasting without
first building a new foundation." This was followed by an opinion article by President Buhari published in the Washington Post to coincide with his visit to the US last month,
making further justifications about why the task
"should not be rushed". "It is worth noting that [US President Barack]
Obama himself did not have his full cabinet in place
for several months after first taking office; the
United States did not cease to function in the
interim," he said. "In Nigeria's case, it would neither be prudent nor
serve the interests of sound government to have
made these appointments immediately on my
elevation to the presidency; instead, Nigeria must
first put new rules of conduct and good governance
in place." 'Keeps things close to his chest' The commentators are now learning to live with
President Buhari's pace of governance. He has been dealing directly with the top civil
servants, who run the ministries. Mannir Dan Ali: "With the briefings he is getting from civil servants,
the ministers, when they are eventually appointed,
will find that their boss knows more about their
departments than they do" Though it is not only the cabinet that is not yet in
place. Just after he took office in May, the senate said he
was allowed to appoint 15 special advisers. Yet only a few have been appointed and there is
currently no adviser on the national assembly to
serve as a link between the executive and
legislature. This could be seen as a mistake given the current
friction between the presidency and the senate over
the election of the chamber's president, who was not
the ruling party's chosen candidate. Meanwhile, it is the politicians who are suffering
most from the lack of a cabinet. On a visit to a newspaper a few days ago, a
spokesman for the ruling All Progressives Congress
(APC), Alhaji Lai Mohammed, admitted that no-one
in the party knew when the appointments would be. "The president I know has kept this thing very close
to his chest." Muhammadu Buhari profile: The 72-year-old is first Nigerian opposition
candidate to win a presidential election Military ruler of Nigeria from 1984 to 1985 until
deposed in a coup Poor human rights record during that time and a
disciplinarian - civil servants late for work had to
do frog jumps A Muslim from northern Nigeria, he is seen as
incorruptible Buhari's to-do list Is Buhari a changed man? However, it is not only the politicians who are in a
limbo. Many sectors of the economy await policy direction.
Following Mr Buhari's pledges to make tackling
corruption a priority, they want clarity on how to
proceed. This is also making foreign investors wary. So while it is clear that President Buhari has shown
that Nigeria can run without a cabinet, there may be
an unacknowledged cost. On the bright side, with the briefings he is getting
from civil servants, the ministers, when they are
eventually appointed, will find that their boss knows
more about their departments than they do - and
that should keep them on their toes.
Culled from BBC

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