It is now more than six months since President Muhammadu Buhari was elected in a contest whose outcome was not challenged by the defeated incumbent. It is also 122 days since he was sworn into office. Yet for a man who spent 12 years seeking the presidency, and one who had led the country before, it is baffling that nobody can say for sure the direction of Buhari’s administration. And while it is evident that he needs help badly as the economy goes into a tailspin, Nigerians were willing to give him time to assemble a credible team.

In an Op-ed piece in “Washington Post” on July 20 this year, President Buhari wrote: “When cabinet ministers are appointed in September, it will be some months after I took the oath of office…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.”

 On September 7, President Buhari reiterated in Aburi, Ghana: “After I was sworn-in, I said I will have my cabinet in September. I expect that Nigerians should ask me questions after the 30th of September if I do not do so.” About three weeks later on September 26, his spokesman, On 26September, just last week, presidential spokesman, Mr. Femi Adesina told Vanguard Newspaper: “Time given has not yet elapsed and the president himself said if by September 30 there is no cabinet, you should come and ask him questions. That is it.”

With the foregoing assurances, the expectation has been that, with the release of the list of his ministerial nominees that has taken him forever to do, it would be easy to use the character of such people to hazard a guess as to where he is leading Nigeria. However, by the time the Senate adjourned their session yesterday afternoon, there was no such ministerial list. It was about 5pm yesterday that the Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki, revealed on his Twitter handle that he had just received the list of nominees.

At the end of the day, the names on the list, as I discovered last night, were people he could have picked a day after his inauguration on May 30 this year: A sitting APC senator from his (Katsina) state, former APC Governors from Lagos, Ekiti and Rivers            States, former APC Senator from Anambra State, defeated APC gubernatorial candidate from Taraba State, APC National Publicity Secretary who hails from Kwara State, a Third Republic Governor and APC supremo from Abia State and so on. 

While I have no problem with the nominees, the inability of President Buhari to have his cabinet in place six months after being elected--and without the distraction of facing any tribunal--may be symptomatic of what to expect from this administration. What is even more perplexing is that the president actually believed he could rely on civil servants who are always “directed” to do things (not based on their own initiatives) and never take responsibility for anything.

According to a Yoruba adage, it takes just one day to mess up but the consequences could reverberate for a whole lifetime. President Buhari came to office with enormous goodwill but he seems not to be concerned that he could easily fritter it away because of the way he is handling the issue of critical appointments. The point is that Nigeria is in dire straits and it would take assembling a strong and committed team for the president to get us out of the hole we are currently in. And that cannot take forever to do.

Regrettably, the Nigerian public expected rightly, that the president would have used the time of this delay to lay down the policy direction of his administration. That unfortunately did not happen. Therefore, even when the cabinet is fully convened, the ministers will still navigate their way through the thick fog of presidential silence to figure out exactly what this is all about.
http://www.thisdaylive.com/articles/shall-we-tell-the-president-/221598/
Cc lalasticlala

Reading...

SenseiX:
Olusegun Adeniyi reinforces what I felt after seeing the names on the list.
With all the razzmatazz,secrecy and delay about the ministerial list, it was very disappointing to see that it was peopled primarily by politicians with little or no technocrats. I Know this is just the first batch but it's quite disappointing. The sole non politician on the list was Jonathan's ex MDG's adviser Amina Mohammed who is now with the UN. Fashola will be a good fit in whatever role he occupies and maybe Fayemi.
Can't say much about the rest

I have to agree, PMB pandered too much to the politicians in that list, Fashola is the only egghead I noticed there, I want to believe there'll be technocrats in the succeeding batches.

#Buhari and his saintly ministers

LordVarys:

I have to agree, PMB pandered too much to the politicians in that list, Fashola is the only egghead I noticed there, I want to believe there'll be technocrats in the succeeding batches.

I doubt it really....i just want to see who becomes Finance Minister, heard that nominee is not in this batch. Since Ogun has Kemi Adeosun, it won't be Wale Edun, Since Lagos has Fashola it won't be Cardoso, since Anambra has Ngige, it's unlikely to be Soludo.

So these are the kind of names Nigeria had to wait a these months for? What a big joke! Buhari is just not serious.

For the sycophants who'll want to call Adeniyi a wailer, he was Yar’Adua's spokesman, chairs the Thisday's Editorial Board, criticized Jonathan when necessary and is very close to many of Buhari's inner circle especially Chief Of Staff Abba Kyari.
Lalasticlala

SenseiX:

I doubt it really....i just want to see who becomes Finance Minister, heard that nominee is not in this batch. Since Ogun has Kemi Adeosun, it won't be Wale Edun, Since Lagos has Fashola it won't be Cardoso, since Anambra has Ngige, it's unlikely to be Soludo.

Pat Utomi is Deltan, the odds may favour him to be FinMin, Doyin Salami also or Tanimu Kurfi

He may have known them for so long but I think it was vital he even studied and watch them some more after he won the election. This would help him realise if they were following him because they truly believed in Project Nigeria or if they were only interested in enlarging their pockets.

You can never know someone well enough. I think ministerial appointments were what undermined GOD'S efforts and tenure as a whole and Buhari would have been eager to avoid same.


**my humble opinion tho**

Buhari was elected on March 28. He was sworn in May 29 (TWO months). He kept Nigerians waiting till September 30 (FOUR months after inauguration and SIX months after election), only to release names of same people that can never pass the test of integrity.

Buhari has failed Nigerians

How did he even knw them for long? When did ACN and CPC decided to elect officials after amalgamation?

Some people are just so dense that a steel ball will float if in the same water with them...


The guy, my president, will do what he thinks it's right, and not what the payed irrational idiots thought he shld have done...

Taking into consideration that they have always done the same thing with the same negative results. We want it differently, we want change!!!


Haters, wailers, go and die

LordVarys:

Pat Utomi is Deltan, the odds may favour him to be FinMin, Doyin Salami also or Tanimu Kurfi

A Katsina guy Hadi Sirika was already on the list so Kurfi is out plus he was terrible as Yar’Adua's economic adviser. Sanusi called him a terrible economist.

SLIDEwaxie:
How did he even knw them for long? When did ACN and CPC decided to elect officials after amalgamation?

Some people are just so dense that a steel ball will float if in the same water with them...


The guy, my president, will do what he thinks it's right, and not what the payed irrational idiots thought he shld have done...

Taking into consideration that they have always done the same thing with the same negative results. We want it differently, we want change!!!


Haters, wailers, go and die

You sycophants are hilarious. In your little minds Buhari is a god who can do no wrong. The general response to the list has been subdued. It's Buhari's prerogative to make appointments but if this is the best he can come up with after the long wait, don't blame people for not being so ecstatic.
PS If Olusegun Adeniyi wants to meet the President today, he'll pick up his phone and make some calls and he'll get a meeting, not everyone who criticizes the president is looking for something. Get that

LordVarys:

I have to agree, PMB pandered too much to the politicians in that list, Fashola is the only egghead I noticed there, I want to believe there'll be technocrats in the succeeding batches.

Egghead that designs website with #80 million

Please we don't want egg, let them give us sardine head


They shouldn't dare name him ICT minister

What about Oby Ezekwesili?

Before anyone starts to talk about second batch... Anambra state has already Ngige and can never have two slots.

Oby Ezekwesili.... you can now go back to your Bringbackourgirls campaign.

Hahahahahahahahahahahah.

True talk

SenseiX:

You sycophants are hilarious. In your little minds Buhari is a god who can do no wrong. The general response to the list has been subdued. It's Buhari's prerogative to make appointments but if this is the best he can come up with after the long wait, don't blame people for not being so ecstatic.
PS If Olusegun Adeniyi wants to meet the President today, he'll pick up his phone and make some calls and he'll get a meeting, not everyone who criticizes the president is looking for something. Get that

I dnt give a fucck over your opinion....and buhari ain't a god...he's just a better alternative than your paymasters.

According to a Yoruba adage, it takes just one day to mess up but the consequences could reverberate for a whole lifetime. President Buhari came to office with enormous goodwill but he seems not to be concerned that he could easily fritter it away because of the way he is handling the issue of critical appointments. The point is that Nigeria is in dire straits and it would take assembling a strong and committed team for the president to get us out of the hole we are currently in. And that cannot take forever to do.

The composition of his noisemakers will partly determine how long the goodwill will last.

And to think of after the names mentioned the so called progressives changed their mantra from change to "this would spite the wailing wailers" just goes to show the majority neva wanted the minority to have power.

If the rumored names on the list turn out to be true then it is underwhelming. One would have thought the delay in putting a cabinet in place was an opportunity for the president to seek for fresh and young blood. People with fresh perspective who have not been a part of the system. instead the list seems like a political payback for his associates. It is a just a rehash of the same old politicians many of whom have corruption cases hanging on their neck. I thought Buhari said he wants to fight corruption. What is Amaechi doing on the list

akinsadeez:
If the rumored names on the list turn out to be true then it is underwhelming. One would have thought the delay in putting a cabinet in place was an opportunity for the president to seek for fresh and young blood. People with fresh perspective who have not been a part of the system. instead the list seems like a political payback for his associates. It is a just a rehash of the same old politicians many of whom have corruption cases hanging on their neck. I thought Buhari said he wants to fight corruption. What is Amaechi doing on the list

I'll still consider the names being peddled as rumors pending the time saraki unveils the list on the floor of NASS.

LordVarys:

I have to agree, PMB pandered too much to the politicians in that list, Fashola is the only egghead I noticed there, I want to believe there'll be technocrats in the succeeding batches.

The same Fashola that used 75 million to create a 50k website? Nigerians are the problem with Nigeria