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Ministers Who Will Make Or Break Buhari- Bola Bolawole by Bekwarra(m): 7:44pm On Nov 15, 2015 |
God did not create all the fingers to be equal; in His
wisdom that is infinite, He has created them in
different sizes and shapes and has bestowed upon
them different functions and responsibilities. Some
fingers, however, are more important than the
others. The thumb, I think, is more important than
the other fingers. Bible records that the thumbs and
great toes hold pre-eminence. It is like in George
Orwell’s “Animal Farm” where all animals were equal
but some still found a way to be more equal than the
others.
Little wonder, then, the grumblings that some were
given “juicy” Ministries while others were not! In the
time of ex-President Goodluck Jonathan, they were
labelled “Grade A”, Grade B” or “Grade C” Ministries.
In the National Assembly, the commotion over “juicy”
and “not juicy” committees is still festering among
lawmakers.
Truth be told, some Ministries are more “loaded”
than others; there are Ministries that command hefty
budgets and have many important agencies under
their beck and call e.g. Defence, Interior, Education,
Transportation, Petroleum Resources. My focus here
today is, however, on those Ministries that I consider
indispensable to effectively drive the CHANGE agenda
of the All Progressives Congress-led Muhammadu
Buhari administration if, truly, they mean the change
they have trumpeted.
Last Wednesday, the long-awaited Cabinet was
inaugurated by Buhari. There are 36 Ministers in all,
in fulfilment of Constitutional provisions. But there
are a handful of the Ministers who, in my own
reckoning, must bend over backward to perform
since they will make or mar this administration. They
are nine in number and as I name them, I offer my
reasons.
The first is Audu Ogbeh, the Minister of Agriculture.
Agriculture used to be the mainstay of Nigeria’s
economy until crude oil was discovered in
commercial quantity and we abandoned the land and
became a “rentier state” which depends on the
collection of rents\royalties from foreign oil
exploring multinational companies. That unsavoury
state of affairs began in the late 1950s and has
continued till date. Hence, Nigeria’s economy is
described as mono-cultural (i.e. depending solely on
just one commodity or raw material, which is crude
oil, for survival). Reliable figures are hard to come by
here but by and large, crude oil is our major foreign
exchange earner and accounts for not less than 80
percent of all monies accruing into the Federation
Account. Successive governments have spoken of the
need to diversify the economy (that is, promote other
sources of income) but it had been all lip service.
Thus, we have been at the mercy of volatile crude oil
pricing in the international market. Besides, crude oil
is a wasting\perishing asset; if we fail to make hay
while it shines, it shall be dire for us when this cheap
source of stupendous wealth dries up. If this
government votes enough money into agriculture
and pursues policies that will restore agriculture to
its pre-1960 place of pride, then, it would not only
have succeeded where others failed but also would
have laid a solid foundation for our future prosperity.
The second is Kayode Fayemi, the Minister of Solid
Minerals. Nigeria is most blessed in terms of solid
minerals deposits – but they have remained largely
untapped for the same reasons that agriculture has
been neglected. Yet, this sector, together with
agriculture, holds the key to Nigeria’s greatness. We
have always known this; we parrot it; but, again like
in the case of agriculture, it ends there. I expect this
government to vigorously pursue the exploitation of
the country’s bountiful solid minerals resources to
the benefit of present and future generations. We can
never become an industrialised nation and Vision 20-
2020 (remember?) will remain a mirage if
appropriate policies and funding are not put in place
to turn our potentials in the solid minerals sector
into actual realities.
Using the analogy of a football team made up of 11
players, I consider Ogbeh and Fayemi as the two
main “strikers” of Team Buhari; nay, Team Nigeria.
Babatunde Raji Fashola, the Minister of Power,
Works, and Housing, has been described as the
“super-Minister” of this administration; technically,
that may be right judging by the three big ministries
that were collapsed into one and entrusted in his
care. Power, especially, is crucial; since without
regular power supply, not much can be achieved.
Provision of infrastructure, especially road network,
is also critical for national development. Therefore,
there is no denying the fact that Fashola is a very
important Minister; but I see his role as that of a
“support striker” or as someone supplying the ball
for the two main strikers upfront. A support striker
can score goals on his own but the major task is to
provide the enabling environment for the main
strikers to turn in the goals. Where the main strikers
are cut off or the support strikers unnecessarily
compete with them for relevance, unity, coherence,
and coordination may fail and the whole team suffers
for it. The job of Fashola is to provide the enabling
environment for Ogbeh and Fayemi to shine upfront
for the whole team.
Three other Ministers Kemi Adeosun (Finance);
Udoma Udo Udoma (Budget and National Planning);
and Emmanuel Ibe Kachikwu (Minister of State,
Petroleum Resources) are the engine room (midfield)
of the team. Adeosun is to effectively manage our
resources and makes funds available for Ogbeh,
Fayemi, and Fashola. While Kachikwu is to bring in
the funds, Udoma is to ensure that we put our money
where our mouth is. Right from the point of
budgeting, it shall be known whether or not this
government is serious about diversifying the
economy.
I consider three Ministers as the central defenders of
Team Nigeria; they are Dan Ali (Defence);
Abdulrahman Danbazzau (Interior); and Abubakar
Malami (Justice and Federal Attorney-General). No
matter how good the strikers are; if a team’s defence
is porous, much damage will be done. We have seen
the effects of a porous defence with the Boko Haram
insurgency; which continues to drain huge resources
needed for meaningful development activities. The
festering MASSOB campaign must be put in check (by
the Minister of the Interior) and corruption\impunity
curbed in the agencies under his watch. Corruption
is, without doubt, the greatest leaking hole whacking
this country; and we were all witnesses to how
former Attorney-General and Minister of Justice,
Mohamed Adoke, did not help matters in this regard.
Malami must be sold out to the anti-graft war; and he
must realise that the average Nigerian believes that
the Judiciary, the oft-touted “last hope of the
common man”, is opaque and has to be straightened
out.
Although technically not a Minister, I consider Vice-
President Yemi Osinbajo the “Sweeper” of Team
Nigeria. Apart from being the stand-in for Mr.
President, he is said to play a coordinating role on
the economy. So we may not be far from the truth if
we see Osinbajo as the Buhari administration’s Ngozi
Okonjo-Iweala or Coordinating Minister of the
Economy. And the economy, as we all know, is the
main issue. What escapes the central defenders must
not escape Osinbajo.
Finally, I station Buhari in goal and give him the
Captain’s arm band. Do not forget that he is also the
de facto Minister of Petroleum Resources and Czar of
the anti-graft war. From his very central position as
goalkeeper, he can arrange his defence as well as
bark out orders to his strikers and midfielders
upfront.
To make up my full list, I have the following on the
bench (that is, substitutes): Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi
(Transportation); Adamu Adamu (Education);
Adebayo Shittu (Communications); Okechukwu
Enelamah (Industry, Trade, and Investment); Chris
Ngige (Labour & Productivity); and Usani Uguru
(Niger Delta Ministry). Amaechi will assist in the
provision of critical infrastructure\shoring up the
dwindling resources of the State; Adamu will ward off
ASUU and other strikes in our institutions of higher
learning\return the Ivory Tower to its glory days;
Shittu has set himself the task of making his Ministry
the country’s new cash cow. I cannot wait to see the
funds tumbling in! Enemelah should bring in direct
foreign investment; Ngige (who I would have loved to
see in my 1st Eleven) should keep NLC, TUC,
PENGASSAN etc. off the streets. Without industrial
peace and harmony, not much will be achieved.
Uguru’s task is to keep ex-militants off the creeks; our
hands are full already with Boko Haram and restive
MASSOB.
Without discountenancing the other Ministers , I dare
to say that if the above-listed Ministers succeed in
their assignments, and the VP and President also
succeed in providing effective leadership; reading out
the Riots Act when necessary, then, the government
will live up to the expectations of Nigerians.
Otherwise, it will be “Not Yet Uhuru”; another
“Paradise Lost”; and hope deferred!
Gov. Ambode versus ‘The Economist’
Why was the otherwise highly respected “The
Economist” so mercilessly critical of Lagos governor,
Akinwunmi Ambode? Why was a publication famous
and revered for its professionalism so irreverent and
why did it throw all caution to the winds? Reading
between the lines, it does appear as if “The
Economist” had an axe to grind with Ambode. The
paper’s criticism was vitriolic and it dripped with
malice. Were the two-some fighting before?
Otherwise, the matter at hand was not serious
enough for “The Economist” to have so abrasively
dismissed Ambode as a failure. After how many
months in office – and while the governor had just
inaugurated his cabinet! Certainly, there must be
more to the magazine’s tirade than ordinarily meets
the eye. There is nothing wrong in drawing Ambode’s
attention to the issues at hand and the anxieties of
Lagosians; we had also done so in this column as a
“wake up” call; but it is damn too early to give up on
Ambode and his government. And I can observe
Ambode already rising to the challenge: Potholes on
the roads are being mended; more presence of
policemen everywhere is noticeable; and LASTMA is
now more alive to its responsibilities. Last week, the
newspapers showed Ambode, like Fashola before
him, arresting an errant driver. That is the kind of
“action” that Lagosians treasure. Let Ambode keep
the new spirit up! Eko o ni baje o! . tribuneonlineng.com/ministers-who-will-make-or-break-buhari |
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