Nigeria is in a season of political appointments and turmoil. As new governments take shape in many states and the federal level, there is a consensus among Nigerians that those appointed into public office will determine whether those who appointed them will sail or sink.
Nigeria has always been plagued by a failure of leadership since 1999. Following decades of disruptive military regimes, many of those who got into public office in the ensuing years largely failed to cover themselves in glory.
On May 29,Bola Ahmed Tinubu was sworn in as Nigeria’s 16th president, having controversially own keenly contested elections in February. The courts are preparing to give their verdict on his election in the coming month.
So far, he has sent two lists of ministerial nominees to the senate – one bearing twenty-eight names and the other nineteen names – as his government fully forms.
The lists did not surprise Nigerians, neither did they fail to disappoint. For all the talk about experience and competence, what Nigeria needs at this point is character.
What a country which has suffered the inimical effects of corruption and vision less leadership needs is not men who have been in power for decades with nothing to show for it. Rather, it is men of integrity.
If integrity is the barometer of quality for public office in Nigeria, four of Tinubu’s nominees stand out for their lack of it.
Nyesom Wike,David Umahi,Nasir El-Rufai and Atiku Bagudu were governors in Rivers, Ebonyi,Kaduna and Kebbi States respectively. Coming off two terms of four years each as governor, becoming ministers in the new government would appear to be rewards for sterling stints as governors. However,it is more about the roles they played as Tinubu stampeded his way to office.
As governor of Rivers State, Wike’s notoriety for egregious exuberance and loquacity soon made national headlines.
When he lost his bid to emerge the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the elections, he was very public about being a sore loser. His appointment as a minister by a government which his party opposes does not point to a bridge builder. Instead,they point to someone who worked for his party’s main opponent in the election. Such is the character of one would be minister under a government which speaks about renewing hope.
A deathly silence fell upon Southern Kaduna when it was announced that Nasir el-rufai made the list. In his eight years as governor, his insensitive religious and ethnic posturing exacerbated the killings and destruction of lives and livelihoods in Southern Kaduna. Having failed to stand out in his governance of Kaduna case of cake for the boys over character.
Making the list of ministers certainly marked another milestone in David Umahi’s political careerism. He who planned and plotted his next move after eight years as the governor of Ebonyi State appears to have been rewarded for being the lone voice in the wilderness that the Southeast proved to be for the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
Despite his touted achievements as Governor of Ebonyi State, he managed to land blow after blow to the good people of Ebonyi State and in one final, named an international market in the state after his late mother. What can Nigeria possibly get from salt that has lost its taste.
It Is enough scandal that Atiku Bagudu who was governor of Kebbi State for eight years is always mentioned in the same breath as deceased dictator Sani Abacha.
Allegations that he helped him steal billions of Naira won’t just go away. The uproar from the state over his nomination as epitomized by a biting article by one Abu Najakku in the Premium Times should be warning enough.
There is a sense in which Tinubu’s cabinet will be stuffed with expired, extortionate politicians who would have nothing to offer but crooked loyalty and dirty politics.
That none of the names on the list especially inspires excitement is ominous for whatever renewed hope the government preaches.
Though the new government deserves the benefit of doubt, many of those on that list would only serve to ratchet up the reservations many Nigerians have about Tinubu.
The mounting cost of living crisis exacerbated by his decisions since he was sworn in on May 29 have seen reservations congeal into resentment.
With many of those on the list representing new wine in old wine skin, questions about the immediate future of the country are mounting.
A country desperately In need of a new direction does not need as sailors men who have shown in previous assignments that they lack the character and competence to inspire sustained change.
The signs point to the fact that government will be business as usual.
Until public office stops being a reward for political loyalty in Nigeria, the country will continue to struggle to tick the boxes of genuine national development.
It was also laughable to see the screening exercise at the Senate reduced to a sycophantic fest for currying future political favour. At a time when Nigeria stands in critical need of leaders who are impeccable in character, it was disappointing to see the legislators eager to let the nominees scale through with minimum scrutiny.
Unless Tinubu and those he has chosen to work with prove their doubters wrong, Nigerians will be in for a very long journey under the present administration.
Kene Obiezu,
keneobiezu@gmail.com
