Last Monday, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu inaugurated his cabinet and the newly appointed ministers immediately reported for work. Although, the president’s decision to wait for almost four months to do this came to many as a surprise, especially given that Nigerians roundly condemned the previous regime where former President Muhammadu Buhari had to wait for six months to set up his cabinet.
However, like Buhari, President Tinubu seems poised to make the very same errors of his predecessor. Why it took him four months to compile a list of what is at best a roll call of those who played key roles in birthing his regime, leaves me nonplused.
Clearly, the process leading to their nomination and the eventual swearing-in ceremonies also makes one wonder if indeed President Tinubu was intentional and scrupulous about those he has assembled to work for him or if it was just a matter of compensation to stakeholders for work done. To what extent can President Tinubu be sure that his ministers would deliver the promises contained in his manifesto to the people?
For instance, the untidy way in which Maryam Shetty, a young and relatively unknown politician from Kano State, was replaced a few hours after her screening left tongues wagging. She was reported to have arrived at the National Assembly complex, only to discover that her name had been replaced, which does not suggest that the president had been deliberate and thorough about it, after four months.
I do not envy President Tinubu and his newly sworn in cabinet. Coming in a time when the nation and Nigerians are in a state of complete despair and exasperation, means there is a lot of work for the president to do.
After over eight years of buck-passing and finger-pointing at the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) 16 year-rule, the APC can no longer be tolerated to make similar excuses after Tinubu’s tenure. The task before him and his team is a daunting one and must not be seen to be another pleasure cruise for political office holders.
With rising inflation, unemployment and high cost of food and lingering cases of insecurity, the new ministers have their jobs cut out for them. And the earlier they get to work the better for them all.
With 45 ministers taking the oath of office as Ministers, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s cabinet will be the largest in recent time.
President Olusegun Obasanjo in 1999 started with a cabinet of 42 Ministers (1999 – 2003), which he later reduced to 27, and had increased to 30 by the time he was leaving office in 2007.
In 2007, President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua had a 39-member cabinet members. President Goodluck Jonathan appointed a cabinet of 33 Ministers (2011-2014), and later 37 just before the 2015 general elections. In 2015, President Buhari appointed 36 Ministers and later increased them to 42 in 2019.
With a list of 45 ministers, and 20 slots for Special Advisers earlier approved by the Senate for the President, and appointment of Senior Special Assistants and Special Assistants, President Tinubu would be seen to be acting contrary to the mood of the nation where many had called for drastic cut in the cost of governance.
The president’s light-hearted response that this over-bloated list of aides and ministers should be seen from the angle of providing jobs does not hold water because the real task of creating jobs really lies with the private sector. Having a cabinet of recycled politicians who may now see themselves as getting a just reward for their contribution to the government cannot be in the overall interests of the larger population of Nigerians. After all, this favour only revolves around the same set of the political class of appointees and acquaintances.
However, one thing I find curious is why President Tinubu did not assign ministerial nominees to head the ministries of gas resources and petroleum resources. Although he has not directly stated that he intends to hold the office of petroleum minister, the failure to appoint someone for the position indicates that President Tinubu seeks to hold the office.
Heineken Lokpobiri, a former Nigerian senator, was named the Minister of State for Petroleum while Ekperikpe Epko, a former member of the House of Representatives, was named the Minister of State for Gas Resources.
Should Tinubu retain those offices, it would be the third time since Nigeria’s return to democracy in 1999 that a sitting president will be heading the country’s petroleum ministry. The question is why always Petroleum? How about power or agriculture, for instance?
When former President Olusegun Obasanjo was elected in 1999, he appointed himself the Minister of Petroleum Resources. For six of his eight years in office, between 1999 and 2005, Obasanjo was the Petroleum Minister and Minister of State for Petroleum. However, in 2003, the last year of his first tenure, Obasanjo appointed Edmund Daukoru as Presidential Adviser on Petroleum and Energy. Later in July 2005, he named Mr Daukoru Minister of State for Energy, Petroleum Resources.
Umaru Yar’Adua administration appointed Henry Ajumogobia as Minister of State for Energy (Petroleum) and head of Nigeria’s delegation to OPEC (July 2007 to December 2008), and Minister of State for Petroleum Resources between January 2009 and April 2010 with Emmanuel Odusina as Minister of State Gas and Fatimah Ibrahim as Minister of State for Energy (Power).
In 2009, Yar’Adua realigned the Energy Ministry to Power and Petroleum and Rilwanu Lukman was appointed minister of petroleum, a position he held until March 2010 and Rilwan Babalola as Minister of Power.
In 2015, President Muhammadu Buhari followed the footsteps of Obasanjo when he came to power and appointed himself as Minister of Petroleum Resources. Buhari, during his eight-year tenure (2015-2023) appointed two different state petroleum ministers, namely Ibe Kachikwu and Timipre Sylva.
What difference has these presidents’ grip on the sector made positively to the sector? Buhari boasted of fixing the refineries and sanitising the sector, but alas, eight years later, he presided over an opaque and corruption-ladden sector where the ministers of state were completely incapacitated and the NNPC only dealt directly with him.
Important as the sector may be given that it contributes the largest share of the nation’s foreign exchange earnings, it still cannot be more vital and important as agriculture and power. If the intention of President Tinubu is to work, then he should have taken any of those. With well-planned agricultural schemes, Nigeria can make more resources from it. Ditto for power. Our inability to power the nation has left our efforts at industrialisation comatose.
The corruption in the petroleum sector may be the attraction. The allure of the dollars in the sector may just be the incentive. The nation needs to feed itself and the intervention must be intentional and immediate. Industries are relocating from Nigeria as a result of an unfriendly business environment. Power must be provided to boost small and medium scale enterprises as these remain the key to unlock the nation’s economic growth.
