Observers have expressed diverse views
on President Muhammadu Buhari’s claim that his ministers are round pegs
in round holes as some said only effective performance by the cabinet
members will justify their description as such, Fisayo Falodi and Gbenro Adeoye write
With Wednesday’s inauguration of the new
Federal Executive Council, President Muhammadu Buhari gave an
impression that his ministers were set to hit the ground running as he
said that he had made the right decision by putting the round pegs in
the round holes.
The President, who described the
inauguration of his cabinet as another milestone in the evolution of his
government, said in assigning portfolios to the ministers, he was
conscious of the need to prevent the recurrence of the mistakes of the
previous administrations where the right people were allocated wrong
portfolios which led to the poor performance of the ex-ministers in
spite of their capabilities.
He therefore scored himself high by
claiming that he had constituted a cabinet that would deliver a better
performance than what his administration inherited.
According to him, bringing this set of ministers to serve the country is a right step in the right direction.
For the President to achieve the purpose
for which he assembled the team, he charged the 36-member cabinet to
proceed to work speedily and do their utmost to justify the confidence
reposed in them not only by their conduct but also by their performance
in their various positions.
The allocation of the portfolios was not
without a shocker as Buhari collapsed the ministries of Works, Housing
and Power into one and appointed a former Lagos State Governor, Mr.
Babatunde Fashola, as the substantive minister to oversee it.
However, some analysts have expressed
diverse views over the allocation of portfolios. A former
Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Chief Richard Akinjide, hailed
the inauguration of the cabinet and expressed optimism in the
ministers’ ability to perform, urging support for them.
“The inauguration of the FEC is very
good. We should pray for the success of the government,” Akinjide said,
acknowledging that the portfolios were rightly allocated.
He also expressed optimism in Fashola’s ability to perform as the Minister of Works, Housing and Power.
“The ministers can perform; let them work for one year and let us see how they perform. We just need to support them,” he said.
A lawyer and rights activist, Mr. Femi
Aborisade, disagreed with the President that the ministers were round
pegs in round holes despite their sound academic prowess.
Aborisade singled out Fashola and the
Minister for Youth and Sports, Mr. Solomon Dalong, who he said were
brilliant lawyers, but given wrong portfolios.
“The goal of cost cutting would have,
therefore, been defeated. The authority which the minister ought to
demonstrate on the basis of expertise and knowledge in his ministry
would be loudly missing. The management tendency today is to break
institutions into small manageable segments; combining complex and
technical responsibilities for power, works and housing runs against
current trends in management.
“The Minister of Youth and Sports has no
track record for sporting activities other than being a strong
supporter of a club. Being a strong supporter is neither a necessary nor
a sufficient condition for successfully managing the Ministry of Youth
and Sports. Nigeria is populated with numerous experts, professional
administrators, academics and practitioners in various sporting
activities who could have been picked by the President.
“The task of managing a federal ministry
ought not to be given to someone who would have to depend on being
tutored on the strengths and weaknesses of the ministry where there are
people who have been working in relevant aspects of the ministry. There
is no time for experimenting, which the President is subjecting many of
the ministries to. This is a knowledge-based age where experts are
required to manage different areas. It is really a shame that out of a
population of 170 million Nigerians, majority of the 24 ministries which
the President has used his discretion to create and/or retain, are
being managed by misfits.”
Aborisade said the President ought to
have publicly set the standard of performance by which each of the
ministers would be assessed, stating that the absence of any criterion
to measure the ministers’ performance would mean that they would be left
to their own discretion and initiative without a collective goal.
The activist said, “The President ought
to have spent the long period of waiting to announce the names of his
ministers to work out central goal and the role of each ministry in
attaining some aspects of the goal. But it is clear that there is no
strategic thinking to develop a central plan and define the macro
attainable objectives and the micro objectives for each ministry.
“For example, the President ought to
announce for each ministry, measurable goals within a timeframe such as
building a given number of housing units per year, creating a minimum
number of jobs per year, and so on. But elements of such strategic
thinking were missing in the entire exercise of announcing portfolios
for each of the ministries.”
He also backed a claim by a former
Minister of Education, Dr. Oby Ezekwesili, who said that splitting
budget planning from the Ministry of Finance was risky.
According to him, it would have been
better to have a Minister of National Planning rather than having a
Minister of Budget and National Planning.
He said, “Planning is not only required
for budgeting; it is required for every activity of government. If there
is coordination between a Ministry of National Planning and all the
other ministries, it would not have been necessary to restrict or house
“Planning” within Budget Ministry. From that broader point of view, the
concern of Dr. Oby Ezekwesili is well placed. But the concern should be
located within the global picture rather than simply limiting the effect
of the decision to separate “planning” from the Ministry of Finance.”
To presidential candidate of KOWA Party
in the last general elections, Prof. Oluremi Sonaiya, it is the quality
of the ministers’ performance that will justify their being described as
round pegs in round holes.
She said, “Let us wait to see the
results of the changing that the President and his team are making
before we begin to judge. I don’t like to pre-empt anything; let us wait
and see what the result will be. If the results are good, then it means
the President took a good decision, but if the results are not good,
then the Present took a bad decision.”
Sonaiya asked the ministers to first and
foremost demonstrate the right mentality and the right attitude that
they are called to serve.
But unlike Aborisade, she expressed
confidence in Fashola’s ability to deliver the responsibilities of his
three-in-one ministry.
She said, “The President himself is
supervising the whole country. I believe he saw the ability of Fashola
before he allocated the ministry to him. I hope that if he approaches
his duty with the right attitude, he will definitely make impact. The
responsibility of the office will only task the power of Fashola’s
innovation and creativity.”
Charging the ministers to rise up to the
demand of their offices, the Professor of French said, “I hope the
ministers will rise up to the occasion; I really hope so. They should
not forget that Nigerians are going to monitor them seriously and demand
accountability from them. We must insist that things should not remain
as we have known them. Remember that the current government came in on
the platform of change. So, let’s give them room to bring about the
change and let us wait to see the result of the change that the
President and his team are making before we begin to judge.
“We must also be more creative in the
exercise of our civic responsibilities and ensure that we find ways of
demanding accountability and robust performance from the ministers.”
An economist, Mr. Ayo Teriba, hailed
Buhari for separating budget and planning from the Ministry of Finance,
but said it would have made more economic sense to have a Budget and
Planning office in the Office of the President instead of a separate
ministry.
He said, “Budget and planning go hand in
hand. You don’t need to have a budget office within the Ministry of
Finance. Finance is to collect the receipt and to effect the payment
regardless of who had planned the budget. The ideal situation would have
been to have the planning and budget function as an office within the
Office of the President and not as a ministry.
“That is how it is done in the United
States, which is the way the American President ensures that his
priorities are achieved through planning and budgeting. It is also used
to coordinate the other ministries.
“The other ministries relate with the
general public, so it makes sense that they are ministries. But the
budget office does not relate with people outside of government
officials and planning office also relates only with government
officials and maybe international development agencies. So, I don’t
think they should make up a separate ministry.”
On the wisdom behind the collapsing of
the Ministry of Power and the Ministry of Works and Housing into one,
Teriba said, “time would justify if the experiment will work.
“But there is nothing wrong in experimenting with new ideas,” he added.
Economic experts have decried the lack
of policy direction under President Buhari, saying it has adversely
affected the country’s economy.
But speaking on the issue, Teriba said
that giving portfolios to ministers still does not equate to a policy
direction, saying, “Waiting for the cabinet before you come with an
economic direction is like putting the cart before the horse.
“Ministers will think in terms of their
specific ministries; economic policies are countrywide. You can’t wait
for ministers to give policy direction. The President, working with the
National Assembly, ought to provide the policy direction to the nation
which ministers will plug into.
“So the appointment of one individual to
one ministry or the other does not change the economic outlook of the
country. You can put a Ronaldo in the field and he will have an off day.
So until the goals are scored and the moves are made, he won’t impact
on the outlook.”
The President, Committee for the Defence
of Human Rights, Mr. Malachy Ugwumadu, promised that the body would
continue to monitor and put the government on its toes.
But speaking on the suitability of the
ministers to their portfolios, Ugwumadu said there was nothing wrong in
giving people the platform to demonstrate capacity.
He, however, described some of the appointments made by President Buhari as “heartwarming” and others as “upsetting.”
He said, “For instance, the man who was
appointed Minister of Sports (Solomon Dalong), I have not heard anything
that gives him out in that area. We have education, Adamu Adamu. But we
have professors there whose penchant for education, at least from the
standpoint of their professorial achievements, would have been seen as
most qualified to be appointed in that position.
“However, we also have cases where
professors have let the people down and performed far below the
standards that they were reputed to have”
Bishop Charles Ighele of the General
Superintendent, Holy Spirit Mission Church, Lagos,charged the 36
ministers to remain focused.
He urged them to shun the idea of
blaming past leaders for the country’s woes, but to look forward with
the aim of formulating realistic policies that would develop the nation.
Stating that great leaders are known during tough times, the cleric
said, “Most countries in the world, including Nigeria, are passing
through tough times; so, the ministers have the responsibility to spend
less time on blame game.
“Great leaders look more at the wind
screen, looking at where they are heading to. I will suggest that the
ministers should assemble think tanks that will come up with theoretical
and practical frameworks on how to move their ministries and the nation
forward. No minister should think that he or she knows all.
“Even if the money needed to develop the
country is not enough, there are people with abundant ideas that can
create prosperity for the people.
“But if this government should decide to
be apolitical about certain development issues and be righteous, it can
enjoy the goodwill of the people. Campaign should be over by now; it is
time to create prosperity. The ministers should use their offices to
create prosperity for the people. The suffering of Nigerians is too
much.”
No comments:
Post a Comment