By Sam Akpe
sidonlookme@yahoo.co.uk
Tel: 0805 618 0195
At last, after months of waiting and speculations, the angels have reported for duty. President Muhammadu Buhari has inaugurated his dream cabinet. What else shall we say?
Are we disappointed? Not quite! If these are the people the retired general believes he can work with; if these are the project managers who will deliver on the Nigerian project, then let’s give him a chance. Let’s allow the end to justify the means.
It has taken Buhari almost six months to assemble his ‘noisemakers.’ Even a military regime, with its Supreme Military Council in place, wouldn’t take that long to appoint a cabinet.
Understandably, the president used the period of inactivity to settle friends who ran the campaign for him. These were his loyalists who, despite his exit from power on August 27, 1985, still maintained the friendship.
I actually do not see anything wrong in rewarding loyalty as far as merit is placed above nepotism. But did that happen? Not exactly! My disagreement is that there is a difference between personal loyalty and loyalty to the nation.
From the appointment of his former chief of staff as the Customs’ chief of command, which led to arbitrary retirement of more qualified people within the system, to that of hand-picking his village man as head of the secret service, Buhari proved that he is still a Nigerian after all.
In Nigeria, when it comes to appointment to public offices, most times, whether you are fit for the office is of little consideration. Your ultimate qualification is your personal relationship with the man in charge. That settles it.
Viewed from another perspective, Goodluck Jonathan, who left office a few months ago, is being accused by this administration of surrounding himself, and or appointing to office, people who, though qualified to hold such positions, were imposed upon the institutions because of their loyalty to him.
You will recall that as soon as Buhari assumed duties, there were immediate changes at places like the NIMASA and even at the Nigerian Ports Authority. As he made one announcement after the other, even bringing back those who had long retired from service, we hailed him as the saviour we waited for.
A few days ago, some elements in the civil service threatened a showdown if all the people who joined the service as directors and rose to become permanent secretaries were not immediately sacked by the president.
Their argument was that such people have caused the stagnation of career public servants who have been forced to mark time in one position for so long because their positions have been taken over by the new entrants.
Wonderful as their arguments might be, what about the assumption that if you leave the civil service for the career civil servants alone, and shut out qualified outsiders completely, then the service will never be serviced; and would stagnate.
That aside, for a regime that claims to believe in the rule of law, what was the justification for bringing in an outsider to run the Customs Service when there are qualified professionals within the system to do the job?
I won’t be surprised if, in the nearest future, a retired military officer is brought in to serve as the inspector general of police since all policemen are presumed to be as corrupt as those in the Customs Service.
Meanwhile, the loquacious Lai Mohammed has assumed office as the nation’s information minister. The moment he was appointed and narrowly squeezed through the Senate, it was an open secret which ministry he would be sent to.
His only qualification for the job is that he was the spokesman of the All Progressives Congress (APC). In the opinion of the president, simply because Mohammed abused the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) out of power with foul language and a tar brush, then he is qualified to speak for the nation.
Mohammed himself has moved into the job with such enthusiasm that demands caution. He must realise that Nigeria is bigger than the APC. He must draw a line between speaking for Nigeria, the biggest black nation on earth, and speaking for his party; the APC.
My concern is whether Mohammed has the required diplomatic persona required of a person appointed to that position. Does he have what it takes to face the international media whose agendas are beyond merely getting the news?
It may be too early in the day to place his intellectual and patriotic abilities on the balance. But it is not too early to inform him of the magnitude of work ahead of him. He is the image of Nigeria. His words and his demeanour would be used to judge the country.
Wait a minute! Why didn’t Buhari appear in the Senate for screening and confirmation before being appointed minister of petroleum? What gave him the automatic qualification? Is it because he is the president already?
The Constitution makes it clear that every nominee for ministerial appointment must be screened and confirmed by the Senate. It also states that such a nominee must possess the same qualification as a member of the National Assembly (NASS).
The Constitution also states the qualifications of every aspirant to the NASS.
Don’t start getting ideas, please. I am not bringing up any debate on the president’s school certificate issue.
My thinking is that it would have been interesting to have the president face the Senate and convince the nation on why he is qualified to be the petroleum minister. I’m just thinking aloud.