Reflecting On President Buhari’s Next Cabinet -By Lekan Sote

The Minister for Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, recently announced that President Muhammadu Buhari would dissolve the Federal Executive Council a week before his May 29, 2019 inaugural.

And many armchair experts, some holding court in pepper soup joints, and others with the sagacity of an Obafemi Awolowo, have come up with several suggestions on the makeup of the next cabinet. Though some of the suggestions are far-flung and may not be acceptable to everyone, there is no harm in presenting them.

Some think the President should first sack the Minister for Petroleum Resources, meaning himself, because of poor performance and violation of Section 147(3) of the Nigerian constitution, which requires the President to appoint at least one minister, who shall be an indigene, from each of the states of Nigeria.

By appointing himself as minister, the President either deprived Katsina State of the opportunity to have a minister, if he did not appoint another minister from the state, as he may deem himself to have filled that slot, or the state would unfairly have two ministers if the President appointed another minister from the state.

Another group thinks that the current Federal Cabinet has not done too well, and that all the ministers should be asked to go home, despite having star ministers like Babatunde Fashola, Minister for Power, Works and Housing, and clearly underutilised Minister for Science and Technology, brilliant and nearly venerable Dr. Ogbonnaya Onu.

Some argue that the star quality of some of the ministers was dimmed because of the type of leadership provided by the President, who sometimes comes across as someone who is totally detached and has no clue about events around him.

Recall he once admitted, almost without a trace of regret, that he didn’t know that his Inspector-General of Police did not stay over to quell the near-genocidal clashes that herdsmen had with terrified farmers of Benue State.

The theory is that because the President was unable to give clear direction to his ministers, each one of them was left to his or her devices, guided by what they assumed the body language of the President was telling them. This led to a disorderly conduct of government business, and a cacophony of conflicts and egos getting free reign.

The argument is that the competence of this present crop of ministers was not really tested. What Nigerians have only been witnessing is the failure of leadership from the office of Mr. President.

They add that dearth of funds and an uncooperative National Assembly compromised the capital projects of certain ministries. Of the N9.1tn 2018 Budget, only N3.96tn was realised, out of which N3.1tn, or 78 per cent, was spent on recurrent expenditure. Intended 31.5 per cent capital expenditure dipped to 22 per cent.

Fashola partisans argue that if you sit across him at a table for discussion, you will get the impression of a man who breaks down an issue into its details before arriving at a solution and action plan.

Some argue that if President Buhari got a second term, feisty ministers, like Fashola, and not-so-feisty beavers, like Minister for Finance Zainab Ahmed, and medical doctor turned accountant, Okechukwu Enelamah, of Industry, Trade and Investments, need another term, under a hopefully more focused President.

Recall Esama of Benin, Chief Gabriel Igbinedion’s quip that if his son, Lucky, did not perform well as the Governor of Edo State, he should be allowed to correct his mistakes by serving a second term. Even bumbling Godwin Emefiele got a second term as Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria.

Vice President Yemi Osinbajo is not immune to the presidential virus of inertial. Besides making himself available in case of the death, permanent incapacitation, impeachment or resignation of the President, a Vice President can only perform government business that the President assigns to him, like a minister.

In any case, you will remember occasions when Vice President Osinbajo took some decisions in his capacity as acting President, only for President Buhari to return from his medical tourism to reverse them.

The appointments of Matthew Seiyefa, to replace Lawan Daura, the Director-General of the Department of State Services, whose men “invaded” the National Assembly, wearing balaclavas, and of Walter Onnoghen as Chief Justice of Nigeria, were reversed by clever use of the law, which lawyers admit is an ass.

The Minister for Labour and Employment, Dr. Chris Ngige, who  is unperturbed even if there are no doctors in the “mere consulting clinics” run by the government, probably falls into the category of ministers who are out of their depth.

Minister for Health, Prof Isaac Adewole, whose tailor happens to be a medical doctor like himself, and Minister for External Affairs, Geoffrey Onyema, whose imprimatur is in being decidedly invisible, appear to be passive passengers, who chose to sleep off on a long and boring journey.

As for Audu Ogbeh, who is serving as Minister for Agriculture for the second time, and Lt. Gen. Abdulraham Dambazzau, a former Chief of Army Staff, now Minister for Internal Affairs, Nigerians should be allowed to hold plebiscites, to retain the former if they like to have pizza for dinner, and retain the latter if Nigerians want to see more fawning aides buffing the shoes of a minister at public functions.

And yet another group of Nigerians thinks that the President should form an all-inclusive government –a euphemism for government of national unity – that will include elements from other political parties, who may derail his agenda, as well as non-partisan technocrats whose only interest is to make Nigeria work.

Some of the names suggested include Emir Muhammad Sanusi II of Kano, who some think will gladly exchange his royal “alkimbah” for a saville row pinstriped suit; Prof Pat Utomi, whom some say may be a closet socialist; Ms Arunma Oteh, whose brilliance shines like light; and economic gadfly, columnist Henry Boyo, who some think will rattle the monetarist policy foundations of President Buhari’s government.

Some others are of the opinion that some technocrats that have served this government in a lower capacity should be kicked upstairs to become ministers. Their experiences should come in handy as ministers.

These include Ben Akabueze, Director-General of Budget Office of the Federal Government, who successfully served as Commissioner for Economic Planning and Budget in Lagos State, and Babatunde Fowler, who did a spectacular job as Executive Chairman of the Lagos State Internal Revenue Service, before performing an equally stellar job as Executive Chairman of Federal Inland Revenue Service.

Another set of counsellors say the President should retain some ministries, like external affairs, as standalones; scrap the Ministry of Sports, and replace it with an omnibus sports commission; and merge the Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning with Ministry of Finance.

While some say the behemoth Ministry of Power, Works and Housing should be demerged, others suggest it should absorb the Ministry of Transportation, and headed by a coordinating Minister, of sorts, for infrastructure and capital projects. Of course, Chibuike Amaechi will not be amused by the proposition.

But, whatever he does, the President must remember that by mid-2023, his administration will become history, and all he would have is nostalgia, thoughts of what could have been, any regrets, sense of achievement, or whatever he can regard as his legacy.

Twitter @lekansote1