With the exception of the civil war years, it appears this is the worst period in Nigeria’s history. There is tension in the country. Many people don’t believe that Nigeria is for them. Even the general election held to usher in new leaders in February 2023 has been contentious and has further escalated the tension in the country. President Bola Tinubu, who was sworn in on May 29, 2023, was expected to appoint his ministers within 60 days of assuming office. He beat that deadline last week by nominating 28 ministers to help him pilot the affairs of the country.
So far, the minister-designates have no portfolios attached to them. The Senate has screened them with some of them asked, as usual, to take a bow and go. This is one sour point in the screening. Some of these ministers have a lot of baggage hanging on their neck. They are supposed to have been thoroughly screened and the bad eggs rejected and replaced. But ours is a democracy where the legislature, which should act as a check on the executive, does not fully live up to its responsibilities.
Nonetheless, the ministers have a lot on their hands. Expectations of Nigerians are high. Almost every sector in Nigeria is sick. For those who will man the education and health sectors, the work is enormous. Our health system is in a shambles. Every year, Nigerians spend over $1 billion on medical tourism abroad. For lack of adequate reward for their training and efforts, many of our health personnel have gone abroad for greener pastures. The primary health care centres lack the basic facilities required for them to function effectively. There must be an effective remedy for all these. The new Health Minister must develop a workable plan to tackle the perennial strike by the National Association of Resident Doctors (NARD). Currently, the association is on strike and efforts to resolve the crisis have not yielded much dividend. Their demand for improved welfare should be looked into.
Education ministry is also in a shambles. Over 20 million Nigerian children are out of school. Our tertiary institutions need serious revamping. Many public universities are living on past glory. The facilities are not well maintained. Many teaching and learning aides are either non-existent or dilapidated. The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) is always on strike. This has further crippled activities in the universities. Whoever gets the portfolio to be education minister must brace himself for the challenges ahead. Adequate funding of the education sector will help, but the limited resources currently available must be judiciously managed.
This same advice goes to the defence ministry. One of the major challenges Nigeria is facing today is insecurity. Successive administrations have tried but failed to curb insurgency, terrorism and banditry that have kept Nigeria on its knees. Boko Haram and the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) are still potent forces despite efforts by security agencies to combat them. The new minister of defence must ensure that soldiers are well equipped and motivated to rout the terrorists wherever they are. There should be synergy between the ministry, the service chiefs and the National Security Adviser (NSA) with a view to getting the best solution to our security challenges. In whatever they do, they should invest more efforts in intelligence gathering, welfare of soldiers and acquisition of sophisticated weapons. It is pertinent to note that time for politicking is over. It is now time for serious governance, for serious business. Everything must be done now to rescue the country. Ministers should look at the problems holistically and not on party line. They should tell the President the truth and avoid being sycophants. Every minister must face the duties of his ministry.
The country is dying. People are suffering. Out of frustration, many Nigerian youths are migrating abroad. There is a lot of work to be done. We need a governance template that works. There is need to overhaul the civil service and make it work. The corruption in the ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) should be tackled. The fight against corruption must go full blast. Poverty, hunger, unemployment, insecurity and other maladies afflicting the country must be tackled.
We cannot tackle our myriads of problems if we don’t have quality ministers. Hence, the success of a President depends largely on the quality of advice he gets from his cabinet. This is why it is good to have more technocrats in a cabinet than politicians. This current crop of cabinet appears to have more of politicians than technocrats. It comprises four ex-governors, some ex-senators and some other career politicians. It is expected that the new nominees President Tinubu will submit later to the Senate will be peopled more by professionals than politicians. It’s a privilege to be appointed a minister. It doesn’t mean they are the most brilliant or the most competent. It’s a trust and a mark of honour. The assignment for them is to help in solving Nigeria’s problems. We urge them to brace up and hit the ground running.