ANALYSIS… MINISTERIAL APPOINTMENTS. Tinubu’s square pegs in round holes

The much anticipated designation of portfolios for ministers by President Bola Tinubu which was made public recently after Nigerians had waited for over three months, was one that once again, threw up the well worn cliche that in Nigeria, anything goes.

If Nigerians had thought that there would be a paradigm shift in the way things are done when it comes to appointments, many were mightily disappointed as the exercise was another charade reminiscent of the era of former President Muhammadu Buhari where he held the country to ransom for over six months before naming his cabinet made up of political acolytes, family members and cronies.

During the Buhari era, we had ministers who confessed they knew nothing about the ministries they headed and depended on underlings to do the job. Many were appointed ministers as compensation for “a job weldone.” There were appointees whose portfolios were not defined but had to be given a job.

Nigerians were hopeful that Tinubu would act in a different way with many believing that his “talent spotting” ability which he displayed as Lagos State governor would come to play and his cabinet would have a difference and a good mix of round pegs in round holes.

Many had been of the view that after getting on to the national space, Tinubu would do away with the norm and go for the spectacular, but the release of the designations of ministers on recently once again showed that political permutations of the masses are different from that of politicians.

The list, though with a sprinkle of commendable appointees with credible merit, still showed that a majority of them got the appointments not because of what they can bring to the table, but as a compensation for helping to propel the government into power by delivering their states to the APC during the presidential election.

Supporters of the ruling party will be quick to point out that the new ministers were all picked on the strength of what they are capable of delivering and will help the administration to deliver on its “Renewed Hope” mandate.

Fair enough. But that still does not take away the fact that most of the new ministers are there as a result of political compensation, party affiliations and contributions to the victory of President Tinubu.

Another talking point has been the designation of the portfolios which many believe were not well thought out or were either done in an haphazard manner and in local parlance, “at all all, na winch.”

After the list was released, most Nigerians are still wondering how some ministers made the list or got the ministries they were assigned to.

For instance, it will take years to convince Nigerians the criteria that saw former Minister of State for Labour and Employment, Festus Keyamo, being made the Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development.

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Take nothing away from Keyamo, he is a brilliant and erudite lawyer who has the capacity to hold his own in any assignment handed to him, but many are still wondering what he will offer in an Aviation industry that was believed to have been bastardized by the immediate past Minister, Hadi Sirika who did everything and anything to ground the ministry.

Many would have thought a technocrat or an expert in the industry would be saddled with that responsibility but putting a lawyer to man such an industry beggars believe.

Other curious or subtly put, laughable appointments are those of the defence ministry where former governor of Jigawa State, Mohammed Badaru, was made Minister of Defence while his counterpart in Zamfara, Bello Matawalle, made Minister of State for Defence.

Like former Kaduna lawmaker, Shehu Sani pointed out, Badaru has no military background to merit his being Nigeria’s Defence Minister. According to Sani, the Defence ministry should be manned by a retired military officer with the wherewithal to bring his wealth of experience to bear.

“In view of the security challenges faced by this country, I thought the Defence Minister should be a retired Military officer with experience and records of accomplishments. That office shouldn’t be just political, especially at this time,” Sani had pointed out.

But in Tinubu’s wisdom, Badaru is the right man for the job; and what do we know?

It is on record that in the past eight years under Matawalle, Zamfara State became the headquarters of banditry, terrorism and all forms of criminality and he could do almost nothing to stem the tide.

During his tenure, bandits had a field day and turned Zamfara into a killing field, operating with reckless abandon, even going as far as holding the state to ransom. A former Commissioner in the state a few days ago, made a stunning revelation that during the eight years of Matawalle, bandits were in control of over 400 communities in that state and the then governor could do nothing to dislodge them. And that is the man manning the defence apparatus of Nigeria.

Immediate past governor of Plateau State, Simon Lalong’s appointment as Minister of Employment is another clear case of compensation for his role as the Director-General of the Tinubu presidential campaign organisation.

At the time Lalong left office, Plateau State government workers were on strike over unpaid salaries running up to six months and, according to a panel of inquiry set up by the new administration, Lalong left behind a debt of over N11 billion with an almost empty treasury, yet President Tinubu believes he has what it takes to handle the Ministry. Well, goodluck to him.

The Minister of Sports, Senator John Eno, had, on many forums, introduced himself as a career politician and a core farmer but in Tinubu’s assessment, Eno has the magic wand to revamp Nigeria’s sport industry.

There are so many talking points in the ministerial appointments made by Tinubu which many Nigerians believe are not different from what his predecessor gave to Nigerians but like they say in this clime, in politics, anything goes.

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