The long-awaited cabinet reshuffle by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu was carried out last Wednesday. This was coming about 14 months after constituting his first cabinet that saw some new ministries created, while some were merged. In all, 45 new cabinet members were sworn in on August 21, 2023, at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, three months after the president mounted the saddle.
While swearing in the new minsters in 2023, President Tinubu charged them to return public faith in government so that Nigerians could once again believe in government. He also tasked them to confront the sluggish growth caused by a previous collapse in oil prices that weakened the nation’s currency, slashed government revenues and drove up inflation.
He said, “I believe in you that government can be a positive force for transformation and the vehicle for the collective progress of this country.”
In his inaugural speech at the Eagle Square, Abuja, on May 29, 2023, President Tinubu promised to hit the ground running. The ministers, who came on board three months later, also pledged to hit the ground running but 14 months down the road, some of them actually hit the ground running but they chose to mimic the monkeys by climbing back to the tree tops. This was evident by the dropping of five of the ministers after a review of their performances when collocated with the expectations of the government and the president.
The ministers, jettisoned from the Renewed Hope Vehicle, were Prof. Tahir Mamman (Education); Uju-Ken Ohanenye (Women Affairs); Dr. Jamila Ibrahim Bio (Youth Development); Lola Ade-John (Tourism) and Alhaji Abdullahi Muhammad Gwarzo (Minister of State for Housing and Urban Development)
Replacing the sacked cabinet members were Dr. Nentawe Yilwatda Goshwe, Alhaji Muhammadu Dingyadi, Amb. Bianca Odumegwu Ojukwu, Jumoke Oduwole, Idi Maiha, Yusuf Abdullahi Ata and Suwaiba Ahmad. Ten ministers were also reassigned, while the Ministry of Tourism and the Ministry of Arts and Culture have been merged to become Federal Ministry of Arts, Culture, Tourism and Creative Economy. The Ministry of Sports also gave way to the more preferred National Sports Commission (NSC), headed by a chairman.
The seven newly appointed ministers were screened by the Senate last week. Their appearance at the Senate with their portfolios attached to them was an innovation by the Tinubu administration which enabled the senators to grill them and assess their competence. The ministers were sworn in yesterday at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, and they were also expected to hit the ground sprinting since they are coming in when the administration is approaching midway into its first term.
One of the key appointments that has attracted public interest is the minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Reduction, created by the Buhari administration to bring succour to the common man in the face of economic strangulation. Some Nigerians have queried the male headship of the ministry, insisting that the office is better suited for women because of their compassionate nature. But the two women who have so far run the affairs of the ministry since its creation in 2019 only succeeded in leaving disaster and scandals in their trails. It is, therefore, high time that a male minister was given a chance. Dr. Goshwe, we believe, is well suited for the position given his antecedents as a grassroots politician who is also well known for his altruism.
Another ministry that will be under scrutiny is education. One of the sins of the immediate-past minister, Prof. Tahir Mamman, was his pegging of the age for entry into tertiary institutions to 18. That policy did not go down well with most Nigerian parents and guardians who saw it as retrogressive. The erudite scholar might have had good intentions but his approach was seen as brash and not well thought out. It did not only portray the Tinubu administration in bad light but also attempt to eclipse other laudable programmes of the government in the education sector such as the students’ loan scheme. His successor will do well to avoid such mistakes.
Amb. Bianca Ojukwu is not new to Foreign Affairs Ministry where she once served as Nigerian ambassador to Spain. She is expected to add value and verve to our diplomacy in all its ramifications.
Alhaji Shehu Dikko, the newly appointed Chairman of the NSC, has his job well cut out for him. As a sports aficionado, he has no excuses not to turn our sports around at the national and global levels Our sports have been at their nadir for far too long.
The sacking of the five cabinet members is a wake-up call for those that survived the purge. The rejigging of the cabinet speaks volumes about the president’s body language that it is not going to be business as usual in his administration. This is a complete departure from the styles of his predecessors that accommodated non-performing cabinet members just to sustain political patronage. All eyes will be on the newcomers to see whether they are out to serve or be served. We wish them well in their service to the country.