The long wait for Tinubu’s ministers

It is inelegant that it took President Bola Ahmed Tinubu almost a whopping 60 days before reportedly sending his ministerial list to the National Assembly for scrutiny and approval. For a man who boasted that it his turn to be the president of the country and that the presidency has been his long life ambition, it wouldn’t have taken this long for him to form his cabinet. The long wait for Tinubu’s ministers is not good enough. Apart from his predecessor, Muhammadu Buhari, who took many months before he could assemble his feeble team, Olusegun Obasanjo, Yar’Adua and Jonathan did theirs in record time. The effect of not having a cabinet is starring all of us in the face. Tinubu’s removal of fuel subsidy on the day of his inauguration and subsequent policies of the administration ought to have been avoided if he has a kitchen cabinet in mind on his way to the presidency.

Some of the bad policies of this administration since May 29 after thereafter should have been averted if he has his cabinet in place. Why should a new government start with the hasty removal of fuel subsidy when there are no alternatives, where there are no palliatives to cushion the effects of that ill-advised policy as well as its poor timing? Why should a new administration start by punishing the people it wants to better their living condition? Why must tuition fees be increased by over 100 percent in the universities and unity schools? Forget the afterthought that no fees have been increased in these schools. Explaining such uncalled for increases as utility fees and whatever fees is a slap on the face of Nigerians. Those in government should not engage on needless rhetoric over the hike in tuition fees in the universities and the unity schools. Calling the hiked fees by other names is less ingenious. Nigerians know better. The affected students know better. Their parents can understand the deception of the government. But, let the government be told, the increase in these fees will not stand, be they utility or whatever fees. Government’s explanation on this is sounding hollow. This government is still on a campaign mode. It is sad that at a time other less-endowed countries are moving towards education for all, Nigeria is in the mode of hiking tuition fees not only in the universities but also in the secondary schools.

It is probable that the hike in fees will soon be extended to primary schools in a country where over 20 million children are outside the classroom not because of their choice but because of having bad people in government. With our abundant human and material resources, Nigeria should have no pact with poverty, yet we are the poverty capital of the world. We have over 133 million Nigerians who suffer from multidimensional poverty. With Tinubu’s hurried removal of fuel subsidy, Nigerians are groaning under high transport fares, Nigerians are grappling with extended rise in cost of goods and services. The Lagos roads are as free as anything these days, with less traffic. Most Nigerians can no longer fuel their fleet of cars. Nigerians now look for Japanese cars with fuel economy and easy to maintain, the penchant to buy SUVs or Jeeps in Nigerian parlance, is ebbing greatly.

The yet to be unveiled new ministers will have a lot of work to do in this era of suffering and smiling or suffering and crying. The incoming minister of labour will be ready to fight with labour leaders because the government will get ready for a buffet of strikes in virtually all sectors. I pity whoever will become the minister of labour. I advise him to take some tutorials from labour minister Chris Ngige on how to deal with ‘stubborn’ Nigerian workers. The minister of labour will muster enough strength to deal with striking doctors, university teachers and their counterparts in the polytechnics and colleges of education. This is indeed not the best time to be a minister in the country. The economy is in a terrible shape, the worst in so many years. Although the problems predate Tinubu, he should not worsen them. Tinubu was part of the APC government that put all of us in this mess.

The new ministers should help the president to revamp the economy before it collapses. The signs that the economy will collapse are there already, a weakening naira against the dollar, pounds and euro, rising inflation and high cost of living, rise in transport fares, unemployment, poverty, and the migration of our youths and medical experts to Europe and America in search of better life. The education sector is already exhibiting signs of death. The same applies to the health sector. Another serious problem that administration inherited from Buhari is insecurity. The insecurity across the country is very serious. It is more than what is generally reported in the media. The bloodletting in the country has assumed a heinous dimension. The activities of non-state actors in different parts of the country and the subsequent proliferation of illegal weapons are some of the issues those in charge of defence and security of the country should tackle forthwith.

For the new government to tackle the problems facing the country, it needs ministers with the requisite experience and knowledge of how government works. It requires technocrats in economy, education and health and the ubiquitous power sectors, a sector that has defied all solutions. In fact, fixing the power sector should be prioritized by this administration. Having a steady power supply will spur our technological and industrial development. No nation can witness industrial development in the absence of durable and clean energy. Since we have plenty sunshine all the year round, let there be much investments in solar energy in addition to other sources of energy such as thermal, water, wind and possibly nuclear power. But, let more emphasis be placed on renewable energy sources. Those in government should be reminded that Nigeria has failed in virtually all indices of human development. Former president Olusegun Obasanjo drew attention to this recently when he stated at a book launch in Abuja that Nigeria has failed the African continent in particular and the world in general. According to the former leader, ‘over the last 63 years, we have not lived up to expectations. We have disappointed ourselves; we have disappointed Africa; we have disappointed the black race; and we have disappointed the world.’ Obasanjo might have our selfish leaders in mind when he said: ‘We are carried along by ego and emotion of self, selfishness and self-centredness, ethnic and religious jingoism, with total lack of understanding of  the world we live in and gross misunderstanding of what development entails and how to move fast and continuously on the trajectory of development.’

Those in leadership position now should listen to Obasanjo’s home truth and do the needful. We need a government whose policies will revolve around the people. We need a people-centered administration. And deviation from this will be utterly disastrous. When assembled, the new ministers should hit the ground running because there is no more time to waste. We must do our best to catch up with the rest of the world in terms of human and industrial development. Africa and the world cannot continue to wait for us endlessly.