Let me start by underscoring the fact that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is a man whose eyes are curiously and perpetually on history. He is a man of firm conviction and he is in a hurry to make indelible impact as the leader of the greatest black nation on earth, Nigeria.
Unfortunately, not many seem to catch his vision and so they cannot walk at his pace. Interestingly, many of his loyalists and followers – including some of his ministers and political appointees – are among them. Please, do not get me wrong. There are a handful of people who are proofs that it is possible to make a difference with the right mindset, no matter the challenges. The emphasis here is on how to connect with every Nigerian, including those in the rural areas and communities with direct impacts of the implementation of the Renewed Hope Agenda of Mr. President.
The concerns and frustrations of many Nigerians are not necessarily directed at Mr. President or the ruling party as it were; the biggest issue at stake for Nigerians is that they want to feel the impacts of the Renewed Hope Agenda through fruitful implementation of government’s policies and programmes. This is because, the value of every government is measured by testifiable impacts and not just media hypes on official activities.
We have been from streets to streets, interacting with Nigerians, asking the tough questions on how they feel about the performance of the present government, and the responses were all predictable: the lack of performance of some of Tinubu’s ministers and appointees.
It is most embarrassing when the citizens are asked to mention names of the ministers under the Tinubu administration, only a handful of names – of course the already acknowledged names – are mentioned.
The well known names are Nyesom Wike, the FCT minister; David Umahi, works minister; Tunji-Ojo, interior minister; Mohammed Idris, information minister; and Festus Keyamo, aviation minister. Some other people are remembered by tangible development such as the Ministry of Defence, rail transportation projects. Students’ and the youths easily talk about NELFUND. For many, the best marketers of President Tinubu are Wike’s unprecedented infrastructure transformation of FCT, Umahi’s endless road works across the country, and Mohammed Idris’ projection of government policies and programmes.
Who else is working very hard with evident impacts that are not felt – apart from the National Chairman of the ruling party, All Progressives Congress (APC), Prof. Nentawe Yilwatda? Where are the performances? Is it for lack of publicity that they are not known?
Some ministers are not quite receptive to ideas or suggestions. This is completely wrong. Where there absence of creativity, what you do is to humbly learn or borrow from others. Some laudable ideas died because they were rejected, and where they were positively considered, they were unduly politicised. That is not in the best interest of Mr. President to move the country forward.
It is not surprising that many of Mr. President’s appointees do not feel comfortable to travel home to promote the government and the gospel of the Renewed Hope Agenda in their states and communities because they have no record of performance to convince the people with.
Some of the cabinet members were appointed on the strength of sentiments, while some were as a result of Mr. President’s kindness and generousity, thinking that they would reciprocate the gesture through performance; but they have disappointed the president and the people of Nigeria.
Many of them hide behind cash-backing of capital projects as excuses but the negative trend has changed positively since. Any minister or appointee of Mr. President who has a genuine vision cannot fail. This is because Mr. President himself, a man of vision, will recognise one when he sees it. He will not let any such minister or appointee to perish with such a sound vision. In other words, with funding, the good will and support of Mr. President, no appointee across the length and breath Nigeria has any reason or excuse to fail.
There is no doubt the worst sin than non-performance is disloyalty, which some of the appointees have been engaging in. Apart from poor performance, some of them are fraternising with the opposition, divulging the plans of the ruling party, exposing and making Mr. President vulnerable. They laugh with us, we share breakfast and lunch together but they eat dinner with enemies of our democracy and our national unity, haters of Mr. President and Prof. Nentawe Yilwatda-led APC. This is not acceptable!
The kind of friends and loyalists that the president needs now are those who see his vision for the country; those who are ready to make sacrifices in order to actualise such a vision as encapsulated in the Renewed Hope Agenda and ensure that every citizen of this country is a beneficiary. Mr. President needs those who are ambitious about making genuine impact in the country’s development trajectory under his leadership, and create a niche for themselves. President Tinubu yearns for those who are burning with passion and patriotism, and are ready to turn the tide in order to make a memorable difference.
One may ask: What does it really take to make impact or difference? Our beloved Prof. Dora Akunyili of blessed memory was not a minister but a director general of once a dull agency (NAFDAC) but when she took over, she made her impacts within few months because she had a compelling vision and a burning patriotic desire to make a landmark.
Ben Bruce, a former DG of NTA, did not spend even a full term in office but he made an instant mark in revolutionising operations and services of the government-owned television station. Currently, Arch. Sunny Echono of TETFUND is drastically changing the narrative in tertiary education infrastructure development, and a few others.
Mr. President alone cannot carry all the loads on his head; only him cannot be trying to correct the mistakes of the past, going round the country in every sector to initiate, inspect and supervise projects. And if a minister does not have a vision and passion, if you like, give him three terms office and open the CBN vaults for him, the best he can do for you is to go and buy babanriga or nice suits and make show-offs in public gatherings Infront of flashing cameras and the media.
Mr. President has already expended his generousity by continually keeping some of the ministers. Tinubu and Yilwatda have demonstrated too much patience as benevolent father and leader respectfully. Are Nigerians ready to continue to exercise patience with us same way?
The president should not continue to bear the political costs and burdens of non-performing ministers and political appointees. There is an urgent need for purging. Those who are not ready to move at the pace of Mr. President’s vision should be showed the door as quickly as possible. Time is not really on our side. 2027 is almost upon us. The time to purge the cabinet is now.
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