The new prime minister

Even though he had stated long before this moment, and also very recently, that he was going to retire to private practice after the completion of his eight-year term as governor of Lagos State, and that he was not interested in any political job afterwards, the immediate past governor of Lagos State, Mr. Babatunde Fashola, has just got a new job landed on his laps, or shall we say three new jobs. And this is a very powerful political preoccupation that is most certainly going to further put his capability to test beyond the giant strides he has already made in public administration.

Yet again President Muhammadu Buhari created a talking point for many Nigerians when, last week, he assigned portfolios to each of his newly appointed ministers. Before then, many Nigerians had, since his assumption of office on 29th May 2015, held their breaths while awaiting the revelation of the President’s front-men.

Of all the new ministerial appointments, one stands out, and conspicuously too. That of the former governor of Lagos state, Babatunde Fashola, who is currently the Minister of Power, Works and Housing. Not unexpectedly, it has sparked the most conversations and debates across the country. And this is not hard to decipher.

Nigerians have been in perpetual darkness because of the failure of successive governments to provide stable electricity to households and businesses despite repeated promises and, of course, the commitment of staggering amount of money towards the course.

Efforts at putting our roads in optimal conditions that will engender several socio-economic pursuits have repeatedly been marred by embarrassing political shows of supremacy and scandals of catastrophic magnitude. With the country’s housing deficit standing between 16 million units and 17 million units, millions of Nigerians are either not comfortably housed or lacking outright any form of housing due to lack of sound policy for social housing. Hence, a plausible intervention in that respect remains one of the biggest challenges of the new government. And Fashola must discharge these arduous responsibilities effectively as the minister in charge of these massive ministries.

Apparently, President Buhari is aware of the magnitude of the task he has handed over to Fashola. He could not hide his frustration at the inauguration. “No single cause can be identified to explain Nigerian’s poor economic performance over the years than the power situation. It is a national shame that an economy of 180 million generates only 4,000MW, and distributes even less. Continuous tinkering with the structures of power supply and distribution and close on $20 billion expended since 1999 has only brought darkness, frustration, misery, and resignation among Nigerians. We will not allow this to go on. Careful studies are under way during this transition to identify the quickest, safest and most cost-effective way to bring light and relief to Nigerians,” the president said.

The president’s words make it clear that he is aware that his government would be judged by the state of power, and that, contrary to held beliefs in some quarters, a lot still needs to be done in the power sector by the government particularly in terms of oversight, regulation and development of alternative sources of power despite the transfer of the sector to private hands.

Therefore, it would be safe, I suppose, to assume that Fashola understands quite well the responsibilities he now bears. That Nigerians, majority of whom are already depressed by the inadequate electricity supply in the country over the years, do not care and will not belabor themselves about the workings of the privatisation exercise in the power sector. What they desire is constant electricity, and they are convinced the power to power the nation is presently in Fashola’s hands. And many Nigerians will consistently demand this power from him. Similarly, no one cares about the lack of policies bedeviling the housing sector or the bureaucratic bottlenecks that have successfully made major roads in the country effective death traps.

Expectations in the power sector are especially high given what the much touted magical “body language” of the president has been credited to have achieved in the sector. Nigeria witnessed much improved power supply across the country in the first few months of the current administration when a substantive minister was not sitting atop the ministry of power. Nigerians already have a taste of what is possible and, given Fashola’s pedigree as a public administrator, no one can blame them for expecting tremendous improvement in the generation, transmission and distribution of power within the country.

Beyond the power sector however, Fashola has also got his job well cut out for him in the ministries of works and housing which are also under his supervision, and also need radical and proactive steps that would yield revolutionary results to the benefit of the Nigerian populace.

In all, Fashola has been presented a golden opportunity. A good performance in these critical areas will underscore his fitness and truly make him a man on the watch for 2019, if the rumour mill works in his favour. On the other hand, his failure would affirm talks in other areas suggesting that he was actually given these onerous tasks to set the table for his grand political destruction. I sincerely hope he churns out a good performance, not for the benefit of his political ambitions per se; but for the sake of millions of Nigerians who continue to bear the brunt of inefficient and myopic leadership that has plagued the nation for so long.