Our president and his ministers

President Muhammadu Buhari continues to confound those of us watching him from afar. His latest surprise act was the allocation of portfolios to ministers last week. At a level, it showed him as one who does not forget old friends and associates while at another he displayed the ruthlessness of a typical politician keen to establish his own political base and that ultimately he is in charge.

The greatest masterstrokes in the ministerial list for me would be the appointments of Geoffrey Onyeama from Enugu State as the foreign affairs minister and Babatunde Fashola as the minister for power, works, and housing. It was a pleasure watching Onyeama on television during the so-called screening exercise by the senators. Suave and urbane, his ability in speaking English, French, and German languages would surely come in handy in his new office.

While some Nigerians thought that Kayode Fayemi, former Ekiti State governor, would have been a natural fit representing us outside our shores, Buhari displayed an uncanny ability in naming an Igbo at a time when some are agitating for a Biafra republic. What better ammunition for an administration when some citizens are unhappy with it than for its public face in global circles coming from that particular area? Call it tokenism and I would agree, as just one appointment cannot remove years of neglect and exclusion for whatever reasons, but whosever advised our president to appoint Mr. Onyeama the foreign affairs minister deserves a raise. It is a smart move and a good starting point of constructive engagement with our Igbo brothers and sisters.

Similarly the appointment of former Lagos State governor Babatunde Fashola is significant in many ways. Politically, it’s the president affirming what Nigerians have always suspected, his deep affection and admiration for Fashola and constitutional provisions notwithstanding, one would be pardoned for calling him the de facto vice president. Fine the vice president is in charge of the economy but is there any other important economic sectors than power and works? Which other areas can jumpstart our economy than these two and housing?

Some actually rooted for Fashola as running mate before the election but the balancing act of a Muslim –Christian ticket put paid to such idea. Was this appointment a way of the president getting his way via the backdoor? Curiously too, Fashola’s godfather, Bola Tinubu, in the last few days has been rhapsodizing about how he ‘discovered’ Fashola in Lagos State. A subtle way of reminding the president and Nigerians that without the godfather, there can be no godson. Conspiracy theorists, however, may be pardoned for imagining that is this not a way of setting Fashola up for failure a la the late Bola Ige’s experience with the power ministry? I choose to see it differently though as his background in law should help him navigate the conundrum that our power situation has become with its myriad of agreements and a weak regulator that the National Electricity Regulatory Commission has turned out to be.

The appointments of Adamu Adamu as education minister and Amina Mohammed as environment minister come under reward for past actions, as they were part of Buhari’s headship of Petroleum Trust Fund. One of the incongruities in the appointments include Adamu’s appointment as education minister with a professor as minister of state just as Abubakar Malami’s portfolio as attorney general is a pay off for his services as the defunct CPC’s legal adviser. A better fit would have been James Ocholi from Kogi State whose mastery of our legal problems was on display while being screened but he would have to make do as minister of state for labour. Adebayo Shittu too was part of CPC and as long as he keeps his moral crusade private he should be fine as communications minister but he would do well to remember that he was not appointed as a religious crusader. Painfully too, Claudius Daramola, a professor of education, who has had the privilege of teaching in primary and secondary schools before becoming a university lecturer was shunted to the Niger delta ministry as minister of state. It is also interesting that Udo Udoma as planning minister has an additional portfolio – budget, thereby making Kemi Adeosun a finance minister without oversight of budget? Is this a reflection of how well the president rates her? Hopefully not otherwise what’s the point in appointing someone you don’t trust to deliver.

The president has exercised his constitutional rights in the exercise nearly six months after he assumed office, we must not fail in holding the ministers accountable.

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Post script: Two weeks ago, I wrote on the new Ooni of Ife and a senior colleague ‘queried’ me on the piece. He said that Oyo people have done a more daring thing when the present Alaafin, Oba Lamidi Olayiwola Adeyemi III, became king on November 18, 1970 at 32, having been born on October 15, 1938. So, here is giving the Oyo people their due, Kabiyesi o!