Yar’Adua’s Ministers And Their Ministries
The recently released list of federal ministers and their assigned ministries further elicits the fears expressed by many Nigerians when the Senate approved their nomination without the knowledge about their portfolios. Needless to say, the exercise has shown that, round pegs have been forced into square holes in allocating ministries to the appointees. Many Nigerians had looked forward to seeing proper schedule of duties to the ministers based on their professional training and qualification.
Even though the ministers are generally expected to perform administrative and executive functions, but their training and practice go a long way in making them more comfortable with their job. Especially, with the present setup where the permanent secretaries act as the preceptors for their ministers before they in turn get assimilated in the workings of their ministries, it is much better if the ministers are knowledgeable about the main roles of their ministries to the Nigerian society.
Examples of mismatches abound and noticeable particularly in the ministries where professionals are appointed to work under political figure heads. Without engaging in name calling here, some of the appointees are known to qualify for the postings based largely on party patronage, and external influence. Since the constitution allows for federal appointment to reflect the geo-political structure in the country, caution should be exercised to ensure that the best brains are picked from the zones. Even then, there are better qualified technocrats who can justifiably be appointed on merit and past performance in their chosen fields.
To many observers, this scenario presents a sharp contradiction to what obtains elsewhere where priority is given to expertise exhibited by the individuals above any political consideration. It is unfortunate, and disturbing that Nigeria chooses to place affiliation with party and personal connection in deciding who gets what in appointments rather than competence and commitment to serve. So much for the mismatches as the trend continues in many of the ministries.
The number of ministers is another area of concern where a good job could have been done if not for the syndrome of finding jobs for the boys. With 40 ministers, and potential for additional appointments, the executive arm of government is no doubt too large for comfort. Bigger and more advanced economies of the world like China and the United States make do with smaller cabinet, and they perform their tasks with appreciable competence needed to run their countries. It is against this backdrop that one is confused as to the sincerity of purpose on the part of Yar’Adua administration in reducing the cost of running a central government, and eliminating waste.
To have as many as three ministers of state in the same ministry does not give the impression of a serious government. The practice amounts in some instances to duplication of duties and the attendant avoidable waste of public fund. The focus ought to be on how to deliver good governance to Nigerians at the minimal cost, as oppose to what material gains appointees can benefit from running a government on behalf of the people.
Governmental activities need not be unnecessarily expensive when available funds could be used to provide basic infrastructural facilities which are affordable, but largely unavailable for the masses. Instead of breaking one department of government into smaller units to create positions for political jobbers, it is more expedient and even desirable to consolidate existing ones into compact entities, and make them result oriented. This way, the purpose of their existence would have been achieved without additional financial burden on the nation’s purse.
Nigeria needs all the resources at its disposal at this stage of its development, and all hands should be on deck towards achieving this. There should be zero tolerance for any venture that potentially negates the march towards good governance, which democracy is all about. Otherwise, the status quo remains, while the country will be worse of for it.
Femi Sobowale
August 4, 2007
