President Bola Ahmed Tinubu should avoid party affiliations in reconstituting the members of his executive ahead of his proposed cabinet reshuffle.
This is the view of some analysts who reacted to the planned reshuffle. President Tinubu was rated below average by those that spoke on the matter.
The Chairman of the Trade Union Congress, Enugu State, Comrade Ben Asogwa, said Tinubu should begin the reshuffle by removing himself as Nigeria’s petroleum minister.
According to him, the petroleum ministry requires a technocrat devoid of party or ethnic colourations.
Quoting him, “I find it difficult to rate any ministry of the Tinubu administration because of their poor performances; unless we are talking about rating their levels of failure, and not successes. It is just like flogging a dead horse.”
He said the proposed cabinet reshuffle was timely provided it is not to settle political loyalty.
In his words, “If the move is simply to settle political loyalty, it makes no meaning. If Tinubu were simply Nigeria’s petroleum minister, he should be the first to be reshuffled. He doesn’t seem to understand the oil terrain. The ministers were told to be speaking to the media on their scorecards. What are they going to say? That is why they are media shy. Even the best liars can lack words to express their narratives.”
The Executive Director, Lead Network Africa, Dr Ephraim Okenwa, said he had not seen any ministry in Tinubu’s regime that performed excellently. He blamed the system, which, according to him, might have not allowed the ministers to optimally operate.
He said, “In the education sector, the only reform I see is the pegging of the minimum age for higher institution admission at 18, which is an adaption from Western countries. As we speak, ASUU plans an imminent strike. In defence, I’ll score the minister below 10% because of the level of insecurity across the country. In the health sector, most of the facilities used to combat Covid-19 are rotting away. The announcement to reshuffle does not make sense. Nigerians would have been given the opportunity to rate the ministers individually.”
He advised President Tinubu to emulate former President Olusegun Obasanjo “who appointed his cabinet members on merit, and allowed them free hands to operate.”
He said, “Nigeria requires leaders that have pedigree, and not those that need Nigerian resources to survive.
“Tinubu should appoint professionals who he should also utilise their expertise. There are many renowned Nigerians, both within and outside the shores of this country.
“He should seek them, and plead with them to come and rescue this country. This is no longer the time to consider political affiliations.”