Tinubu’s cabinet reshuffle: a fluke or game changer?
By Bolaji O. Akinyemi
Much; of course is expected from Nigeria in the month of October. The month of our independence celebration, 1st October to be precise, this makes it our 64th anniversary, and for whatever reason, solutions to our many challenges has been flying in the air, maybe in the spirit of freedom celebration without freedom of choice. But unfortunately it is typical of our attitude to be forgetful and unfocused. Both the state and the citizens are disconnected from the potentials of Nigeria. While the citizens want to ‘japa’ to earn a better living and live a better life, our leaders are equally fascinated to working abroad governing Nigeria, earning Naira to live a “dolarised” life. Iyen na da, it explains emi lokan, like after Buhari, it is my turn to je aye foreign!Flying solutions; Da Jonathan Sunday Akuns was the first to welcome us to October on the economic front. In a plea to Mr President, he virtually offered his service pro bono to the nation. https://www.facebook.com/share/v/Et11gzSB9ggB8mn9/?mibextid=oFDknk
Typical of United Nations, 16th of October 2024 was declared as UNDay for Eradication of Hunger, the day after being 17th, UNDay for Eradication of Poverty. At the commemoration of it by International Association of World Peace Advocates, I was privileged to deliver the keynotes as the special guest and was decorated as Eminent Peace Ambassador.I reiterated my position on the economy by advising Nigerian government the need to invest heavily in agriculture, which of course is our highest employer of labor as of today. With the average age of a Nigerian at 17 and the average age of Nigerian farmer at 65 and life expectancy at 56.05. it simply means the “dead” are responsible for the food supply of the living, making urgent the need for creative ways of doing agriculture to motivate our youth into taking up responsibility of the living feeding the living.Saturday, 19th of October was The 90th birthday celebration of the Elder Statesman and former Head of State General Yakubu Gowon. The platform provided the man, whose revolution awoken agriculture under Obasanjo as the President to re-echo the same advice. Dr Akinwunmi Adesina, President of the African Development Bank was the Guest Speaker at the occasion.Adesina like, Akuns and myself has just one piece of advice for President Bola Ahmed Tinubu led Presidency.”Nigeria Must Invest Heavily in Agriculture To Get It Right”. He urged Nigeria to invest heavily in agriculture if it is to make a headway in the comity of nations.Adesina also lamented the level of poverty in Nigeria which he said has led to an increase in crime and other social vices as well as threatens food security.A Leadership groping in the midst of light should be worrisome!The long awaited October gift for our independence anniversary celebration finally arrived in Nigeria, though it didn’t put pay to the speculation of the President’s whereabouts. It confirmed however the fact that one of the reasons the President bolted from our radar was to minimise lobbying from interested persons in his cabinet reshuffle.The wobbling and fumbling of the first team gave Nigerians no reason to cheer with inflation hitting an all time high at 32.7% in September of 2024.Nothing best describes the Tinubu led Administration since its inception, than “dismal”, for the state of our economy and the floating of the naira. The currency has failed to stay afloat but rather we are witnessing the sinking of the currency on a daily basis.Just when it seems Nigerians were prepared for the worst, came the change of team. PBAT’s new team must come to terms with the reality that their services are to a desperate masses whose patience have been exhausted.Will his newly approved implementation of eight far-reaching actions to reinvigorate the Administration’s capacity for optimal efficiency pursuant of his renewed hope agenda which has seem like hopelessness due to failure till date kick the dying horse back to life?In what is looking like the cluelessness claim of critiques of this administration. Ministry created at the inception of this government were either renamed or merged for what they describe as for greater efficiency, a confirmation of trial and error that has been our experience since PBAT assumed leadership.This government has never lacked words in marketing communication, but content to market and implement are grossly absent, leading to plenty of words yet, no results as many will say. But for the benefit of the doubt, I will say little results, at least we are still alive and when there is life, there is hope. So we keep the renewed hope alive. The immediate winding up of the ministry of Sports Development and transfer of its function to the National Sport Commission, to develop a vibrant sport economy, sounds great. The question is will it not just raise hope like it’s creative economy counterparts that ended up in a merger after a year of lack or direction?Ministry of Regional Development to oversee the activities of Regional Development Commissions:This for me is not an ingenious decision, rather a show of craftiness in statecraft. Just a smart one at ensuring the geese continue to lay the golden eggs to be served as buffet at the national table.I hope South South Development Commission is loading? If injustice has the capacity to birth, when married with inequality it may translate restiveness in the Niger Delta to restiveness in the South South except the President is counting on his friendship Asari Dokubo and other Lords of the creeks to keep the South South from standing up for their rights.South East Development Commission, for States within South East is something to cheer. Though, policies enacted for political profiting has never worked with the Igbos, so the President should expect no vote in return for his generosity on this in 2027.North East Development Commission, for States within North East. A good move if the Commission will target the habitation of its bandits for aggressive investment in Agriculture and beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. It is to farm repentant Boko Haram should return and not to the military or customs service.In reality ‘Awalokan’ is a philosophy of ‘Emilokan’, ‘okan mi ti bale’, the rest of South West should ‘fi okan bale’ without a South West Development Commission, for States within South West, on this, the agitation for Yoruba Nation has just received the needed tonic.The merger of the Federal Ministry of Tourism and the Federal Ministry of Art and culture to become, Federal Ministry of Art, Culture, Tourism and the Creative Economy is a Welcome development if properly activated along with Sports Commission, they both have the capacity to solve the problem of youth restiveness.The movement of Dr Doris Uzoka-Anite from Industry, Trade and Investment to Minister of State Finance could activate the long needed industrial revolution, boost trade and seduce investors into the country if funding governance will give way to financing industries, trades and investment and she has access to the idea lying fallow at the Senate Committees for Industry.All said and done the only way to help PBAT is to live his dream and run with his vision. This is the task before the front line ministry of Agriculture and Food Security, Industry, Trade and Investment, Finance in conjunction with relevant Senate Committees, they must work together to end hunger and provide employment from which the tax focus policy of this government can receive oxygen, if not, nothing will change in the next 2 years.One of the big motivations to investors in Nigeria was the cheap cost of labour and energy, that of course we have lost to subsidy removal. A lot of works need to be put in place for aggressive marketing communication.It is for this that I decided to do a reflection on how long this Agbado ideological solution has been around with us, this must be the focus of the front line ministries.The pride of this for PBAT is that he is the proponent of what experts are researching and canvassing as the way forward. Why he will not give it a chance is my concern.His swag was interesting. He seems to possess the magic wands, at just one touch, every problem of Nigeria was going to get fixed. There was really nothing to worry about when with the flip of his hand he suspended the subsidy regime, “subsidy gone”! But 18 months down the lane the economy is lying in state.Against the background of his political campaign grandstanding, the then candidate of the APC, now President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, had promised to recruit 50 million youths, assuring the nation of the need not to worry about what they will eat, as there would be plenty of “Agbado” and cassava.The joke, made by Mr President, has become the expert’s processed panacea for fixing the country’s problems. “Agbado” like a “gbogbo nise” herbal product sold among the masses, was first opined by Mr President as a one crop production that has capacity to solve our multiple problems. I was the first to pick on what seems to be a slip of tongue from Mr President and made meaning out of it; at the yearly ‘Apostolic Roundtable’ which drew experts from different fields, themed; ‘Stewards of Nations: Stewarding Monetary System for Wealth Creation’.In the opening remark of the Round Table, the chairman of the occasion, Rev. David Esosa Ize-Iyamu, former presidential candidate of the Better Nigeria Progressive Party (BNPP) in the 2019 presidential election, maintained that for Nigeria to recover economically, it needs leaders with dogged spirit. According to him, if Nigeria booms, Africa will boom.In what seems like a prophecy; Ize-Iyamu stressed: “The outcome of the Apostolic Round Table, we hope that if implemented, will lead to the transformation of the nation from the federal to the state levels.“Nigeria needs the right leadership to transform the economy to reach its full potential. It brings pain when we listen to solutions to Nigeria’s problems. These solutions had already been proffered in the past, but had been neglected by people in power.There is of course none other more dogged than Tinubu. For how long will he continue to ignore workable solutions made available by those who have given their time to study his hypothesis and embodied it into a theory?The statement was made in January 2024, 10 months after, experts seem to stay the course on “Agbado” economic ideology of Mr President as the only way out of our economic quagmire. ART which focuses on how to make monetary policy work to create wealth for Nigerians has resurfaced but will the President and his new cabinet invest themselves in this age long first global civilisation of African origin. Only time will tell. For now, congratulations to the new 7 and best of luck to the 5 out.
Dr. Bolaji O. Akinyemi is an Apostle and Nation Builder. He’s also President Voice of His Word Ministries and Convener Apostolic Round Table. BoT Chairman, Project Victory Call Initiative, AKA PVC Naija. He is a strategic Communicator and the C.E.O, Masterbuilder Communications.
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