By Lateef Adegbite And Stephen Ubanna
Barely three months of being sworn into office as the President and Commander -In -Chief of the Nigerian Armed Forces, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, who had started governance of the country with the appointment of special Advisers has hit the ground running with the inauguration in of the 545 ministers designate by the Godswill Akpabio, a former governor of Akwa Ibom state led Senate with their various port portfolios.
In inaugurating the new Federal Executive Council, FEC, members that will steer the hip of state with him for the remaining years and months of the Administration, Tinubu, who is in a hurry to succeed was said to have warned the ministers that ‘’Nigerians won’t tolerate any excuse for failure’’.
He was said to have mandated the new ministers to prioritise the interests and welfare of the entire nation and its diverse population, above any regional or state -specific consideration’’ was said to have made it clear that ‘’it is their responsibility in reshaping policies that will significantly influence the lives of hundreds of millions of Nigerians.
Appealing to them ‘’to serve with integrity, dignity and competence actualise the renewed hope manifesto of the administration, noting that anyone that fails to deliver on his mandate, he will not hesitate take necessary remedial measures to remove the person.
Given the ministers a directive on what to do, he was said to have told them: Your highest obligation is to restore public faith with the government so that Nigerians can once again believe that ‘’government can be a positive force for transformation and vehicle for collective progress of all citizens of this great country, Nigeria’’ the most populous in the African Continent.
He may have alluded to the fact that the last eight years of former President Muhammadu Buhari’s administrations and the 16 years of the Opposition People’s Democratic government in the country had dampened Nigerians enthusiasm of democratic rule as they have not enjoyed the dividends of democracy but promises and Failure which must be reversed to restore the much – needed confidence.
Notwithstanding the good ideas that the Nigerian President may have a the driver of the vehicle together with the ministers on the botand Nigerians as the passengers, Jideofo Adibe, a Professor, had said that the ministers will not make any headway in their various ministries without Presidential backing.’’the ministers can work better if given the needed Presidential backing’’, Prof. Adibe had said.
He was emphatic that ‘’for the ministers to work , for them to be effective and be able to take risks , the President, who incidentally was a one- time Senator of Federal Republic of Nigeria and governor Lagos state has ‘’to set the tone to wrest waste from the government’’.
The Professor who would want the Lagos state born Nigerian President to be confident enough ‘’ to allow the ministers the legrom to take decisions in their respective ministries , stated that ‘’it is the only way they will take effective risks’’ , tread on feet and step on powerful toes and be ready to give them political cover’’.
Nyesom Wike, the immediate past governor of Rivers state, a and a member of the opposition PDP, who may have followed the foot steps of Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, a former governor of the Niger Delta state elected on the platform of the PDP to dump the party and now minister of the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, was said to have told Tibubu that he won’t regret nominating him to serve in his Cabinet and the Senate as well for confirming his appointment.
True to his words and being a strong -willed person in the class of Nasir El- Rufai, a former governor of Kafduna state and who had served as the minister of the FCT, during former Preside Olusegun OBASANJO’S administration, and stepped on toes by demolition houses, that had contravened the Abuja, master plan, he has vowed to demolish structures not built according the FCT’s master plan.
The former Rivers state governor who likes talking enough may have sent a message to landowners, including past and present ministers, Ambassadors and top government functionaries who have taken areas to build properties or parks to build restaurants, which had distorted the master plan of Abuja that it will be too bad for them as ‘’the structures will go down’’ He was said to said it loud and clear that that those green areas and parks must return .
Talking enough he has promised to end open grazing in the FCT, saying such can no longer be tolerated. ‘’’’We cannot allow cows in the city’’, he had said. He had said that the herdsmen going about with their cattles in the city is a bad advertisement to the country and must stop at all costs.
Trivers state born minister of the FCT, had asked that assuming one is a foreign visitor at the Presidential villa and sees about 20,000 to 40,000 goats and cattles around the vicinity, how would they feel?
He did not stop there. He was said to have also promised to stop street trading, alluding to the fact that ‘’it bred insecurity’’. The former Rivers state governor who wants to replicate what he did in Rivers state to build flyovers and make the oil city clean may have sent a message to resident of the Nigerian capital city the government will no longer tolerate the issue of everywhere is market, insisting that it must be done within the framework of the Law. His major worry was that in the city ‘’people are selling with umbrellas under tree’’, noting that these things caused insecurity’’.
Gboyega Oyetola, a former governor of Osun and now minister of Maine and Blue Economy may not be as lucky as the other ministers deployed to the already existing ministries as he is starting from a virgin ministry which he is expected to develop to be a revenue generating source for the government.
The President may have deployed him from the previous ministry of Transportation on Sunday, August 19, 2023, to the new ministry because of his experience and administrative skills to manage both human and material resources ability to reposition the south western state’s economy on the path of growth.
Oyetola , a former governor of Osun state, who may not be as lucky as other ministers deployed to well-established ministries but starting from a virgin ministry was said to have urged the ministry staff to work with him ‘’to find innovative solutions to the challenges in the sector to ensure that the seas, oceans and marine are safe , reliable and sustainable’’.
The minister of the Marine and Blue Economy who may have been properly brief within the short period of his deployment to the new ministry from the parent ministry,, Transportation, may have been properly briefed that he has started talking as an industry stakeholder.
He had said that that the blue econoy, is estimated globally to be worth more than 1.3 trillion of the North American country of the United States, US, dollars , adding that that considering the size of the country’s blue economy, Nigeria should be a significant player in the sector to contribute to the country’s revenue generation to the Federation account and also provide jobs for teeming unemployed in the country.
He wAs said to have promised the ministry staff and Chief Executives of the agencies under the ministry: Nigerian Ports Authority, NPA, under the close watch of Mohammed Bello Koko, Nigerian Maritime administration and Safety Agency, NIMASA, under the Leadership of Bashir Jamoh, OFR, and Emmanuel Jime , led Nigerian Shippers Council, NSC and George Moghalu, controlled Nigerian Inland Water Ways Authority, NIWA, ‘’to come up with practicable ways of ensuring that the Inland rivers, lakes and waterways are utilised for cargo shipment and passenger transportation.
Speaking as an industry stakeholder, he had said ‘’our oceans cover more than two-thirds of our planet’s surface, holding the key to sustainable economic growth, environmental intervention, and technological innovation’’.
The former Osun state governor noted that his vision for the new ministry is ‘’rooted in responsible management and utilisation of the country’s marine resources to benefit not only the country’s economy but also the health of our planet’’. He duo, Jamoh, Director General, NIMASA and Bello Koko, who are assets to the ministry were said to be conspicuously absent at the ministry’s conference room to receive the minister who was said to have arrived with his wife, son and other members of his cabinet while governor of Osun state. The duo who may be outside the country on official engagements have much to contribute to the new ministry to take it toa new level because of their knowledge of the blue economy, particular, Jamoh, the NIMASA, Director General.
