Related Posts
Zainab Ahmed from Kaduna State was once the Minister of State for Budget and National Planning. Later, she took charge of the Ministry of Finance. Now, she’s returning with President Muhammadu Buhari for his second term in office. Ogbonnaya Onu, the immediate past Minister of Science and Technology, is returning as well. There’s also Festus Keyamo, the human rights lawyer. I’ve had reasons to call attention to Ahmed and Onu on this page in recent past. They, along with Keyamo, point to a few things regarding the President’s latest federal cabinet.
Ahmed had featured in my conversations from the day the list of ministerial nominees arrived the Senate. I discuss what the presence of someone like her means to our governance process. I had taken note of her activity in the public space pre-2015. Of course, Nigerians who put in selfless service either in the private or public sector are a goldfish. I had equally pointed to her on this page after the 2015 federal cabinet was formed. With her return in 2019, one could ask what Ahmed has going for her. One, she’s from the private sector. I understand people from the private sector because it’s where I‘ve always been.
Ahmed had featured in my conversations from the day the list of ministerial nominees arrived the Senate. I discuss what the presence of someone like her means to our governance process. I had taken note of her activity in the public space pre-2015. Of course, Nigerians who put in selfless service either in the private or public sector are a goldfish. I had equally pointed to her on this page after the 2015 federal cabinet was formed. With her return in 2019, one could ask what Ahmed has going for her. One, she’s from the private sector. I understand people from the private sector because it’s where I‘ve always been.
So, Ahmed is not the typical politician, meaning she doesn’t have the burden that politicians carry. Two, with a private sector background, she’s exposed to best global practices, more so as she was once the head of the Nigerian chapter of the extractive industry global watchdog, NEITI. We know people from such background bring innovation and new ideas into our public offices, a reason governments look for them when they need fresh inputs.
One other benefit that anyone with Ahmed’s background brings is the opportunity to operate a transparent, unencumbered, “no-sacred-cow” administration. They introduce best practices in the public sector. I think it was the strongest point she brought to her job at the finance ministry the last time out. With reports of government agencies that loathed accounting for the revenues they got, she was the right person in the right place. There’s also her serious no-nonsense mien and approach; I see an administrator who takes her job seriously. She doesn’t cause needless controversies, which a focused government doesn’t need.
One other benefit that anyone with Ahmed’s background brings is the opportunity to operate a transparent, unencumbered, “no-sacred-cow” administration. They introduce best practices in the public sector. I think it was the strongest point she brought to her job at the finance ministry the last time out. With reports of government agencies that loathed accounting for the revenues they got, she was the right person in the right place. There’s also her serious no-nonsense mien and approach; I see an administrator who takes her job seriously. She doesn’t cause needless controversies, which a focused government doesn’t need.
She stated policies and measures as simply as possible in the public space, and thereafter went about her job as a focused administrator should. She was unlike some appointees who went about the country making bombastic public statements, fouling the air, generally making most Nigerians to ask whether or not they added any value to the government. Ahmed once stated that she saw to it that the nation’s revenue collection processes were automated. She promised to continue championing such digitalisation transformation initiatives that had proved to be a good way forward for our revenue generation drive. That’s a minister who presides over a ministry with enormous statutory powers and who’s keen to use the powers to move this nation forward.
Efforts such as this make me rise and applaud. Why? Could the reader recall other ministers who have utilised the power their ministries have to improve governance as well as move this nation forward? Ministries and agencies have so much statutory powers needed to turn things around in this nation, but those who head them don’t ever get to put to use five per cent of such. They sit in offices and sign contracts and attend public events where they give the impression that something is happening when nothing is happening. Regarding the things Ahmed did in her first term in office, I once stated on this page that, for me, even if a government does nothing else, once it ensures that leakages of public funds into the hands of treasury looters are curtailed, such a government is an achiever.
Efforts such as this make me rise and applaud. Why? Could the reader recall other ministers who have utilised the power their ministries have to improve governance as well as move this nation forward? Ministries and agencies have so much statutory powers needed to turn things around in this nation, but those who head them don’t ever get to put to use five per cent of such. They sit in offices and sign contracts and attend public events where they give the impression that something is happening when nothing is happening. Regarding the things Ahmed did in her first term in office, I once stated on this page that, for me, even if a government does nothing else, once it ensures that leakages of public funds into the hands of treasury looters are curtailed, such a government is an achiever.
Ahmed has worked towards that, meaning she’s adding value to how this nation is run. She couldn’t have done otherwise because she came from NEITI where she used to announce to Nigerians what government should get as revenue from the extractive industry that government agencies concerned didn’t remit. We need more of her kind in government.
Onu, another person on the President’s ministerial list, equally catches my attention. He does as he affords me the opportunity to continue with the narrative about appointees who utilise the power their ministries have to move the nation forward in the corner allotted to them. Not long ago, I noted on this page how Onu set in motion a process meant to make a difference in the Nigerian leather industry. He said if that subsector got more attention, its products would be exported and quality leather products made in Nigeria could earn revenue as well as create jobs. I imagine the President was too busy with other matters of state to have spoon-fed Onu and made him take steps regarding this.
Onu, another person on the President’s ministerial list, equally catches my attention. He does as he affords me the opportunity to continue with the narrative about appointees who utilise the power their ministries have to move the nation forward in the corner allotted to them. Not long ago, I noted on this page how Onu set in motion a process meant to make a difference in the Nigerian leather industry. He said if that subsector got more attention, its products would be exported and quality leather products made in Nigeria could earn revenue as well as create jobs. I imagine the President was too busy with other matters of state to have spoon-fed Onu and made him take steps regarding this.
The minister simply studied areas his ministry had coverage over and chose to devote his energy to them. If he brought the same enthusiasm to bear on other subsectors under his ministry, one could imagine the effects that would have on the nation, expanding the economy and opening up spaces for young people. I’ve always been of the view that it is people like Onu who take what they do seriously that should be appointed into public office. If we had been doing this for years, we wouldn’t have accumulated the avoidable challenges confronting us at the moment.
Keyamo is the third person I take note of in the President’s ministerial list. How many times have I referred to the indefatigable spirit of this man on this page? I had stated then that from the start he had a clear vision of where he was going and he worked towards it. When you have people who have an idea of where they are going in life and they are principled enough to stick to what they believe in, this is what you get.
Keyamo is the third person I take note of in the President’s ministerial list. How many times have I referred to the indefatigable spirit of this man on this page? I had stated then that from the start he had a clear vision of where he was going and he worked towards it. When you have people who have an idea of where they are going in life and they are principled enough to stick to what they believe in, this is what you get.
The last time I cited Keyamo as an example was when some were talking about a Senator of the Federal Republic as though their own way of doing things should be the only way in town. I had compared the said Senator to Keyamo, making the point that these high-spirited personalities were going about their business the way they were wired, and no one should condemn them. We’re not all wired the same way and I’m shocked at the level of intolerance that many Nigerians display regarding people who do things differently.
Keyamo came to my attention in the early 2000s in a case that had to do with the assassination of the former Attorney -General of the Federation, Chief Bola Ige. He had also been involved in other cases that people who wanted to be on the side of the government of the day wouldn’t touch. But he stayed with what he believed him as a human rights lawyer. Way back that time, some hated Keyamo’s gut, tagging him ‘radical’ and ‘controversial’. But I understood his type of person and I could imagine even back then where he was heading. I knew what one government didn’t want to touch would one day be the hot cake for another government. Over the years, Keyamo has shown himself to be a principled fighter. I believe President Buhari did take note too, and it’s why Keyamo is where he is at the moment.
I point to Keyamo in order to assure young Nigerians that when they stand for something they will find a home one day. As a nation, we need people who stand for what they believe in, people who remain principled no matter what happens. These are the kind of people who have moved advanced nations forward, not people who stand for nothing but fall for anything. It’s been more that 20 years since Keyamo started out in his struggles, even against the machinery of state. On the day when the stable of shenanigans of Yes-men politics and politicians is being cleared, he finds a place. Overall, I’m convinced that there are individuals in this cabinet who would put in their best in their corners and help move our nation forward.
Keyamo came to my attention in the early 2000s in a case that had to do with the assassination of the former Attorney -General of the Federation, Chief Bola Ige. He had also been involved in other cases that people who wanted to be on the side of the government of the day wouldn’t touch. But he stayed with what he believed him as a human rights lawyer. Way back that time, some hated Keyamo’s gut, tagging him ‘radical’ and ‘controversial’. But I understood his type of person and I could imagine even back then where he was heading. I knew what one government didn’t want to touch would one day be the hot cake for another government. Over the years, Keyamo has shown himself to be a principled fighter. I believe President Buhari did take note too, and it’s why Keyamo is where he is at the moment.
I point to Keyamo in order to assure young Nigerians that when they stand for something they will find a home one day. As a nation, we need people who stand for what they believe in, people who remain principled no matter what happens. These are the kind of people who have moved advanced nations forward, not people who stand for nothing but fall for anything. It’s been more that 20 years since Keyamo started out in his struggles, even against the machinery of state. On the day when the stable of shenanigans of Yes-men politics and politicians is being cleared, he finds a place. Overall, I’m convinced that there are individuals in this cabinet who would put in their best in their corners and help move our nation forward.
*Written By Tunji AJibade
