Nigerians Demand Solutions As President Submits Ministerial List

 

Nigerians are earnestly clamouring for significant change in the economic situation of the country as they await the submission of the much expected list of ministerial appointments for screening at the National Assembly for screening by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu within less than a day.

An insider of the presidential villa who chose to maintain anonymity while chatting with a journalist with a newspaper house is reported to have said on Tuesday, that the President has held back on the submission of the list in his bid to ensure that it reflects National character and to foster growth and that it will have more technocrats than politicians in order to actualize his vision for the country.

The president and governors are constititutionally obliged to send to the Senate or state House of Assembly the names of their ministerial and commissioner-nominees they intend to work with within 60 days of being inaugurated into office.

Therefore all submissions are expected to be made latest by July 29.

“President Bola Tinubu will transmit the ministerial list to the National Assembly tomorrow (today). He has stretched the transmission of the list to the federal lawmakers to ensure that he gets it right. One thing is certain, the list is going to be a mixture of technocrats and tested politicians.The President has made it clear that his decisions for the next four years, starting with the ministerial list, would be guided by what is right for Nigeria and not political considerations.” the source said

Though there have been speculations that the likes of Nasir El-Rufai and Nyesom Wike are being included in the list, another individual within the president's circle said, “One thing we have been told is that the ministerial list is something the Commander-in-Chief is keeping close to his chest.”

Meanwhile, Senator Opeyemi Bamidele who is the Senate Majority Leader said on Tuesday at a lecture and book presentation titled “Leadership through Communication.” in honour of his 60th birthday said that President Tinubu with the prayers of Nigerians would make the right decisions. 

              Senator Opeyemi Bamidele, Senate Majority Leader 

He said Tinubu who was meant to be present at the event but couldn't make it because he was working tirelessly to ensure that the list was forwarded to the Senate in two days.

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“At 10.03am this morning, Mr President, was on the phone. He said to me ‘Opeyemi, I need to make myself unavailable in the next 48 hours because a correspondence must come to the Senate, a very crucial correspondence.Mr President prayed for me. He asked me to give the phone to my wife and he prayed for my wife.He said the two of us should join the rest of Nigerians and pray for him to be able to make the right decision on the list in 24 hours so that when Nigerians hear the list of his ministers they will say ‘yes, this is uncommon." Bamidele said.

Meanwhile, there have been some agitation by certain persons who have identified themselves as members of of the All Progressives Congress APC Elders Council opposing the alleged involvement of former President Goodluck Jonathan to have a person of his liking nominated in the ministerial slot assigned to the state.

Chief Michael Adomokeme, chairman of the APC elders’ council

“People shouldn’t try to reap where they have never sowed. Some of us have been here since the early days of this party when it was considered to be taboo just by being a member.You all remember, APC in Bayelsa was called either Islamic party or Hausa party by these same people; I mean, Jonathan and his people. Fast forward to the 2023 elections, President Jonathan did everything to make sure we failed, but we didn’t as God would have it. What right has he to suddenly want to now nominate the minister from Bayelsa State?” said Chief Michael Adomokeme, chairman of the elders’ council.

The Nigerian Bar Association has also joined in the conversation tasking the President and soon-to-be appointed ministers to ensure that they improve in the area of security and agriculture.

NBA Publicity Secretary, Habib Lawal.

“They must look critically at the peculiarities of our security situation and design bespoke measures to deal with them while ensuring that continental, cross-border and international collaborations are carefully exploited to deal with our security challenges. We must consider diplomatic strategies to address these issues because of the global trends in security. Also, the government must deliberately and heavily invest in agriculture among other sectors of our economy. We expect that commensurate investment will be made to actualise the enthronement of the rule of law and to build that judiciary that can be trusted to deliver justice and strengthen our institutions.” said the NBA Publicity Secretary, Habib Lawal.

The Trade Union Congress Congress through its National Deputy President, Tommy Etim, has also advised Tinubu that there must be synergy between ministers of labour, finance and budget planning for the industries to function properly again. He opined that there would be need for the president to appoint someone who is conversant with labour to handle the post of the minister of labour effectively. 

National Deputy President, TUC, Tommy Etim

“It is expected that the President will assign the labour portfolio to an individual who is labour-friendly, a minister who will take workers’ welfare as a priority; who can build a block of the relationship between the government and the workers.’’ he said

“Any nation surmounted by industrial strike can never grow. Labour plays a very important role. The ministers must understand that labour has a very important value. These are critical areas (finance, budget, labour) that have to do with the well-being of the economy.

“Ministers that will tell the government the truth about labour relations so that the positive agenda will be spilt over to the states because issues that affect labour are in the exclusive list and it shows that whatever happens at the federal level will spill to the states,’’ Etim added. 

The Deputy-President of the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Gabriel Idahosa, has also not failed to weigh in on this matter, stating that if those who clearly understood how the private sector works were not appointed into positions that have to do with the private sector, not much would change in the economy. 

The Deputy-President of the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Gabriel Idahosa

He said, “They should have a sense of what is required, even if they don’t have deep knowledge. They have to understand that it is extremely important to support the private sector to flourish.They should not see the private sector as a competitor to the private agenda of some of these government officials, or see the private sector as people who are making a lot of money by exploiting the government from contracts.

“We need government officials who have a deep understanding of the private sector and its issues, not just what they read in the papers or the general feeling about business people.” Idahosa submitted. 

The National Vice President of the Nigerian Association of Small Scale Industrialists, Segun Kuti-George, has also voiced his opinion on the matter

“We expect that these appointments are not informed by political affiliation or political compensation, but based on knowledge and merit. It should be based on what they can deliver. What we need now is efficiency. Let’s have the right people.For example, in the Ministry of Trade and Investment, let’s have people who know about manufacturing and entrepreneurship. We should have people who have been through it, who know where the shoe pinches and not just technocrats who do not have experience.”

But Dr Ikenna Nwaosu, a Nigerian Economic Summit Group facilitator is of the opinion that Tinubu shouldn't have taken as long as 60 days to appoint his ministers.

“The list should have been out in 30 days not even 60 days; the 60 days is an upper limit. So there is no reason the President should even wait for that upper limit. Every day there is no minister for any ministry, it slows down the economy, it slows economic development and revenue generation. For every day there is no minister, it slows down governance so it is not even 60 days, it is 30 days.”

The National Vice President of the Nigerian Association of Small and Medium Enterprises, Solomon Aderoju, has said for the small-scale industry to receive a boost, issues bordering around power supply, infrastructure, funding, power supply must be resolved.

VP, Nigerian Association of Small and Medium Enterprises, Solomon Aderoju

“The (trade) minister has to be proactive and pragmatic enough to handle some of the challenges facing Medium and Small Enterprise. The minister’s appointment must not be based on political jamboree.He/she must be able to resolve basic issues such as infrastructural deficiency and low power supply to help our local markets. We have an influx of goods coming from other countries even when they are not of better quality than what we produce here.”

Aderoju said the most pressing need for those awaiting to be appointed as cabinet members must be to immediately address the increase in  operational costs of doing business.

 “Cost is mounting, talk of diesel or forex. He/she can be instrumental in solving these challenges if it isn’t under his purview. Capacity building and funding is also very important for small business owners for their training and retraining.

“We must re-strategise our research department so we can compete favourably with other nations, especially under the newly-signed Africa Continental Free Trade Area.We must re-strategise our research department so we can compete favourably with other nations, especially under the newly-signed Africa Continental Free Trade Area.” he added.

Giving his own opinion, the President of the Association of Small Business Owners, Femi Egbesola believes  that whoever would be made the minister of finance must be an experienced entrepreneur and there must be a major focus on small businesses. 

Chairman Association of Small Business Owners, Femi Egbesola

"We expect that the new minister should be someone who has been an entrepreneur over the years and has felt the pain and identified with the problems faced by an average small-scale business owner in Nigeria. We don’t want a lawyer or any profession not related to trade and investment.”

“The ministry must shift its policy focus to MSMEs. Most times, it has concentrated its efforts on satisfying the yearnings of large corporations and businesses at the expense of the nano, small micro and small businesses.Most of the policy direction of the ministry has always been to cater to the big companies and that must change. We expect a lot of collaborations with the private sector; they should not come up with policies without our input.”