March 26, 2010
In the last couple of days, many Nigerians have been surprised by the rigmarole and confusion which appears to have set in early in the attempt to reconstitute the Federal Cabinet. While many Nigerians including this writer were among those who rejoiced when the former controversial cabinet was dissolved and hailed the courage and foresight of the Acting President, now, I am among those who are bewildered by the quick alternation between selection and rejection, and one is beginning to wonder, the shape of the cabinet which our amiable Acting President wants to assemble.
In the last couple of days, many Nigerians have been surprised by the rigmarole and confusion which appears to have set in early in the attempt to reconstitute the Federal Cabinet. While many Nigerians including this writer were among those who rejoiced when the former controversial cabinet was dissolved and hailed the courage and foresight of the Acting President, now, I am among those who are bewildered by the quick alternation between selection and rejection, and one is beginning to wonder, the shape of the cabinet which our amiable Acting President wants to assemble.
One of the important things someone embarking on a journey needs to remember, among others, is where he is taking off from and also, the shape of the destination he would arrive at. The Jonathan administration, if one can refer to what is unfolding in such terms, is an emergency and perhaps, also a transition government. There were individuals and groups who played roles during the period of uncertainty when President Yar’Adua’s medical leave became too long for the comfort and worked hard for power to transit to the Vice-President, Dr. Jonathan, thus paving the way for the dissolution of the cabinet. Among these people were human rights activists, legislators, especially in the House of Representatives and other critical opinion leaders and groups.
It is my considered view, with all due respect to the Acting President, that some of these people, especially in the House of Representatives and representatives of opposition parties and civil rights groups, ought to be members of the new cabinet to give the latter the national spread and representation that will give the Jonathan transition government the tag of a national government, which is the best for the nation in the circumstances.
What is becoming apparent and which is leading to much grumbling among the people in many states and groups, and among opposition parties who staked a lot for Jonathan, is that the new cabinet might be hijacked by a few people, the same people who ran the Yar'Adua government down.
Bearing in mind that we are all Nigerians with equal stakes in the well being of our country, the Acting President should not allow certain privileged people to decide who holds office at all levels of our government.
Having appointed a Presidential Advisory Council (PAC), to advise him on policy and having given opportunity to the Gusau’s, Anyaoku’s and Danjuma’s to be in the Council, it will amount to monopoly and overdependence if the Acting President relies again on these men to fill the federal cabinet. At the end of the day, Dr. Jonathan might discover when it is too late that these men and their loyalists have him in the jugular! The same goes for the PDP governors. These governors already have a whole community of officials appointed by them at the state level. It is not right that in an emergency transition government that they should still decide those to be in the federal cabinet. The Acting President should have some room for manoeuvre. One is afraid that these governors and the traditional political elite in the PAC might hold him hostage if he cannot put his feet down and select a representative national cabinet that will show him some genuine loyalty.
The problem with the ongoing troubled cabinet reconstitution is that, the Acting President, rather unfortunately thinks that he needs certain people to consolidate. While this is true, it is more important that Nigerians will judge him by what he is able to achieve within the few months he is office. For this reason, in picking a team, the Acting President needs to balance the need for consolidation of power and stability with that of performance and service to the people.
In the area of service and performance, the Jonathan emergency government with the shape of cabinet of cronies of entrenched interest, might not achieve much because the governors he is relying on and the big names in the PAC and elsewhere, would never, when asked, nominate ambitious, energetic and knowledgeable people. Those whom they give their names are the subservient who are always at their beck and call. Surely, Jonathan does not want to bequeath to Nigeria a compromised legacy.
It is for this reason that one wish to appeal to the Acting President to take a second look at certain people whom he desired to appoint into the cabinet but who were later dropped following the intervention of certain influential people especially from the North. The Acting President should shine his eyes and not allow some people used to manipulating the system to deceive him.
While every qualified Nigerian deserves the opportunity to serve the country, a situation where the Jonathan transition government allows the fact that someone is the wife, son, cousin or nephew of an influential person, to override education, maturity, discipline and capacity for work in the selection of ministers and other top officials, amounts to a betrayal of the confidence which Nigerians reposed in Dr. Jonathan and it is not too late for this potentially fatal mistake to be made. It is important to ask the Acting President whether he owes his position in the past and today to the fact that he is a relation of some big person.
Finally, the Acting President should note that the team he assembles and how he performs in the next couple of months will determine what the future would hold for him. A loyal and broad national coalition is what he needs to remain relevant hereafter.
Dahiru Yusuf Yabo, a former Commissioner for Water Resources in Sokoto state, wrote from Abuja.
One of the important things someone embarking on a journey needs to remember, among others, is where he is taking off from and also, the shape of the destination he would arrive at. The Jonathan administration, if one can refer to what is unfolding in such terms, is an emergency and perhaps, also a transition government. There were individuals and groups who played roles during the period of uncertainty when President Yar’Adua’s medical leave became too long for the comfort and worked hard for power to transit to the Vice-President, Dr. Jonathan, thus paving the way for the dissolution of the cabinet. Among these people were human rights activists, legislators, especially in the House of Representatives and other critical opinion leaders and groups.
It is my considered view, with all due respect to the Acting President, that some of these people, especially in the House of Representatives and representatives of opposition parties and civil rights groups, ought to be members of the new cabinet to give the latter the national spread and representation that will give the Jonathan transition government the tag of a national government, which is the best for the nation in the circumstances.
What is becoming apparent and which is leading to much grumbling among the people in many states and groups, and among opposition parties who staked a lot for Jonathan, is that the new cabinet might be hijacked by a few people, the same people who ran the Yar'Adua government down.
Bearing in mind that we are all Nigerians with equal stakes in the well being of our country, the Acting President should not allow certain privileged people to decide who holds office at all levels of our government.
Having appointed a Presidential Advisory Council (PAC), to advise him on policy and having given opportunity to the Gusau’s, Anyaoku’s and Danjuma’s to be in the Council, it will amount to monopoly and overdependence if the Acting President relies again on these men to fill the federal cabinet. At the end of the day, Dr. Jonathan might discover when it is too late that these men and their loyalists have him in the jugular! The same goes for the PDP governors. These governors already have a whole community of officials appointed by them at the state level. It is not right that in an emergency transition government that they should still decide those to be in the federal cabinet. The Acting President should have some room for manoeuvre. One is afraid that these governors and the traditional political elite in the PAC might hold him hostage if he cannot put his feet down and select a representative national cabinet that will show him some genuine loyalty.
The problem with the ongoing troubled cabinet reconstitution is that, the Acting President, rather unfortunately thinks that he needs certain people to consolidate. While this is true, it is more important that Nigerians will judge him by what he is able to achieve within the few months he is office. For this reason, in picking a team, the Acting President needs to balance the need for consolidation of power and stability with that of performance and service to the people.
In the area of service and performance, the Jonathan emergency government with the shape of cabinet of cronies of entrenched interest, might not achieve much because the governors he is relying on and the big names in the PAC and elsewhere, would never, when asked, nominate ambitious, energetic and knowledgeable people. Those whom they give their names are the subservient who are always at their beck and call. Surely, Jonathan does not want to bequeath to Nigeria a compromised legacy.
It is for this reason that one wish to appeal to the Acting President to take a second look at certain people whom he desired to appoint into the cabinet but who were later dropped following the intervention of certain influential people especially from the North. The Acting President should shine his eyes and not allow some people used to manipulating the system to deceive him.
While every qualified Nigerian deserves the opportunity to serve the country, a situation where the Jonathan transition government allows the fact that someone is the wife, son, cousin or nephew of an influential person, to override education, maturity, discipline and capacity for work in the selection of ministers and other top officials, amounts to a betrayal of the confidence which Nigerians reposed in Dr. Jonathan and it is not too late for this potentially fatal mistake to be made. It is important to ask the Acting President whether he owes his position in the past and today to the fact that he is a relation of some big person.
Finally, the Acting President should note that the team he assembles and how he performs in the next couple of months will determine what the future would hold for him. A loyal and broad national coalition is what he needs to remain relevant hereafter.
Dahiru Yusuf Yabo, a former Commissioner for Water Resources in Sokoto state, wrote from Abuja.
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