Buhari Ministers Who Must Not Return (Part 1)

In the next three weeks, President Muhammadu Buhari would be expected to dissolve his cabinet as his first term winds down.

Unlike in 2015 when it took him unnecessarily long time to announce his cabinet, he would be expected to hit the ground running as soon as he is inaugurated for a second term on May 29.

THE WHISTLER offers the President an advisory by highlighting members of his cabinet who should not be in contention for a ministerial appointment in his second term.

Our list is based strictly on the performance of the ministers in their various ministries.

Abdulrahman Danba’zzau (Minister of Interior)

The Minister of Interior came to office highly recommended. A cerebral Army general who distinguished himself in service.

But he has failed to stamp his authority as a security expert on internal security of the country. Our borders remain porous making it easier for bandits to cross into the country and leave at will. This has further exacerbated insecurity in the country especially in Zamfara, Sokoto and different parts of the North East and North Central where scores have been killed and kidnapping has become the order of the day.

Danba’zzau waited until one month to the end of Buhari’s first term before compelling the Federal Executive Council (FEC) to approve funds for border monitoring. On Wednesday, at a FEC meeting presided by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, the sum of N52 billion was approved for monitoring 86 borders post and all the 1,400 illegal routes being used for smuggling and other crimes.

Danba’zzau has failed President Buhari and his country and does not deserve to be re-appointed into government.

Mansur Dan Alli (Minister of Defence)

Mansur Muhammad Dan Ali, also a retired Nigerian Army Brigadier General, is the current Minister of Defence. By all standard of performance, many would readily agree that this minister is a huge failure.

Not only has he been docile and almost indolent in office, but his public interventions in national crises have heightened insecurity.

At the height of the Fulani/herdsmen crisis in Benue, his most remembered intervention was a reckless statement blaming the anti-grazing law recently enacted by the state for the killings.

While the military may have received better patronage from the government, Alli seems to have ran out of ideas about how to further contain insurgents who are becoming more daring in recent times.

But more scandalous for the current minister of defence is his inability to reign in the bandits killing innocent people in his home state of Zamfara. Hundreds of people have been killed by unknown bandits in Zamfara and Sokoto states. Instead of stopping the banditry, he has been blaming traditional rulers of promoting it without naming any name.

This man certainly does not deserve appointment as a minister of this country.

Chris Ngige (Minister of Labour and Productivity)

Another minister that we consider a failure in the current cabinet is the Minister of Labour and Productivity, Chris Ngige.

Ngige, a medical doctor by profession and former governor of Anambra State, came on board with great hopes and expectations to bring an end to the lingering impasse between government and labour unions in the country.

However, some months down the line into the life of this administration, labour disputes began to rear its head. But instead of being pro-active, Ngige failed to live up to expectation. Many Nigerians believe that the minister has not lived to his responsibility due to his inability to resolve disputes timely and decisively.

Ngige could not prevent the strike of the Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, in November 2018 and allowed it to drag for more than three months until he was given a presidential order to end the strike.

His handling of the Nigeria Labour Congress demands for N30, 000 minimum wage was equally lacklustre.

His most recent comments on brain drain in the medical profession ridiculed the Buhari administration. He had said during a television interview about Nigerian doctors leaving the country that they were free to go since Nigeria had more than enough doctors.

Professor Isaac Adewole (Minister of Health)

Under Professor Isaac Adewole, Nigeria’s readiness to combat epidemic has remained in doubt. An international NGO, Prevent Epidemics, listed Nigeria among countries with the lowest readiness for epidemic control in Africa, and with several outbreaks of diseases year after year.

The failure of the minister has also manifested in the management of the National Health Insurance Scheme, HIS, which has reportedly become the worst performing scheme for health coverage globally.

Adewole was unable to manage the dispute between JOHESU and the Federal Government which began on April 18th, 2018 leading to over a month strike as negotiations between the two parties always turned deadlocked, crippling activities in hospitals across the nation.

Solomon Dalung (Minister of Sports)

Dalung was unable to resolve the leadership crisis in the National Football Federation, between NFF President, Amaju Pinnick and Chris Giwa because he became a party to the dispute. Dalung had insisted on restoring Giwa to the glass house despite FIFA threat to ban Nigeria for a period of five years.

Under Dalung, Nigeria’s sports have suffered, and Nigeria has suffered international embarrassments due to his incompetence. Nigeria was hit with another international sports embarrassment after the U-23 football team in the Rio Olympics were stranded in Atlanta. They eventually arrived Brazil only few hours before their first match against Japan in Manaus.

Many also believe the minister’s serial gaffes have embarrassed the country and Nigerians on several occasion. He once called the United States of America the “United States of Nigeria” when he tried to explain why the team was stranded in Atlanta.

Dalung was also caught in another gaffe when he appeared before a House of Representatives committee to defend the money spent from the ministry’s budget. “The funds SPENDED were properly SPENDED”, he said while answering a question on why he spent out of approved funds for his Ministry.

Geoffrey Onyeama (Minister of Foreign Affairs)

One of the key responsibilities of Mr Geoffrey Onyeama as the Minister of Foreign Affairs is to protect the interest of Nigerians in Diaspora. But many believe that the foreign affairs ministry under Onyema’s watch has not taken tangible strategic steps to safeguard the lives and property of Nigerians living abroad, especially in South Africa.

Abike Dabiri-Erewa, the Special Assistant to the President on Foreign Affairs and Diaspora, had in 2017 stated that at least 116 Nigerians had been killed in South Africa in two years. Quoting statistical figures, Dabiri-Erewa said 63 per cent of them were extra-judicially killed by police in the country.

Despite Onyeama’s several meetings with officials of the country’s foreign affairs ministry for enhanced collaboration, the killing of Nigerians in South Africa has continued unabated. Just recently, two nationals of the country were stabbed to death during xenophobic attacks in Johannesburg and Cape Town on April 5 and April 6, 2019, respectively.

The killing of Nigerians in diaspora has continued at an unprecedented rate under this minister. While he may have done well in representing the country very well abroad, his handling of the threats to the lives of Nigerians abroad has been abysmal.

Onyeama had previously come under the hammer of Nigerians on social media by blaming the killing of Nigerians in South Africa on crime. “The crime situation in South Africa is very high, probably the highest in Africa,” adding that “So there is a high level of crime, it is not just that Nigerians are victims of crime in South Africa.”