Buhari Ministers Who Must Not Return (ii)

Today we continue our analysis of the performance of the ministers in the cabinet of President Muhammadu Buhari who must not be returned to office after May 29.

There are ministers who have distinguished themselves and deserve re-appointment. But there are quite a number who have disappointed and seemed irredeemably inept.

THE WHISTLERs list of failed ministers continues:

Usani Uguru Usani (Minister of Niger Delta)

This former lecturer may be better in the classroom teaching environmental management and globalization, than being at the Minister’s table.

Apart from overseeing a technical audit report of projects from the Ministry’s inception and inaugurating the board of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), this minister has little to his credit.

He has failed to impact positively on the ministry and his influence has not been felt in the Niger Delta. Nothing has happened under him to energize the actualization of the Niger Delta Action Plan.

Rotimi Amaechi (Minister of Transportation)

Amaechi’s only achievement seems to be the completion of railway tracks and services started by the previous administration of President Goodluck Jonathan.

Aside this, the minister has done more damage than good to the President Muhammadu Buhari administration by his meddlesomeness in the politics of Rivers State.

He appears to have committed more of his time and energy to battling Rivers State governor, Chief Nyesom Wike, than he has done to his current role as transport minister.

His abrasive politics in Rivers must have caused untold embarrassment for the Buhari administration during the recently concluded general elections where alleged military interference became an issue.

Unlike Kayode Fayemi, who resigned his position as mines and steel minister to contest the governorship seat of his state, Amaechi wants to combine his ministerial assignment with playing politics in his home state.

Buhari should allow him to return to play local politics and strengthen the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Rivers.

Adebayo Shittu (Minister of Communications)

Shittu’s handling of the dispute between the Nigeria Communications Commission(NCC) and MTN Nigeria left much to be desired. The NCC was sadly excluded from the negotiation process after an out-of-court settlement was agreed.

The minister also came under heavy attack after he made a proposal to impose a 10 per cent tax on phone calls, text messages, data and more, which according to him, would help enhance telecommunication services in the country.

Shittu, who is expected to implement President Muhammadu Buhari’s ‘change’ agenda, has no fundamental policy achievement barely three weeks to the end of the president’s first term.

In the most recent allegation, Shittu was alleged to have skipped the compulsory one-year national service. He is said to not possess the National Youth Service Corp (NYSC) certificate which is a mandatory requirement for employment into the Nigerian civil service.

He has also been criticized for delving too much into the politics of Oyo State where he wants to be governor, rather than channel his energy to his duty post. The minister failed in his ambition to succeed Abiola Ajimobi as Oyo governor as he couldn’t secure the party’s gubernatorial ticket.

Shittu has become an embarrassment to the Buhari administration and does not deserve any government appointment.

Dr. Okechukwu Enelamah (Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment)

Enelemah is yet to show what he can do one month to the end of the first tenure of President Muhammadu Buhari.

The minister has remained largely anonymous in the government and its almost impossible to find his hand in any of the economic achievements of the Buhari administration.

If there are major foreign investments in the country in the last four years, it would certainly not be due to his effort. Much of that credit goes to the Ministry of Finance, the Central Bank of Nigeria and the economic team of the government.

At the 2019 budget defense, Enelemah who is said to be a pastor, was accused by the Senate Committee on Trade and Investment, of diverting N42 billions of public funds to finance the activities of a private company (SEZ Investment Company.)

He has been also been accused of duplicating and wasting resources through the creation of the Nigerian Office of Trade Negotiation based on false memo or advice to the Federal Executive Council (FEC).

Workers under the aegis of the Association of Senior Civil Servants of Nigeria, ASCSN, have also accused the minister of nepotism on staff recruitment in the ministry.

FCT Minister Mallam Muhammad Musa Bello

The biggest problem confronting the FCT today is infrastructure. Bello has not initiated or commission any project of his won since his appointment in November 2015. Many of the residential estates built in the city have no infrastructure and the minister has done little since he came on board.

Many of the completed roads he inherited and those completed under him have remained without light. The street light on most of the township roads are dead further increasing insecurity in the city.

Crime has also increased in the Federal Capital Territory under the minister. There have been armed robbery incidences in broad daylight.

Bello has failed FCT and does not deserve to be re-appointed into government.