Some of President Bola Tinubu’s 45 new ministers who took the oaths of office on Monday at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, gave sneak peeks into their plans to fulfil their official responsibilities to Nigerians, especially considering the charges they were given by the president.
President Tinubu had charged them to serve the country with the intention of meeting the hopes and aspirations of Nigerians.
Also, he openly told them that he would be taking them to accounts on every mandate charged them with.
However, speaking in various short interviews at the end of the ceremony and before leaving for the various venues of their private inauguration parties, some of the ministers hinted about what to expect from the administration as a unit and from their individual ministries.
Excerpts:
Minister of solid minerals development, Dele Alake
He said: “Actually my portfolio has been the major shocker in this entire cabinet’s assignment of portfolios. However I can tell you authoritatively, it is deliberate.
“Everybody knows at least those who have an analytical mind and are following global trends in economic developments.
“Hydrocarbons are going down; oil, petroleum is going down globally and people are moving away from those areas. Now you have electric cars gas and alternatives to energy.
“This means our over reliance on oil is going to be detrimental to the growth of the Nigerian economy moving forward so, the next bet is solid minerals. Therefore, with this critical sector in mind, the president has to put the person he trusts most in charge and has the passion, knowledge and courage to drive that sector for the benefit of Nigeria and that is why I am here.
Minister of Justice and Attorney-General, Lateef Fagbemi
What should Nigerians be expecting from your ministry?
The SAN said: “Not only my ministry, every ministry, the expectation of Nigerians is that you key into the Renewed Hope Agenda of Mr. President. Each ministry has a role to play.
“Coming to my ministry, we have to ensure that the rule of law. The reform agenda of Mr President keys appropriately into this area and that is the number one thing. Without rule of law, which simply means follow the rules, follow the regulations, nothing meaningful can be done.
“It is a veritable foundation upon which meaningful development can be anchored, whether in the economy, in peace, rest of mind, food and others and to ensure that the expectations of investors are not dashed. You need to encourage them by having viable rules and regulations.
“Not only that, make sure you follow, because it is not enough to make rules, it is really in the area of enforcement that we need to re-jiggle and ensure that we do the needful.”
Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Abubakar Kyari
Speaking on the farmers and herders crisis, he said: “For a very long time, farmers and herders have actually lived in harmony and in peace, so we’ll look at the societal issues that have contributed to that clash and maybe tackle it from that end.
“Of course, land is shrinking and that’s one of the areas of devising ways of satisfying both herders and farmers.”
Minister of power, Adebayo Adelabu
One of the problems bedevilling the sector is corruption, what will you do to subdue this?
He said: “The issue of corruption is endemic and it’s not peculiar to the power sector, it’s actually ravaging our entire daily live, but what I’m bringing to bear is that we have to lead from the front because the body language and the language from the top matters most. If the head is rotten, the entire body is rotten.
“We’re going to live by example. The president has challenged us that we have to be transparent in whatever we do and I believe that with what I have done in the past and the kind of credibility that I believe I have, that will automatically improve how we do our job in the power ministry, not just from the minister alone, down to the permanent secretary, the directors, the assistant directors and all the staff of the power ministry.
“Those other stakeholders that we have in all the other parastatals under the power ministry; we have contractors, we have consultants, those are going to be our collaborators. We must embrace the same value system and same culture for us to actually forge ahead.
“I believe that with time, Nigerians will be happy because that optimal solution to our power problem is very important and we must find it, insha Allah.
“It is believed that the sector ought to have grown beyond where it is, but the activities of the entrenched interests have tied it down. How do you hope to tackle the entrenched interests?
“You don’t count your chickens before they hatched. Let’s get to the office, let’s see what these entrenched interests are and let’s bring to bear what we have to offer, whether the entrenched interests will survive or not, when we get there we’ll know.
Minister of communication and digital economy, Bosun Tijani
What’s your reaction to the president’s speech?
“It’s not new, I think it’s always been embedded in the Renewed Hope Agenda, politics, perhaps, will becloud people’s ability to see it, but the closer you get to it, the more you realise his intention for the country, the need for us as people and also as leaders to find really strong ways to re-imagine how to move the country forward.
“That’s the sense I’ve gotten since I’ve been close to this his assignment and agenda as well and it’s extremely, I think Nigerians are not asking for much, what we all want is a better Nigeria, which is prosperous for all, and that’s what the President is pushing strongly and you can hear that from the speech.
What’s your target as you take this role?
He added: “Nigeria is one of the few countries in the world that are extremely blessed to take advantage of where the world is at the minute, which is we have the opportunity to use digital technologies to leap-frog. The things that we couldn’t do as humans before, digital technology has given us the opportunity to be able to accelerate them and do them.
“While we may thing we’re not development, the reality is that that’s an advantage, it’s for us to say we don’t have the legacy infrastructure, legacy way of doing things and thinking, that will drag us back. So we just need to re-imagine how we take advantage of the digital technology to do things.
“So my hope and aspiration is to work strongly with different ministries and parastatals in government, also the private sector for us to find really smart ways to use technology to move the country forward.
Your ministry bailed Nigeria out after COVID-19. What’s your next move?
“We should expect this ministry to focus on policies and regulations that are not only there to stifle of regulate, but policies and regulations that will open up opportunities for more technology entrepreneurs to actually build technology businesses and build those businesses being proud of those businesses as Nigerian businesses and if possible, even domicile them in the country, whereby as they raise more money, as they create jobs, we can see the knock-on effects on different aspects of society.
“How do we make life easier, how do we make it easier for people to do their NIN registration from what we currently have, which is fantastic, but move it to the nest level, which is a lot more convenient for people to do? How do we access different public services, how do we make it more efficient, lean and cost effective as well, using technology?
“I think this is what we should expect; expect to see technology helping to improve learning outcomes in education, technology helping to deliver better public services. So we’re going to be looking to collaborate with different ministries to ensure that the country is putting digital technologies to use, really smartly.”
Minister of Tourism, Lola Ade-John
She said: “I am happy and excited, I am confident that the renewed Hope agenda will bring greater prosperity for Nigerian citizens.
“With regards to MSMEs, we expect to see more MSMEs spring up and the sustainability of those businesses and ensure that businesses grow in the country, industry grow and expand, and we also want to attract more investors and investments in the country and empower them to focus more on exports and that would improve our trade relations with our trading partners.
Minister of Humanitarian and Poverty Alleviation, Betta Edu
She stated: “It is a hugh opportunity for me as a young person under 40. This is the first time a young person under 40 is being sworn in as a minister of the federal republic of Nigeria in the fourth republic of this country.
“It is a hugh burden to deliver but the President has charged us to go all out and ensure full implementation of the Renewed Hope agenda and that’s exactly what we will do. Nigerians should expect the very best, there’s a vibrant team on ground now we will work with Mr President to ensure that Nigerians smile again like he said, there’s indeed renewed hope.
Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Doris Anite
She said: “What we expect to offer, is going to involve every single person from the top to the bottom.
“I will seek everyone’s suppprt to ensure Nigeria is for all of us, it showcases call of us so that people will come here and enjoy what we enjoy.
“In life everything is a challenge but it can also be an exciting and an intentionally rewarding challenge and that is what we are going to do.
Minister of Women Affairs, Uju Kennedy
She noted: “A look at the a Nigerian laws that have been passed over the years, starting from the quota system that has made our youths to be outside employment. Because most people come here through their company and bring and employ their people and people are not checking them.
“And so we are going to ask for quota system and ask for quotas for Nigerian youths. Basically, we are going to ensure our youths are removed from the forests and from the streets and that is what we are going to do.
“The cabinet is being formed at a time we are having agitation over removal of fuel subsidy and consequences.
Do you see your role as more tasking and what will you do to ensure the shelved protests doesn’t resurface?
She added: “The truth is people are asking why remove fuel subsidy now? The answer is if not now then when? We have been postponing the evil day, so let’s deal with it.
“It must take Panadol and paracetamol for our headache and if we don’t treat it maybe it will cause something more severe.
“So I believe the hardship is here and the president is making sure that he removes it completely and that is why this new set of ministers have come in.
“Like the president said, he is the driver and we are the conductors and Nigerians are passengers. What it simply means is that we are in the same boat and must find solution.
“So to say that these cannot be tackled is not possible. It is possible because I believe when we come together and be sincere to ourselves, we should first of all see ourselves as Nigerians, because there’s nothing stopping you from suffering like Nigerians no matter how rich you are.
“You go to the same market, when there’s no electricity it affects you, if the road is bad it must drive on the road, if the aviation sector is failing and it’s not being fixed, one day you must fly.
“So at least everyone must be on the same page, be sincere and take on the conversation and then begin to implement the policies of government.”
