The inability to form a government within a reasonable time doesn't project a sense of greatness or wisdom. It only signals unpreparedness and organizational dysfunction.
If you are comfortably in charge of affairs, and conscious of your leadership goals and the motivations for the political power and mandate you seek, you should be able to pick your Ministers of Justice, Defense, Finance, Foreign Affairs, Petroleum Resources, Education, and Interior within your first week in office. Otherwise, you are sending the wrong signal and creating doubt in your ability to govern.
And the fact that you have been on the ground, actively and strategically involved for close to three decades, makes whatever excuse you have untenable. You are an insider who ought to know and expected to know great minds and credible stars in the public and private sectors, best fit to assist you in implementing the programs that motivated you to run for the office of the President.
Must the selection process always be guided by or subjected to local benchmarks? Why not what President Obama did in his first week in office? Or what Uncle Joe Biden is doing? And why not what they are doing at Number 10 Downing Street? Or would Papa Awo, Balewa, and Mike Opara be that overwhelmed with unsettling internal political machinations and go careering off course?
Constituting a cabinet is about who believes in me and my dreams. It is about who has the craft to work with me to escalate my campaign manifesto and deliver on the promise made. It is as simple as that. You cannot make everybody happy. It shouldn't always be about accommodating tribal, religious, quota system, or last name factors.
Let it be about capability and credibility - who has the best training, history of excellence, selflessness, compassion, or managerial expertise to assist you in bringing your mandate to fruition? Those are the thresholds worthy of pursuit.
There is nothing like a government of national unity. Why do we have different political parties? Why do we have a manifesto? With the Minister of Defense, one can make an exception. It should strictly be on merit without regard to political affiliation.
Let's consider IBB, for instance. Love him or hate him, and, despite impeding the MKO's presidential mandate, the one thing you cannot deny him of is his ability to pick great minds to work with him. Who else would have appointed Beko, Olikoye, Tai Solarin, Bab Fafuwa, Akinola Aguda, or Ojetunji Aboyade of the Great Ife to work with him? Only IBB. All these men were fiercely academically and professionally independent thinkers, yet IBB picked them as Ministers, Advisers, and Consultants.
If you are a student of American politics, you can confidently predict the Secretary of State, Defense, as well as the National Security Adviser of the incoming administration. I was able to do so for the two terms of President George Bush Jr and the two terms of President Barack Obama.
I also knew and stated on my blog four years prior that Senator Chuck Hagel of Nebraska (a Republican) would become President Obama's Secretary of Defense in his second term. And it came to pass. That the gentleman was emotionally and psychologically brutalized beyond recovery by his fellow Republican Senators during his vetting process, it's a different matter. I predicted his nomination correctly, not because I possess any superhuman power, but because the American system is transparent. It's about who the cap fits.
On the other hand, due to the absence of ideological leaning in modern-day Nigerian politics and our morbid fascination with the horror of greed, nepotism, and godfatherism, we have abandoned a sense of glasnost and accountability. It has become practically impossible to predict any ministerial nominee. None of the political leaders believes in anything anymore, ideologically. There is no Nigerian political leader today who harbors a definable policy on our educational system. None.
It is my prayer every day that members of Chief Asiwaju's inner cabinet push him towards embracing the liberalism of Chief Obafemi Awolowo and the same time, help him constitute a cabinet that will reflect Papa Awo's populist philosophy, otherwise referred to as Awoism. Insha Allah.
CRITICAL ANALYSIS.
What stops Chief Asiwaju from naming Femi Falana (SAN) as his Attorney General and Minister of Justice immediately after his swearing-in ceremony? Nothing. I would have insisted on that appointment and announcement on his first day in office as President if I were one of his close confidants. It's not about lending credibility to the administration but adding a tremendous weight, which jingles and press releases cannot buy.
Nominating, for instance, both the former Governor of Ebonyi State, Mr. Dave Umahi, his Minister of Works (given his unsurpassed records of roadbuilder-in-chief and the appalling state of most federal highways today), and Mr. Nuru Ribadu as his NSA, immediately after the announcement of Mr. Femi Falana (SAN) as the AG of the Federation, would have catapulted the credibility of his new administration to an unprecedented level. The appointment portrays a feeling of his awareness of what ails the people. And would have helped to eliminate every quantum of disconnect.
If you want to be a great President, there are a few Ministerial positions you shouldn't gamble with or subject to partisan and geographical spread equations. They are Finance, Economic Planning, AG, Defense, and Foreign Affairs. If it calls for bringing Dr. Akinwumi to be your Minister of Foreign Affairs and Dr. Okonjo Iweala as Minister of Finance, just do it.
And if Education matters to His Excellency, look for an Awoist like Mr. Odia Ofeimu or an Educationist and a labor activist like Professor Attahiru Jega as your Minister of Education.
It's not too late to make a formidable start. But whatever you do, don't adopt your predecessor as a reference point or benchmark to beat. It's about global best practices.
Good luck.
And to my friends and family members who are genuinely concerned about my career and apprehensive of my writing, remember this: We can't all be hoping for government jobs or contracts and, therefore, be unwilling to be quoted in social media or be willfully blind to injustice.
Truth does matter, and there's virtue in directing the government on the path of righteousness and purposeful governance. It is about the people.
Above all, we should be content with what we have. And as long as I am not a subversive element or engage in subversive literature, this same God who takes care of me and my educational advancement will supply all my needs from his glorious riches through Jesus Christ, Our Lord and Saviour. Amen.
Barrister Alex Ehi Aidaghese contributed this piece from Okaigben Ewohimi, Esan South East Local Government Council, Edo State, Nigeria.
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