Before I am castigated by some cheer leaders around the President, for writing this piece, let me, at the outset, state, clearly, that I am a good fan of the President. So, I come in peace and wish him well.

Indeed, shortly after my retirement from the Federal Civil Service in 2020, I wrote a widely published article in the press entitled: ‘when undeclared ambition becomes a crime- the Tinubu conundrum’ in which I, effectively, called him out to contest the 2023 presidential election.

I concluded the article by stating that: ‘I believe Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu has paid his dues. He is eminently qualified to lead. He deserves some modicum of respect from all and sundry. It is up to him to take up the challenge to contest the 2023 Presidential election because a man of drive and purpose cannot be easily counted out in the race for destiny manifestation’.

As anticipated, he won the February 2023 elections, arguably the most competitive presidential election conducted in the country since the re-establishment of democracy in 1999.

That is precisely why it is too early for the President to flounder, bearing in mind the popular maxim that: ‘to whom much is given, much is required’. Virtually all his admirers across the country have implicit confidence in him that he is the anointed one to fix the country. He must not disappoint them.

Accordingly, the president ought to be reminded of the need to exercise care in taking decisions so that the renewed hope that he has promised Nigerians is not shattered too soon. This is why Martins Oloja’s alarm bell, in his seminal article in ‘The Guardian’ on Sunday, November 5, 2023 entitled, ‘Time to fix Tinubu’s chaotic Presidency’, is instructive.

Evidently, the president cannot deliver on his mandate without a strong and competent presidential bureaucracy. The President is, therefore, advised to fix it urgently by bringing experienced bureaucrats/systems persons into the governance structure of the State House, and other arms of the presidency, in order to correct the frequent administrative breaches and procedural errors in some of the decisions taken by the President.

Since the President is a master strategist in building a formidable political machinery for winning elections, over the years, he ought to realise that he needs an equally efficient and formidable bureaucratic/ technocratic machinery for him to lead a competent, resourceful, accountable and people-oriented administration.

Sound and experienced bureaucrats are not in short supply in the country to be recruited to strengthen his presidential bureaucracy. Hopefully, the President will act quickly to find the right persons, and inject them into the system, before it is too late in order to minimise the occurrence of further administrative lapses.

Undoubtedly, the President is a mortal, hence he is prone to making mistakes. However, making repeated mistakes is not a virtue, because it is unpresidential. For example, withdrawing names of appointees shortly after publicly announcing them is a manifestation of a system’s disorder. I shudder, too, why presidential announcements are now made by Ngelale rather than the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, being the established practice.

The president is also losing the information arena, for engaging and fostering understanding with the public, to the opposition, in spite of the fact that he has an over-crowded team of capable media aides, including Tunde Rahman, Temitope Ajayi, Fela-Durotoye, Fredrick Nwabufo, amongst others. It is glaring that the communication arm of the state house lacks organisation, synergy and coordination, probably either to lack of proper delineation of roles and responsibilities or because it is too over-crowded to be properly aligned.

It is surprising that Bayo Onanuga was brought in very late into the sphere while the president announced Njuri Ngelale as his chief spokesperson. It is doubtful whether Ngelale has the complementary breadth of experience to function efficiently and effectively in this capacity in spite of his sterling qualities.

It is also shocking to note that Reno Omokri and Bashir Ahmad seem to be doing far better in the social media space, in projecting and defending the President, relative to the President’s hired social media team in the state house. Perhaps, the President will consider adding Omokri and Bashir to his team.

Unknown to President Tinubu too, he may be losing touch with the Federal Civil Service. This is deeply concerning. From his inauguration till date, (5 months ago) the President has not taken any proactive steps to set a clear direction for the Federal Civil Service to follow, given the trust-deficit in its leadership by a significant number of civil servants.

The refusal of the Head of Service to provide clarity on the implementation of the tenure policy has eroded the confidence of senior leaders in her leadership, thus creating few vacancies for deserving officers to be elevated in this year’s promotion exercise. There is palpable anger in the system regarding the insensitivity of the leadership of the service in her quest for survival.

The on-going selection exercise for the appointment of permanent secretaries is worrisome, bearing in mind the low marks of candidates being posted in the social media. One wonders why the president has so much implicit confidence in the leadership of the Civil Service that was not exemplary in the previous administration, by retaining the entire mix of the old order, in his administration, to drive the actualisation of his policy agenda. It is unprecedented, and needs to be revisited.

Perhaps, also worthy of note, is given that the Delivery Unit is under the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, it amounts to a breach of protocol for the special adviser on policy coordination to the President to be reporting directly to the President, on ministerial performance, thus bye-passing the Secretary to the Government of the Federation.

Hadiza, the adviser, is lower in rank to ministers in the order of protocol, hence ought not to be oversighting ministers. It is worth underscoring that by tradition and practice, the Secretary to the Government of the Federation is the chief policy adviser to the president, and coordinator of ministerial responsibilities, on behalf of the President. That is why his office is structured to have the full complement of staff, especially directors and permanent secretaries, to enable him function optimally in addressing a plethora of weighty matters in governance.

It is doubtful whether Hadiza can fully oversight Ministerial performance without the protective cover of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation. The President is advised to make necessary adjustments in the reporting line to enable Hadiza perform her duties satisfactorily without getting hurt, being blackmailed or sabotaged in the process.

President Tinubu deserves our support, and commendation, for the courageous steps he has taken so far towards restoring hope to our nation. We need to encourage him to be more courageous in taking further steps that will endear him to the Nigerian people in the days and months ahead. He cannot afford to fail because the consequences will be too grave for us to bear as a nation.
Mayomi is a Public Analyst and retired Director, Federal Civil Service.