Still On The Matter Of Buhari’s ‘Saints’

AS at the time of writing, 18 of the 36 ministerial nominees had been approved by the Nigerian Senate.

For me, that was relieving, considering the grandstanding by Senator Dino Melaye on the stringent criteria the nominees must meet and the gale of criticisms that trailed the announcement of the first 21 names of nominees submitted by President Muhammadu Buhari, especially from the opposition Peoples Democratic Party.

Beyond playing a vibrant opposition, many PDP sympathizers and Jonathanians are apparently still in their trenches. They are determined to “pay Buhari back for what he, his party and supporters did to former President Goodluck Jonathan while he was in power.”

Of the ministerial list, many said President Buhari simply recycled the same old people, while for some; the nominees will constitute a cabinet of gerontocrats. Others said there are too many politicians and not enough professionals and technocrats. Some critics said some of the nominees are corrupt and not the ‘saints’ that Buhari promised.

Well, let us start from the sainthood, or lack of it, of the nominees. Who is a saint? In my opinion, the saint we should be looking for is “somebody who does ordinary things in an extraordinary way.” A saint is not somebody without sin or faults. If it were so, “heaven” would be empty because if our guilt were to be marked, how many Nigerians would survive? What we need are strong structures and institutions to prevent and fight corruption, not vilifying of the nominees.

The other charge is that the nominees are too old. There was even a story trending in the social media on how Dr. Olusola Saraki screened Audi Ogbeh for a ministerial position in Shehu Shagari’s government in 1982; now his son, Dr Bukola Saraki has screened the same Ogbeh for a ministerial position 33 years later! What is wrong with that? Ogbeh is just 68 years. I asked one of my friends whether the issue is Ogbeh’s age or the content of his character and brain. Ogbeh has been a farmer for over 30 years, what is wrong if he is given the agriculture portfolio, for instance, and he brings his enormous experience to bear on it? Agriculture is one under-taped area this government wants to use to diversify our mono economy. Younger people should be cautious how they criticize older people because that is the destination of all mortals, unless you wish to die young.

I took time to look at the ages at which former Nigerian heads of government (minus Olusegun Obasanjo and Buhari on their second spell in office) and the premiers of the three former regions got into office. The average age is 46 years. These are the men who have shaped Nigeria into what it is today. They were young men, so were majority of their ministers and top government officials. Do not also forget that all of them, except Ironsi and Gowon, held other government positions at younger ages before they became heads of governments. Also note that many of the state governors since 1999 assumed the position in their 30s and 40s. Those complaining about old men ruining Nigeria should tell us what their offence is that the younger generation is not guilty of. The age at which people get into government is not the problem in this country; the content of their character and our operating environment are.

To those who said there are too many politicians and too few technocrats and professionals, I went through the list and saw names of at least 25 professionals/technocrats, nine of them lawyers. Or is that because some of them are politicians or past governors, they are no longer professionals or technocrats? Did you watch the former Lagos State Governor, Babatunde Raji Fashola, for the over one hour he spent on the floor of the senate? I am already salivating. Sometimes when you bring in these technocrats as state nominees, it creates problems because there are party men who have been working for the party and some of these party men are technocrats in politics, unless it is a crime for a technocrat/professional to go into politics.

“So why did it take Buhari four months to send nominees to the senate, if he was going to recycle the same old faces?” Simple, you do not know the contents of a book by its cover until you read it. Even though Buhari knew some of these people, they had to go through security screening to know them more; he needed to know whether their “sins” were venial (minor) or mortal (grave), and those whose “sins” cannot be forgiven (sin against the Holy Spirit, metaphorically speaking). The important thing though is that the list is out and the Senate is already working on it and has cleared some of them. The real work now begins and ministers-designate will have it at the back of their minds that “a new sheriff is in town” and the music has changed.

I told my friends on Facebook recently that what was most important in government is the head. If the head of the fish is good, the rest of the fish will be good. As long as Buhari remains credible, his government will be credible. If any part becomes cancerous, he should cut it off before the cancer affects other parts of the body. That was one tragic error the former president made; he retained ministers and government officials rocked by scandals.

Generally I feel our new ministers should be given the benefit of the doubt; they will perform. But then, I am talking first as a nationalist and secondly as somebody with APC affiliation.