As Nigerians wait patiently for President Buhari to unveil his cabinet, expectations are very high that they will be men and women of proven integrity and outstanding track record. Anything short of this may mean that nothing much has changed. Understandably, there is nothing illegal about the delay and the president has said he will not be stampeded into appointing his cabinet. Despite the discordant tunes, squabbles and backbiting among the national, zonal and state stakeholders of the governing APC over who should make the ministerial list, the decision to delay the cabinet until September is partly because many of the originally short-listed candidates have failed Buhari’s personal integrity test. Amid the lobbying and intrigues galore, the concern of most Nigerians is that the President must confront all the obstacles that make it impossible for him to appoint the right and best persons into offices.
Several names have been flying in the social and print media as those that will likely make the list of Buhari’s appointees. While some are household names, others are men of yesteryears that have been in political limbo for long and are seeking rehabilitation. Yet, Nigeria is blessed with a vast array of highly competent persons who are globally acknowledged as distinguished professionals, persons of honor and integrity. There is, therefore, no reason the country cannot be governed with the best hands except for the wrong approach or disposition of the appointer. There is no doubt that the Jonathan presidency was acutely undermined by incompetence within its kitchen and open cabinet, a reason for the perception that mediocrity remained dominant and why Jonathan was deemed to have underperformed.
This must change if the new administration would ever be able to deliver on its campaign promises. For whether a president would succeed or not is a function of the type of cabinet or aides he assembles. The President must therefore raise the stakes. He must demonstrate a capacity and the will to rise to the occasion and weather the storm. This is a convenient point at which to take a break from the errors of the past by making the best of the cabinet selection process. In other words, in choosing and assigning portfolios to his new ministers, the President should pick only those who understand the system and who have what it takes to make the system work so that at the end of the day, he would have surrounded himself with the best hands in the nation. He should keep at arm’s length parvenus, political jobbers, sycophants, court-jesters and opportunists who are likely to see their appointments as an invitation to “come and chop” instead of an opportunity to serve.
At this critical juncture, what Nigeria deserves are statesmen and women of good conscience who are not perverted by the spoils of office but are persuaded by conviction. To paraphrase Josiah Gilbert Holland in his poem, “Wanted”, Nigeria needs “strong minds, great hearts, true faith and ready hands; men whom the lust of office does not kill; men whom the spoils of office cannot buy; men who possess opinions and a will; men who have honor; men who will not lie.” These are men and women who tower above their contemporaries and are endowed with the gift of steady application; men and women who live above the fog in public duty and in private thinking; the ones who would look the President in the face and speak truth to power when the president’s personal desires and policies are inimical to the health of the nation. They are those who merely by looking at the President’s face know what his pains are and what to do to ease the pain in the interest of the nation.
Those attributes come with experience, discipline, patriotism and competence. Very few of those who desire public offices are imbued with these virtues. Greed, avarice, dishonesty, crude incompetence and consummate eyes for the perks of the office, all amounting to self-aggrandizement are what many have in abundance. What they are capable of contributing to the growth of the nation, nay the enrichment of Nigerians count for nothing. Regrettably, these are the ones who often catch the fancy of those in the corridors of powers.
The president’s request for approval to appoint 15 special assistants has been granted by the National Assembly, Nigerians are still holding their breath to see those that will make the list. Buhari earned praise for his choice of National Security Advisor, Major Gen. (rtd) Babagana Monguno from Borno State, the epicenter of the Boko Haram insurgency, and the Chief of Naval Staff, Rear Admiral Ibok-Ete Ekwe Ibas from the Niger Delta. Considering his military background and his closeness to the President, some had assumed that Lt Gen. Abdulrahman Dambazau, army chief between 2007 and 2010, would replace Sambo Dasuki as National Security Adviser. Dambazau is now tipped for Defence Minister.
As head of state and chief executive officer of the federation, the president has the right to hire and fire his appointees at will. This right is constitutionally guaranteed and consistent with common sense. It is just that Nigerians bear the brunt of such poor choices any time he hires the wrong set of people. That is why his right to hire must be exercised with circumspection and great introspection. When he makes the wrong choices, he ends up having to fire such appointees in the future. In the long run, it is the nation that suffers for it. This is not without collateral damage to the President himself or his name in the final analysis. President Buhari owes Nigerians good governance as a matter of obligation and social contract. So, his right to hire is curtailed by the right of Nigerians to be well governed. Because ultimately, the Nigerian people pay the salary of the President and his appointees and they are the ones who must be satisfied with their performance.
The consideration that determines appointments to high public office may be discretional to the President but it is one thing to appoint the right persons into office; it is another thing to do so as at when due. Doing the right thing at the wrong time may emasculate the potency of the effort or the desired consequence, particularly where time is of the essence. Nigerians find it difficult to understand why former president Jonathan allowed sensitive positions to remain vacant for long periods of time when vacancies occurred.
Buhari must set new precedents. Before an incumbent is fired, his replacement must be announced immediately to stave off pressure from irresistible quarters. Presidential dilatoriness only invites unholy pressure which crystallizes into wrong appointments as was seen time and time again in the Jonathan administration. Every leader must take personnel and the management thereof very seriously. President Buhari owes himself the duty of not being an exception. He dare not be!
