Cabinet Shake-Up: The Sacrificial Service of Stewardship?

By Bala Ibrahim

We can say goodbye to anticipation, as the long wait is finally over. What would happen has happened. President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has approved the immediate implementation of eight far-reaching actions to reinvigorate his administration’s capacity for efficiency, in the pursuit of his commitment to deliver on the promises he made to Nigerians. To this effect, the President has carried out a restructuring of some ministries and subsequent shake up in some ministerial portfolios. The eight actions approved by the President are:

1. The renaming of the Ministry of Niger Delta Development to the Ministry of Regional Development.
2. The immediate winding up of the Ministry of Sports Development and the transfer of its functions to the National Sports Commission.
3. The merger of the Federal Ministry of Tourism and the Federal Ministry of Arts and Culture to become Federal Ministry of Arts, Culture, Tourism and the Creative Economy.
4. The re-assignment of ten ministers to new ministerial portfolios.
5. The discharge of five Ministers.
6. The nomination of seven new ministers for onward transmission to Senate for confirmation.
7. The appointment of the Chairman of the National Sports Commission. And,
8. The appointment of a Special Adviser to the President on Public Communication and Orientation.

The affected would certainly be pretty shaken up by the reshuffle, but it was Santosh Kalwar, the Nepalese poet, writer, and researcher that said, “Every beginning has an end and every end has a new beginning”. In my native Hausa language, there is an adage with a corresponding ambition, viz: “In kaji sallama, to wata ran zaka ji sai wata ran”.

Those relieved of their positions may feel selectively sanctioned or sacrificed by the President, after they have worked very hard to get him elected, but when a President comes under a renewed hope mantra, change should be kept in mind as a constant in his regime, because his commitment is to keep the candle burning in the direction that would light the darkest part of the tunnel. Those among his appointees that have a record of inferior performance, must be ready to be relieved by those with the potential for superior performance. The essence of being an inclusive leader is having the courage and capability of effecting change, change with a clear vision and a plan for how to achieve result.

Yes, the key to effective change is the capacity to putting the people first. It’s important to bring others on the journey, with the hope that they would add value to the journey. In the cabinet of a leader, his team is one of the most important asset he has to help create the effects he wants to achieve. They are the ones who bring out the successes of the government, day in, day out, and they are the ones who can help the leader transform the regime beyond even his own aspirations. For those that are familiar with Asiwaju, such is his style of leadership. He leads from the front, and is never afraid of changing the team, if there is a compromise on performance.

The list of the ministers relieved reads thus:
1. Barr. Uju-Ken Ohanenye, Minister of Women Affairs.
2. Lola Ade-John, Minister of Tourism.
3. Prof Tahir Mamman SAN, OON, Minister of Education.
4. Abdullahi Muhammad Gwarzo, Minister of State, Housing and Urban
Development. And,
5. Dr. Jamila Bio Ibrahim Minister of Youth Development.

Indeed the shake up was long awaited, so it didn’t come as a surprise. What is surprising however, is the calibre of people affected. The President really surprised many, by firing the bullet in a direction different from the anticipated. The shake up has retained people that were speculated to be leaving, and weeded out people that were conjectured to be retained. They were hired by the President. He knows why he hired them in the first place, and therefore knows best why he fired them.

There is a popular idiom that says, one man’s food is another man’s poison. In other words, what is good for one person may be bad for another. Equally, what is pleasant to one person may be unpleasant to another.

Since coming to power, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has made it clear to all his appointees in particular, and the nation in general, that performance would be the yardstick of the relationship. Every employee or appointee, would be gauged based on key performance indicator, KPI. The idea is to make people measure up to expected performance over time, in order for the government to meet up to its promised objective. Those familiar with the President said he had given specific targets on certain objectives to the Ministers, and since there is an Adviser that is charged with the responsibility of monitoring such KPI, in the person of Hadiza Bala Usman, gauging progress, or getting insights on performance would not be difficult.

The burden to keep in mind in every appointment, particularly political appointments, is for every appointee to know that, there is always the sacrificial service of stewardship. And it can come any time.