| Before Yar'Adua Changes His Cabinet |
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| Written by Reuben Abati | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Saturday, 13 September 2008 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Before Yar'Adua Changes His Cabinet By Reuben Abati It comes as no surprise that there is now going on in Nigeria a big scramble for positions in the Federal Cabinet, following President Umaru Yar'Adua's announcement, a few days ago, of new Ministries, and an increase in the number of Federal Ministers to 42. It must be noted that the President has since indicated that he intends to overhaul his cabinet, the simple interpretation of which is that apart from the new Ministries that have now been created, there may be vacancies also in existing Ministries. Government appointment remains the easiest route, not to public service, but to the public treasury and the opportunity to steal a portion of the national cake. Despite local and international campaigns against corruption, stealing from government, using government position as a means of wealth accumulation continues to be the bane of governance in Nigeria. Even t he taxpayer as archetype and citizen considers anyone with a government position, a lucky man or woman. To put it blandly, you are not expected to go into government even if for six months and come out a poor man, still riding your old car, still living in your humble neighbourhood, still looking as if you have loans to repay the banks. The prior declaration of assets is no deterrence whatsoever. In a country where unemployment is high and politics is not about ideas or service but power and privilege, the scramble is clearly a product of our circumstances as a nation. Once, in one of the states, the Governor decided to ask those interested in the positions of Commissioner, and Special Adviser to apply formally. He received lorry loads of applications! A qualifying examination was later organized for the applicants: there were so many candidates you would think it was a university admissions examination! The methods being adopted by the office seekers can be either subtle or brazen, depending on the character involved. Yes, there are persons who do not lobby for positions, who may even turn down invitations to serve in government, or who may be compelled to accept the offer of a position because they truly intend to serve the nation or gain public sector experience. But these are usually very few. In Nigeria, there is a much larger crowd of persons, ferrying lorry loads of resumes around, lobbying Godfathers and Godmothers to put in a kind word for them, or as is more the case, they engage in sundry self-positioning games. A report in The Punch newspaper yesterday at p. 9 thereof, titled: "Cabinet reshuffle: Ministers lobby Jonathan, Turai Yar'Adua" gave an idea of how persons who are believed to be close to the President are now under serious pressure to help draw the President's attention to their resume. Serving Ministers who are not on good terms with their Governors in the states are said to be jittery, in case the Governors are allowed to make recommendations to the Presidents. There is also expressed concern about a performance audit in the various Ministries. Another newspaper reported that President Yar'Adua is on a two-day visit to his home state of Katsina, during which period, he and his close associates will take a look at likely ministerial nominees. But the rush is so much that nothing is being left to chance. I gather that PR agencies are also being engaged by aspirants to high office to turn them into beautiful brides! Nobody in any cabinet anywhere should owe anything to anyone outside government other than the man making the appointment and ultimately the Nigerian people who expect quality performance. Usually, Nigerians would like to choose their own portfolios. Certain departments of government are considered lucrative or profitable, whereas others are considered not so profitable and this is certainly not in relation to public benefit. But the Constitution is very clear on the appointment of ministers: it is the prerogative of the President to choose his own team, subject to the confirmation of the Senate. The only other caveat in the Constitution is that the appointments must reflect Federal Character. Nowhere is it said that the President must accept any list from state Governors or party leaders or lobbyists. If he wants to consult, yes he can and it is advisable to do so, but he must follow his own mind. He must resist pressures, and choose a team that he knows. The selection process must be rigorous and devoid of the untidy politics of the past. The proposed new Cabinet must comprise persons with original ideas that will make the Ministries they head relevant to the needs of the Nigerian people. The alleged poor performance of the present Federal Cabinet has been explained away on the grounds that the President had to appoint his first set of ministers because he was directed to do so by party leaders. There have been insinuations also that for months he didn't even know some of the Ministers or their portfolios. He and the team allegedly spent the first year in office trying to build a team relationship. Now, the President should not repeat the same error. On May 29, the President had said he was still trying to study the Nigerian terrain. We assume that some of the steps taken in the last few days and talks about a change of cabinet amount to an assurance that he now understands the terrain and the seven-point agenda would now get to an implementation stage. Nigerians are impatient. However, there is one other point to consider. When the new cabinet is announced as proposed, the impression would have been left in the minds of the public, that the Federal cabinet, 2007 - 2008, was a lazy one, and that those Ministers should be blamed solely for the failure of the Yar'Adua government to make a serious impact so far. On second thoughts, this may not be a fair assessment. The question to ask is: are there certain conditions which made it difficult if not impossible for many of the Ministries to function at optimal capacity? How best can those conditions be addressed to guarantee performance, and prevent present errors in the future? It is well-known that all through the past 16 months, the President himself has kept a low pace, forcing the public to name him Baba Go Slow or President Do Nothing. The President was so busy studying and getting ready for performance. Nigerians became worried that the Presidency had gone to sleep. They wanted action and results, the President told them he was busy with research. If I may play the Devil's advocate, this must have had an effect on the Federal Cabinet. Culturally, the pace of the leader in any team determines the average team member's response. Suppose there are some of the present set of Ministers who regardless of how they got the position, wanted to work and make a difference. The President's own slow pace must have been a disincentive. Nigerian officials are always ever so careful not be seen to be upstaging the boss. President Yar'Adua has been talking about the performance of the Ministers. He must begin with himself. He needs to set a new pace and rhythm. Secondly, if the Federal Ministers must function there must be a proper and timely funding of the budget. Since 1999, the budgeting process has been chaotic. Nearly the entire year is taken up on the politics of the budget when that particular budget should be in operation. By the time cash-backing is provided, the year in review is ended and at the last minute, officials in the Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs), not wanting to return unused funds to the treasury choose to share the loot. This is the temptation that produced the scam of N300 million in the Ministry of Health last year. This year again, a similar process is unfolding. The MDAs did not receive funding for capital expenditure until the end of July. What can they achieve in only the last quarter of the year? The EPC process for contracts alone takes about three months if it is fast-tracked. Effectively, all those last minute contracts that were approved at the last two Federal cabinet meetings can no longer be executed under the 2008 budget. A review of the budgeting and funding process would impact on the performance of the MDAs no doubt. Since May 2007, capacity utilisation in the MDAs has been very low. Thirdly, the performance of the Federal Ministers in the last 16 months must not be only a matter of individual ability. The ministers are policy and political heads of the MDAs. Much of the practical work is to be done by the civil servants. The culture of indolence that has perennially sabotaged the Nigerian civil service persists. Now that a career civil servant Yayale Ahmed is the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, President Yar'Adua should go a step further by ensuring that the civil service becomes an engine room for performance. A process of civil service reform was initiated under President Obasanjo; it has not been sustained. Before a cabinet change is announced, there should be an open performance review to be carried out by internal and external auditors. A state of the nation address by the President would not be out of place. Unfortunately, the MDAs are said to be resisting that review. I refer to the report that although the EFCC has asked the Ministries to submit a list of contracts awarded so far since 2004, and the names of the contractors, only nine Ministries have done so, 19 others have refused to comply. The abuse of the contract award/performance process is a story well told. Phantom contracts, non-existent companies collecting money from government for work not done, contractors abandoning sites and such mess were revealed during the various probes in the power and transport sectors. President Yar'Adua must order all the defaulting ministries and their Ministers to comply at once; the Ministers must be told to respond to the request which the EFCC made as far back as August 11. The lack of transparency in the award and execution of contracts robs the people of the opportunity to hold the MDAs and their officials accountable. There is a Fiscal Responsibility Law in existence. It should not be turned into a dead law. In June, the Federal Government scrapped the Tenders Board, and replaced it with what it called a Procurement Department with a mandate to "ensure strict adherence to al extant regulations and procedure on procurement and relate with the EPP on matters relating to contract awards." To achieve this objective, it is perfectly in order to review the contracts award process, not even from 2004, but 1999. And where the EFCC is able to establish a prima facie case against any government official or contractor, such persons must be brought to book in the public interest. And where are the reports of the various probes by the way? One thing should be clear to President Yar'Adua. Nigerians do not want, and they do not deserve, excuses. If he wants history on his side, he must begin a 100 metres dash towards 2011. And when eventually a list of nominated Ministers is sent to the Senate for screening and confirmation, we expect a rigorous screening process, not the kind of patronising and asinine questions that our Senators tend to ask under such circumstances.
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Posted by Robot| 13.09.2008 22:57