10 Ministers President should immediately fire

President Muhammadu Buhari hasn’t delivered on hundreds of election campaign promises and maybe, just maybe, some of his Ministers aren’t helping his cause.

Most of the President’s Ministers will make a decent cast for a ghost movie.

Here are the 10 Ministers Buhari should waste no time evicting from his team when the next cabinet reshuffle comes around.

He can thank us later.

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1. Adebayo Shittu (Minister for Communication):

Shittu shouldn’t have made it into the cabinet after his ministerial screening on the floor of the Senate last year.

He misspoke and misfired during his screening and laughed it all off while at it.

But like every name Buhari forwarded to the Senate, he was cleared and has fumbled his way around the place.

Shittu was at sea during the MTN fine, hasn’t articulated a single policy direction, laughs his way around with hand gloves and a beard; and hasn’t been heard saying anything of note about the country’s Communication sector.

If there ever was a ghost worker in Buhari’s cabinet, it’s Shittu.

We’ll fire him today without flinching.

2. Solomon Dalung (Minister of Youth and Sports):

This beret wearing Minister shouldn’t be anywhere near the federal cabinet of a serious country.

Dalung’s deficiencies were sorely exposed in the build up to the Olympics.

At the Olympics and after, Dalung often came across as unfit for purpose—one who speaks before he thinks.

Proper organisation and policy formulation aren’t his thing.

Because Nigeria isn’t the same as Boy Scout or Man O’ War, Dalung should come and be going abeg.

3. Usani Usani Uguru (Minister of Niger Delta)

He’s in pole position to win the most anonymous Minister award alongside several others in Buhari’s team.

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Sometimes, you wonder if Usani understands the demands of his office.

Sometimes you wonder who is in charge of overseeing a restive Niger Delta region between Usani and Emmanuel Kachikwu.

He’ll be fired in the morning if we were calling the shots.

4. Abdulrahman Dambazau (Minister of Interior):

Aside having his shoes cleaned by an Orderly at a public function, it’s really hard to place a finger on what else Dambazau has done for his country since 2015.

He strikes you as one who throws his weight around just because he’s a former General, but who has no idea how to run an office.

Dambazau has to go. Like today.

5. Udoma Udo Udoma (Minister of Budget and National Planning):

At a recent public function, Udoma couldn’t say what Nigeria’s debt stock stood at.

He had no idea, basically. It was sad and embarrassing to watch on TV.

There’s a feeling that Udoma was at fault for the mess that the 2016 budget became—the mangled numbers and the padding happened on his watch.

In saner climes, he should have tendered his resignation after the budget fiasco.

Udoma arrived the cabinet as one to watch; given his experience and urbane disposition.

But he shouldn’t last a day longer in the Buhari cabinet at this rate.

6. Godwin Emefiele (CBN Governor)

You only need to look at the policy flip-flops on the economic front and how fiscal and monetary policies have been at variance in the Buhari administration, to know that Emefiele should have been fired immediately Buhari took over the reins.

Inherited from a lack-luster Jonathan dispensation, Emefiele has put almost every foot wrong as head of the Bankers’ Bank.

He really is no Minister in the truest sense of the designation, but as a key player in the Economic Team of the Buhari administration, we think he’s not one to continue relying on in a time of recession.

Emefiele has overstayed his welcome.

7. Mohammed Bello (FCT Minister):

Bello is only visible on the tarmac of the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, each time the President is on his way out of the country.

FCT residents still remember Nasir El-Rufai’s days as Minister of the capital city with nostalgia—an indication that Bello has been a ghost Minister.

Around Abuja, the filth has slipped back in and the aesthetically pleasing, boulevard city is fast giving way to the sore suburban sight of Lagos.

Bello has to go.

8. Adamu Adamu (Minister of Education):

Adamu belongs to the age of the chalkboard and slate, as do most of Buhari’s team.

How he was chosen to oversee a most germane ministry above the Professors and cerebral technocrats across the country, will remain a mystery.

He was a decent newspaper man, but has been a flop as Minister of Education.

Sack him, Buhari!

9. Aisha Jumai Alhassan (Minister of Women affairs):

You will be hard pressed to figure out what else Alhassan has achieved in a one year span as Minister of Women affairs, aside antagonizing the Bring Back Our Girls (BBOG) campaigners.

She’ll probably excel in some other Ministry.

Whenever Buhari decides to wield the axe, Mrs. Alhassan’s name has to be on the chopping block.

10. Heineken Lokpobiri (Minister of State for Agriculture and Rural Development):

Another deadwood in a cabinet desperately crying for life.

It says a lot about Heineken that we only remember he’s part of the Buhari team at the bar or while watching soccer with the boys.

Lokpobiri doesn’t deserve another day in the cabinet.

At the pub, maybe.

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Postscript: There are other deadwoods in the Buhari cabinet but we are space constrained at the moment.

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However, if the President is serious about performance and KPIs, it is imperative that he reshuffles his cabinet by weeding out the several deadwoods in his team.

He’d better take our word for it if he wants to leave a legacy.