Tinubu rejigs ministerial portfolios, renames Ecological Ministry

President Bola Ahmad Tinubu has initiated a comprehensive restructuring of the forthcoming Federal Cabinet, aimed at optimizing ministerial portfolios and enhancing government efficiency. This significant move was announced by Ajuri Ngelale, the Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, through a formal press release. One of the notable changes involves the redeployment of Engr. Abubakar Momoh, who was initially assigned to the Federal Ministry of Youth and Sports Development. He will now assume responsibilities within the Federal Ministry of Niger Delta Development. This strategic reallocation of personnel aims to leverage Momoh’s expertise in a way that aligns with the nation’s development priorities. Meanwhile, the Federal Ministry of Youth and Sports Development is set to undergo a transition as it awaits the assignment of a new Minister-Designate. This decision underscores the administration’s commitment to ensuring that every ministry is led by capable and qualified individuals. Furthermore, the Ministers-Designate earmarked for the Federal Ministries of Transportation, Interior, and Marine & Blue Economy have experienced a noteworthy reshuffling of their designations: (A) H.E. Adegboyega Oyetola, who was initially positioned for another role, will now bring his leadership and expertise to the forefront as the Honourable Minister of Marine & Blue Economy. This adjustment reflects the President’s focus on sustainable maritime and economic development. (B) Hon. Bunmi Tunji-Ojo has been reassigned to the role of Honourable Minister of Interior. This shift recognizes his potential to contribute significantly to the governance and security aspects of the ministry. (C) Hon. Sa’idu Alkali, who was previously designated for another ministry, will now take the reins as the Honourable Minister of Transportation. This reassignment aligns with his experience and capabilities in infrastructure and transportation management. Moreover, in a move to streamline coordination and expertise, both Ministers of State within the Oil & Gas sector have been incorporated into the Federal Ministry of Petroleum Resources. Their new roles are as follows: (i) Sen. Heineken Lokpobiri has assumed the mantle of Hon. Minister of State (Oil), Petroleum Resources, leveraging his knowledge of the oil sector to contribute to its growth and stability. (ii) Hon. Ekperipe Ekpo now holds the position of Hon. Minister of State (Gas), Petroleum Resources, bringing his insights to the development of the gas sector. The President’s endorsement has also led to the renaming of the Federal Ministry of Environment and Ecological Management. It will now be known as the Federal Ministry of Environment, reflecting the ministry’s central role in safeguarding Nigeria’s environmental sustainability. These transformative adjustments, implemented through the directives of the President, are set to take immediate effect.

We must reset our political values to restructure Nigeria -Prof Odinkalu

The former Chairman of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), Prof. Chidi Anslem Odinkalu, has called for a resetting of the country’s value system which, according to him, will culminate in a restructuring of Nigeria. Odinkalu argues that the process of resetting Nigeria must start with addressing the country’s values problem, which requires a new kind of leadership that is national in outlook. Odinkalu, who is a visiting professor at Harvard University, maintained that for effective resetting to be accomplished, the process must begin with paying attention to political values that underpin coexistence in the country. The human rights activist, made these submissions in Abuja while speaking as a guest lecturer at the 10th-anniversary lecture of Just Friends Club of Nigeria. Speaking on the topic “Resetting Nigeria” he posited that if we cannot restructure our values, we cannot restructure a Nigeria that is equitable and just. The Prof emphasized that the theme, “Resetting Nigeria” is pregnant with more questions than illumination. First, it implies that Nigeria was already set without disclosing who did so. Secondly, it suggests also that the initial setting is flawed, imperiled, or spent, without indicating why, when or how this happened. Thirdly, it suggests that this old setting now needs reworking but does not say who will do it, why they are qualified for that task or from whence they derive their mandate to do so. He submitted that as a leader, we got to understand the diversity of this country and chose leaders who understand the diversity. “Many explanations have been proffered for Nigeria’s current unhappy condition: corruption, violence, impunity, among others. I want to suggest that these are symptoms, not the underlying problem. “Two decades ago, Chinua Achebe declared that ‘the trouble with Nigeria is simply and squarely a failure of leadership’, and argued that ‘Nigerians are corrupt because the system under which they live today makes corruption easy and profitable. “As a supplement or complement to this, I propose shortly to suggest that we have a structural crisis in our political economy indexed as it is on allocation rather than production. “This is an important point to make to a gathering of professionals. The defects of this fundamentally flawed political economy are compounded by a long-established ethics of deliberate political innumeracy”.  “As a political economy, we specialize in fraudulent counting and accounting, legitimized post-hoc by the instruments and skills of the law. “To preserve our innumeracy of public accounts, we have used everything from coercive instruments to commissions of inquiry whose reports have never been seen. In over half a century as a country, we have never held a credible census. “To legitimize the outcome without addressing the underlying malfeasances, we establish Census Tribunals. In the same period, we have struggled to undertake credible elections. For each flawed election, we establish an Election Petitions Tribunal, procuring judicial legitimacy for returns that have been – in most cases – fundamentally flawed,” he lamented. Odinakalu recalled various past avoided trajectories of the country and the deliberate choice of her leaders not to do the right things and warned of dire consequences. “The only way to avoid those consequences is to come to terms with the reality that the country needs to be re-set. That re-setting, however, must begin with attention to the political values that underpin coexistence in the country. “But addressing this values problem requires a new kind of leadership that is national in outlook. That is where we must begin and in this, associations like the JFCN have a significant role to play,” he stated.