Buhari’s Square Pegs in Round Holes

Central Bank of Nigeria’s Director of Policy, Moses Tule made my day last week with his remark that Nigeria’s financial downturn had persisted due to the application of wrong prescription by non-professionals. He spoke in Abuja at the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria’s roundtable organised to discuss the economic challenges facing our nation. “Some came in as doctors into the macro-economic management and are giving the tools of medical doctors to advise on how to solve the problem of recession. Some came in as carpenters and they are using carpentry tools to advise on the problems of economic recession; some came in as engineers and they are using their tools to advise on how to address economic recession. They have not allowed the professionals to do their jobs. They have not allowed the professional to provide the direction,” remarked Tule.

For me, the quality of Buhari’s ministers shows that he has simply been struggling to fit mainly square pegs into round holes in the last 13 months. I still can’t understand how square pegs will enter round holes. The case of Udoma Udo Udoma, a lawyer and Minister of Budget and Planning is a good example here. This brilliant lawyer has no business with our Budget and Planning Ministry because he is supervising a “strange” terrain. This is why Buhari has been having a lot of upheavals with his budgets. He should look for another job for Udoma. Another square peg is our Eaglet Finance Minister, Kemi Adeosun, who lacks the clout and global reach for this vital office. Other square pegs in Buhari’s cabinet include Chris Ngige, Kayode Fayemi, Hadi Sirika, Ogbonaya Onu, Adebayo Shittu, Suleiman Adama, Usani Uguru, Solomon Dalung, Audu Ogbe, Khadija BukarIbrahim, Cladius Daramola, Mustapha Baba Shehuri and Heineken Lokpobiri. I hope the President is listening.

Officials of the Presidential Initiative on the North-East have further embarrassed the Buhari administration and its so-called war against corruption, with the slipshod financial report it presented to the Senate on Tuesday. Officers of PINE could not convincingly account for the N2.5 billion released to them to tackle the crisis in the camps of internally Displaced Persons. During the public hearing held in Abuja on Tuesday, the Secretary of PINE, Umar Gulani, claimed that the body spent N203 million to clear grass somewhere in Yobe State, but Yobe State Commissioner for Information, Mohammed Lamin, disputed Gulani’s claim. “No taipa grass was cleared in the state by any Federal Government agency,” declared Lamin.

Gulani’s claim that PINE cleared invasive plants species around river banks in the state at the cost of N253 million was also disputed by Yobe State officials. They also disputed the N422 million PINE claimed was spent on the provision of tents for displaced families in the state. Claims of renovating 18 schools destroyed by the Boko Haram in Yobe also turned out to be dubious. According to Yobe State Government’s record, only three schools were renovated by PINE. It is also sad to note that PINE confirmed donating N50 million to a questionable organisation while our star-crossed IDPs wallow in poverty. Clearly, PINE has mismanaged its mandate of reconstructing and rehabilitating communities destroyed by the Boko Haram in the North-East, with the diversion and mismanagement of funds for the humanitarian crisis in the region. All those behind this mess must be punished.