Leveraging on unassailable media reports, available data, experts’ assessment, readers’ contributions and our correspondents’ findings, cabinet ministers of President Muhammadu Buhari are here rated according to performance for the year 2017. This is in a bid to see how far the administration has been able to fulfill its mandate to the electorate. Below is the wrap-up on some of the President’s key ministers:
MINISTER OF MINES AND STEEL, Dr. Kayode Fayemi
The performance of the Dr. Kayode Fayemi-led Federal Ministry of Mines and Steel Development in 2017 seems above average, as the ministry grew its target revenue from N1.2 billion to N3.5billion in the year.
In spite of experts’ reservations that Fayemi’s alleged political leanings, which had been linked to the alleged crisis in the ruling All Progressives Congress, might hinder his productivity, our observation of relative growth in the mining sector, under Fayemi’s watch, is reflected in the “before and after” figures of key indices.
Some specifics:
In Ondo State, work is ongoing to fully exploit the bitumen resources to meet the 600,000 metric tonnes of asphalt imported per annum, for roads and other construction projects. To consolidate on these efforts, the government has also established a N30 billion Solid Minerals Development Fund to support other mineral exploration activities across the country.
From a paltry contribution of N700 million to the national purse before he took charge, Fayemi, according to data from his ministry, has been able to contribute N2billion, within one year, to the nation’s economy, making it one of the highest sectoral contributors, apart from oil.
This figure, according to reports, has also been surpassed by the first half of this year.
MINISTER OF STATE FOR PETROLEUM, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu
The Minister of State for Petroleum, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu, has earned himself an average score.
He, however, won the hearts of several Nigerians when he allegedly leaked a memo over alleged fraudulent practices in the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation, which many people had frowned at over the years, revealing that there was a cabal in the corporation that frustrated efforts of the government to end fuel crisis and remove clogs in the wheels of the refineries across the nation.
In 2017 alone, the ministry, under Kachikwu, reportedly identified and addressed ineffective regulation, concentration and control of petroleum resources within a limited set of licence holders, among others. The approval of the National Gas Policy, to define the strategies for harnessing and developing the country’s gas resources, towards elevating gas from being a subsidiary of oil, and giving it the practical expression of Nigeria as a gas territory, was also a step in the right direction.
He would have scored higher by the assessment of many Nigerians with the ministry’s creation of an appropriate fuel-pricing framework, which facilitated the immediate disappearance of fuel queues at filling stations across the country, but for the recent ugly fuel crisis, across major parts of Nigeria, which has almost grounded activities this festive period.
MINISTER OF TRANSPORTATION, Mr. Rotimi Amaechi
The Minister of Transportation, Mr. Rotimi Amaechi’s performance was not up to the expectations of several Nigerians, as he allegedly spent more time engaging in different political squabbles in Rivers State. He is either pitched against Governor Nyesome Wike of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party, or flexing muscles with Senator Magnus Abe on local politics.
Though he managed to breast the tape of 2017, critics argue that his performance is, probably, the least among his frontline colleagues.
Aside from some projects initiated by the immediate past government, which the minister completed, people believe more is expected from who more is given, considering the controversies he had before he was confirmed by the National Assembly.
However, Amaechi attributed his low performance to the challenges he faced in the operations of the ministry in 2017.
He argued that only N31.9 billion, out of the N192.89 billion appropriated for the Ministry for capital expenditure was released. This represented 16.5 per cent of the appropriated sum.
Aside from the adopted and completed rail projects, other ongoing rail projects are Kano-Katsina-Jibiya-Maradi project that stretches to Niger Republic; and the new standard gauge rail from Port-Harcourt to Maiduguri, passing through Enugu, Lafia, Makurdi and Gombe.
MINISTER OF DEFENCE, Mansur Dan Ali
The Ministry of Defence, led by Mansur Muhammad Dan Ali, has, in the last one year, recorded laudable achievements in its efforts aimed at defeating Boko Haram insurgents and curtailing other internal security threats in the country.
Apart from the insurgency, the military put under check agitations for secession by the Indigenous People of Biafra, which almost threw the country into another civil war.
The consensus is that these efforts by the military indicate that the defence ministry lived up to the expectations of many Nigerians. We, however, believe that more work still needs to be done to make Nigeria a safe place to live in. The safety of Nigerians must not also be politicised at any point in time.
MINISTER OF INTERIOR, Lt. Gen. Abdulraman Dambazau (retd)
The minister was branded with an alleged pension fraud, linked to a former chairman of the Presidential Pension Task Team, Abdulrasheed Maina.
Many Nigerians expressed disappointment at the development, especially with the sudden disappearance, reappearance, reinstatement and promotion of the embattled chairman.
The development has since brought the minister to the spotlight, under heavy criticism as he is found culpable of the messy situations that surrounded Maina. This summed up the minister to a sharp decline in rating.
MINISTER OF FINANCE, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun
The Minister of Finance, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun, was rated above average as she mapped out programmes and policies that helped, in no small measure, to bail the nation out of its worst recession in over two decades.
In spite of the early criticisms that trailed her handling of the ministry, she was able to reduce government’s monthly wage bill by about N20 billion, from N165 billion to N145 billion, through the discovery of longstanding resource-depleting ghost workers.
Our investigations also revealed that she had, relative to some of her colleagues, worked tirelessly and tried as much as possible to dissociate herself from the politics that had threatened the performance of the APC-led government.
However, the minister received knocks on certain decisions, especially the request to borrow N2.2 billion to finance the deficit envisaged in the 2016 appropriation bill and recent bid to use $1 billion from the Excess Crude Account to tackle insecurity in the country.
Also, despite frequent reassessments of Nigeria’s tax regime, aimed at increasing government revenue and providing the enabling environment for individuals and businesses to thrive, observers say she failed, largely, to resolve the problem of multiple taxation and improve tax compliance.
MINISTER OF POWER, WORKS AND HOUSING, Babatunde Fashola
Some of the achievements of the minister are the over N70 billion paid to contractors handling federal jobs to return to site; signing of a $237 million agreement with the World Bank to improve power in the country, and the increase in electricity generating capacity, from N5,000MW in 2016 to over 7,000MW by the end of 2017.
Notwithstanding the generating capacity fugures, millions of Nigerians still live without power supply even in the face of endless exploitation by the Distribution companies across the country.
Observers also say that, out of the many projects the minister promised to execute since 2016, only a few of them were delivered as others appeared abandoned half way in 2017, thus putting him below average in the estimation of a section of the public.
On the housing front, Nigeria has a housing deficit of about 17 million units and needs about 700,000 additional units each year for the next 20 years, according to the World Bank.
However, the minister’s fans are quick to add that he was given more mandates than he can probably handle. “It would, therefore, be difficult to compare his performance with those of his colleagues, who are handling straightforward ministries,” a prominent economic analyst, who asked not to be named, said.
MINISTER OF AGRICULTURE AND RURAL DEVELOPMENT, Chief Audu Ogbeh
The Ministry of Agriculture, headed by Chief Audu Ogbeh, appears to have done averagely well in the last one year, but various critics have faulted the ministry’s decision of commencing exportation of yams when the yam supply can hardly meet home demand.
Nigeria’s agricultural sector is, according to experts, one of the richest sectors in Africa, with huge potential that could help the country survive with instability in the petroleum products’ market.
Though Nigerians differ in their assessment of the government’s achievement in the sector, many believe that a lot has been achieved.
A report by Oxford Business Group, revealed that the agricultural sector in Nigeria is performing well. The report states that the sector grew at the rate of 3.48 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2015; and grew, in the full year, at 3.72 per cent, well above the general economic growth rate of 2.11 per cent.
MINISTER OF EDUCATION, Mallam Adamu Adamu
The Minister of Education has been rated BELOW AVERAGE by experts and analysts across all sectors. This year, the education sector has been bedevilled with many problems, top among which were the strikes embarked upon by several bodies of tertiary institutions across the country, especially the Academic Staff Union of Universities.
The ministry, which is mandated to collect and collate data for purposes of education planning, financing, prescribing and maintaining uniform standard of education throughout the country, has not been able to meet its objectives, according to stakeholders, because education is still mainly underfunded and the standard of education continues to drop significantly.
On November 13, this year, the Minister of Education advocated for a declaration of emergency in the education sector at the Federal Executive Council retreat on Challenges facing the sector.
On the up side, however, the minister gave approval for the establishment of six private universities, and paid ASUU N23 billion as earned allowances.
MINISTER OF HEALTH, Prof. Isaac Adewole
The Minister of Health has performed WELL ABOVE AVERAGE, according to the submission of many analysts. There were several outbreaks of epidemics, ranging from lassa fever, polio and meningitis, to monkey pox and cholera. The health ministry, through the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control, was able to manage and control the outbreaks in different states where they broke out by strengthening the states’ capacity to detect, manage and respond to hemorrhagic fevers, including lassa fever, through social mobilisation and media awareness efforts.
The response coordination to disease outbreak has also been commendable, the public observed, through partnerships with major international health organisations.
The ministry also inaugurated a special health intervention project, which will benefit federal teaching hospitals, medical centres and specialist hospitals across the six geopolitical zones. Under the project, the minister explained that each of the federal teaching hospitals would receive N300 million, while the specialist hospitals would receive N200 million each in order to strengthen healthcare delivery in Nigeria.
Despite these, the health sector has witnessed its own share of hiccups as health workers, under different associations, had taken their turns to go on strike. In all, Nigerians believe that the health sector in Nigeria is still far below the desired height, and have charged President Muhammadu Buhari to make the revitalisation of the sector his priority.
MINISTER OF COMMUNICATION, Barr. Adebayo Shittu
For the Ministry of Communication, led by Barr. Adebayo Shittu, it has been rated average in its performance in the last one year.
It is believed that the minister heading the ministry has not pulled his weight as regards fulfilling his promises at the inception of his engagement.
For instance, Adebayo promised to make the communication sector a springboard for industrial and administrative revolution. He also promised to reposition NIPOST to generate more revenue and also evolve a policy that would engage the use of ICT in the nation’s universities and polytechnics. But so far, he has been able to achieve little.
Recounting some of his achievements, however, the minister said the telecommunications sector increased Nigeria’s GDP by 8.7 per cent since he assumed office, generating spillovers with uptakes in financial transaction technology and payment systems, E-commerce facilitation and proliferation of transport services.
The Ministry also generated over N500 million from radio licensing, and facilitated a $15 billion Chinese investment into the ICT sector, which will ultimately create about 2000 jobs.
