The impending cabinet reshuffle

RECENTLY,  after months of speculations, the Presidency confirmed that a cabinet reshuffle was imminent. Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Mr. Bayo Onanuga, revealed this to journalists at the State House on Wednesday, September 25. According to Onanuga, there is no timeline as to when President Bola Ahmed Tinubu will reshuffle his cabinet, which was put in place in August last year, almost three months after the president had assumed office. In the same vein, the president instructed his ministers to actively promote his administration’s accomplishments. According to Onanuga, Tinubu urged the ministers to “go out there and publicise the administration’s successes.” His grouse was that some of the ministers were hesitant to speak publicly, putting the administration in a difficult position. Onanuga said: “Many Nigerians believe that the president isn’t doing much, while the government is actually making significant strides.” Tinubu, therefore, emphasised that his ministers should focus more on communicating his achievements to the public.

It is, of course, the prerogative of the president to change his cabinet to reflect his administration’s strategic goals. And while any government’s achievements need to be broadcast, there is a problem when the people cannot feel the impact of such achievements. That, in our view, is the problem. In other words, the problem really is government policy, not mute ministers.  There is no way real change can be guaranteed with the current policies. Since President Tinubu announced the removal of subsidy on petroleum on May 29, 2023, things have been on a downward spiral for Nigeria and life has taken a decidedly horrendous turn for the average Nigerian. The point cannot be disputed that Nigeria has been battling one of its worst economic crisis in its history following the government’s removal of petrol subsidy and unification of the foreign exchange windows in May 2023. On Tuesday, Nigerian youth appalled by the terrible living conditions in the country staged a #FearlessInOctober protests in some parts of the country, and the protests may yet continue. This follows the #EndBadGovernance protests in August when the youths protested hunger and economic hardship for 10 days. Amid the protests, the inflation rate stood at 32.15 percent, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS). The food inflation rate was 37.52 percent on a year-on-year basis, 8.18 percentage points higher than the August 2023 rate (29.34 percent), and the pains were not assuaged by President Tinubu and the 36 state governors’ rollout of  palliative measures.

Apparently, following its floatation by President Tinubu, the naira has been in peril.  For instance, ahead of yesterday’s Independence Day celebrations, the naira experienced a slight depreciation against the dollar in the foreign exchange market. According to data from FMDQ, the naira closed at N1541.94 per dollar on Monday, down from N1540.78 on Friday, September 27, resulting in a loss of N1.16. However, in the black market, the currency remained stable, holding steady at N1,700 per dollar. However, this so-called stability is bound to spark very intense emotions when the fact is recalled that the naira exchanged for less than N300 only a few years ago. The exchange rate problem has a lot to do with Nigeria’s failure to refine its own oil, and there has, sadly, been no cheer on the horizon even with the coming on stream of the Dangote Refinery. This week, the Technical Sub-Committee on Domestic Sales of Crude Oil in Local Currency confirmed that the supply of crude in naira by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) to the Dangote Petroleum Refinery would begin on Tuesday. The NNPC is to supply about 11.5 million barrels of crude oil to the Dangote refinery monthly, and based on the deal, the plant will release equivalent volumes of refined diesel and petrol into the domestic market, also in naira. But there is no indication of a drastic reduction in the pump price of fuel.

The point we are making is that President Tinubu’s policies are at the heart of the pains that Nigerians are experiencing and it is a change of those policies that the administration’s attention should be focused on. The policies have led to an unending haemorrhage of companies and jobs. If ministers are changed but these anti-people and anti-production policies are still in place, the same terrible results will still obtain.  While we are not against non-performing ministers getting the sack, we are guided by the facts of history and present economic indicators to call on President Tinubu to shelve the subsidy and naira floatation policies while taking concrete steps to decentralise Nigeria’s security architecture. Failure to do this will result in the demise of the people on whose behalf the government claims to have rolled out the policies. Placing punitive policies over people’s comfort cannot guarantee development.

During his Independence Day Anniversary speech on Tuesday, President Bola Tinubu said: “We expect to see a leap in food production and a downward spiral in food costs. I promise you, we shall not falter on this.” He hinged this promise partly on the fact that  his administration “is winning the war on terror and banditry” with target to eliminate all the threats of Boko Haram, banditry, kidnapping for ransom, and violent extremism.” For obvious reasons, we do not share the president’s optimism. We believe that unless and until his punitive policies are reversed, Nigerians will be economically displaced persons, unable to live decent lives. Already, staple foods such as yam, eggs and beans are off the menu of millions of Nigerians due to their prohibitive cost and there is nothing to suggest that there will be a reversal of fortunes without a change in government policy. Bringing in new ministers to power these punitive policies can only result in further pauperisation and emasculation of Nigerians.

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