Aregbesola proof of Buhari’s thoughtlessness By Dodoh Okafor
On Wednesday, August 21, 2019, President Muhammadu Buhari- assigned portfolios to the 43 men and women ministers.
If Nigerians were disappointed with the calibre of men and women Buhari sent to the Senate for confirmation, they were in shock when he announced who would man which portfolio.
One can rank the general reaction of Nigerians, as seen across social media platforms and through phone-in-radio programmes, into three categories: bewilderment, delusion and confusion.
We can just share one instance to demonstrate that the journey ahead may be rougher than what Nigerians had been through in the last four years – or perhaps since the 1914 amalgamation.
Rauf Aregbesola, the former governor of Osun State, was posted to serve in the Ministry of Interior as a senior minister. This is one decision that has certainly not gone well with most commentators. Nigeria is on the verge of being overrun by various categories of violent criminals.
In several parts of the North East, members of the Boko Haram terrorist group have been bombing and killing Nigerians at will. Few of the terrorists have been arrested and successfully prosecuted under the Anti-terrorism Act of 2013.
The government appears helpless as the propaganda of “technical defeat and crushing of Boko Haram” has been exposed for what it is: lies and deceit.
In the North West, bandits rule like kings, killing, raping and stealing, with very little coming from the government in response.
It is shameful that under a former military general, who was elected after promising to “lead from the front” in 2015, the Abuja-Kaduna Road has been abandoned to criminals.
Things are not better in other states. In many communities, it is simply foolish to go to bed and sleep with both eyes closed. It is wiser to keep an eye out for sounds of gunshots and ripples of explosives.
Across the north-central, south-east, south-west and south-south regions, citizens live at the mercy of kidnappers, armed robbers, ritual murderers, scam artists and others. These hoodlums commit crimes because their livelihood depends on it.
What set of skills does Aregbesola possess to handle this? He has no security background and what’s more, is unlikely to be held in high esteem by the largely sectional security chiefs.
Nigeria must indeed brace up for what may be the scariest four years ahead.
Aregbesola’s appointment and posting is not the worst hiring and deployment made by a President – who seem perpetually wedded to bad choices.
In the days ahead, commentators will continue to probe the CVs and administrative capabilities of the band of misfits President Buhari recruited as political heads of government ministries. Perhaps the question: who bewitched Nigeria will be asked more frequently as the rich, and the poor continue to wish they can turn back the hands of the clock.
