President Muhammadu Buhari recently stated that he would appoint ministers in September. His reason for this is that he needs time to make the right choices. He justified his decision by citing the United States president Barack Obama who also for several months after taking his oath of office did not have a full cabinet.
This decision by the president is commendable as it shows that the president has a vision for the nation and wants to take the needed steps in achieving the change he promised Nigerians.
His rejection of the alleged plans by APC governors to submit ministerial nominees to him is a testament of his commitment to fight corruption. The delay of the president in choosing his ministers, according to his senior special assistant on media and publicity, Mallam Garba Shehu is due to his meticulous approach and care in the selection of political appointees.
There are different prospective stakeholders in the political landscape of the country that can be appointed as ministers. However, the president should look for certain qualities in the choice of ministers. This choice should not be based on ethnic, religion, political or selfish interests. I wish to suggest the following qualities to be employed in the selection of ministers.
TRANSPARENCY
The first quality that the president should look for in the choice of ministers is transparency. This means that appointees should be people of clear moral standard and without any form of corruption.
Since the president is determined to fight corruption, it is important that the president chooses people of like-mind who are transparent and of good moral standard.
Authentic people should be chosen; who have the mental and moral capacity to pilot the nation’s affairs. Ministers that should be appointed are persons who have a pedigree of honesty, integrity and fairness. In order to achieve this, the president should diligently investigate the pedigree, history and details of his nominees.
Transparency also connotes that the president should select persons who will be open about their assets and will be accountable to the people. It takes a wise cat to catch a stubborn rat! It is self-deception to expect to curb corruption by surrounding oneself with corrupt leaders. If a house is divided against itself; how shall it stand?
LOYALTY
Loyalty entails a state of devotion, faithfulness and single-heartedness to a particular goal, institution or person. Loyalty is an important and indispensable attribute of any successful team.
President Buhari should choose people who are loyal not just to himself (that will lead to eye-service and dictatorship) but people who are loyal and patriotic to the country and the administration’s objectives.
The evils of disloyalty and division in the progress of any team are things that should not be experimented with. Buhari should look out for individuals with proven and documented track record of loyalty to the unity, progress and development of our nation!
Without loyalty, every effort of the president to achieve his objective will fail. Where there is a Judas or a Fifth column in any team, the team is destined to fail. It is therefore important that the president searches out for loyal, faithful and committed men.
VISION
I believe the President Buhari is a visionary leader hence he needs to choose visionary leaders; People with foresight and insight into the affairs of the country. In the face of the current and inherited challenges of this administration, there is need for ministers who have and share the vision of the president.
The President’s vision is change as revealed through his campaign and manifesto. Hence it is important for the President to choose leaders who share this vision not in the sense of political affiliation or mere ‘slogan recitation; but as coherent, burning and fiery vision.
We must have ministers who have concrete visions for the various sectors of the national life; the economy, socio-cultural, technological and other important sectors. Authentic visions will lead to positive and developmentally-geared reforms in the private and public sector. We need reforms in the banking sector, the agricultural, economic, educational and physical or environmental sectors of the economy. Until there is vision-real, authentic, people-oriented vision, there can be no change in the political-social landscape of the nation. This is important if our nation is going to rise from the valley of ‘under-development’ to the pinnacle of development and progress.
A visionary leader is highly needed at this crucial hour of our national life. According to Warren Benni, leadership is the capacity to translate vision into reality. Vision is the input for a desired output. Dalai Lama once said “in order to carry a positive action we must develop here a positive vision”.
It is vision that makes a man, not a man making a vision. Vision is the vital force of true and effective leadership. A leader without vision is merely taking a stroll, not leading.
INTEGRITY
President Buhari recently stated that his cabinet will be made up of only patriotic, decent and experienced Nigerians. In his words “ from what I have seen so far, we need really patriotic Nigerians-Nigerians that can work very hard, knowledgeable, experienced, committed Nigerians- to be in charge of ministries.
As Gordon A.Eadrie once said,”if you don’t stand for something you will fall for anything”. Integrity is a very important quality that the president should diligently consider in the choice of ministers. Integrity entails a state of ‘non-compromise’. We need misters of quality integrity.
Albert Einstein once said, ‘whoever is careless with the truth in small matters cannot be trusted with important matters’. It takes integrity to rescue our nation and the various ministries out of the quagmire of retardation and compromise o the lofty heights of national development. Ministers should be appointed who will not sell their moral and cultural birthrights for ‘hot plates of food’, Ministers who will not exchange our national future for temporary pleasure. Lillian Hellman said, ‘I cannot and will not cut my conscience to fit this years fashions’. This must be the commitment of true leaders.
DILIGENCE
Diligence is an important (in fact) crucial quality of good leadership. Diligence connotes handwork, dedication and commitment to the achievement of a particular goal. Diligence separates real leaders from mediocre rulers. How much we need diligent leaders who can steer the tide of our nation and navigate the socio-cultural maladies that we face.
President Buhari should search the island and the mainland, the valley, hills and mountains in search of quality and diligent leaders. As Confucius said, “the expectations of life depend upon diligence; the mechanic that would perfect his work must first sharpen his tools”. It will take diligence to grind to powder the mountains of challenges that stand tall in the geographical, economic and social landscape of our nation.
Benjamin Franklin asserted that, ‘Diligence is the mother of good luck”. In reality it is the womb that incubates real success and greatness for both individual and national life.
The secret of industrialized nations is their diligence-mental, physical and overall commitment to the attainment of national goals. It takes diligence to build social infrastructures, develop technological infrastructures and build lasting structures that will stand the test of time.
Buhari should therefore earnestly seek for diligent, hardworking and resilient Nigerians from various sectors of the economy. He should chose people who have been actively working either in the private or public sector with proven records of diligence and national contribution. Enough of hand-picking jobless ‘Politicians’ and sycophants.
HUMILITY / SERVANT HOOD
Another quality that the president should look out for in choice of ministers is humility. It is a fact that Nigerians like to show-off, and parade exorbitantly in the midst of our poverty. We need to sober-up and become humble people.
The difference between true leaders and parochial rulers is humility; A commitment to service. We need servant-leaders not lofty ministers who think political appointment is an avenue to accumulate riches for eternity.
Humility will make a leader sensitive to the plights of the citizens. Ministers should go into office with the intention of serving the nation and not with the mindset of ruling people with a rod of iron.
Servant hood is key to national transformation like the greatest leader of All Time once said Jesus; “I did not come to be served but to serve others and to lay down my life for others”. Ministers should be chosen who are wiling to stoop low and wear the cloak of humility and serve the nation and her interest and not their self-interests.
For this to happen, the appointees must have a sacrificial mindset and attitude of looking at the needs of people and not on personal interests. Only then, can our nation experience the needed change!
NOW I DRAW THE CURTAIN…
Having itemized the above important qualities which the amiable president, Muhammadu Buhari should look out for, in appointing ministers as part of the presidential council
Ministers should not be chosen based on ethnic sentiment, political, religious or family sentiments. It should be based on quality attributes necessary for affective leadership.
