Throwback to when former president Buhari described Nigerian ministers as noisemakers

In 2015, the immediate past President, Muhammadu Buhari claimed that ministers are not what we think they are in terms of their contributions to governance.

In saner climes, the idea of having ministers is to form a cabinet with a group of right-thinking and skilled leaders who will be involved in the decision-making process of a government.

These ministers oversee their ministries and also perform political and administrative duties to keep the government running, but Nigeria’s former President does not seem to see their roles from this perspective.

In September 2015, during an interview with a French television station, France 24, Buhari who, at the time, was still looking for people to work with — four months into his administration — belittled his would-be ministerial appointees on an international TV.

When asked if the absence of a Finance Minister was affecting Nigeria’s capital market and economy, the former President said ministers are mostly in government to make noise.

He argued that Permanent Secretaries do most of the jobs ministers take credit for.

Responding to the question, Buhari said, “No. It is what we know and which we learnt from the Western system. The civil service provides continuity, the technocrat. And in any case, they are the people who do most of the work.

“The ministers are there, I think, to make a lot of noise; for the politicians to make a lot of noise, but the work is being done by the technocrats. They are there; they have to provide the continuity, dig into the records and then guide us, (those of us) who are just coming in.

“They have been there, some of them for 15 years, some for 20 years. So, I think this question of ministers is political. People from different constituencies want to see their people directly in government, and see what they can get out of it.”

About two months after his reductionist comment about ministers, Buhari in November swore in 36 ministers whom he described as ‘round pegs in round holes.’

Among his appointees were Adebayo Shittu, who was appointed as Minister of Communications and Solomon Dalung, appointed as Minister of Youth and Sports.

Although it took Buhari six months to select his ‘round pegs in round holes,’ at the end of his first term, some of his appointees confirmed his sentiment about ministers being noisemakers.