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LequteMan
Guest
According to a Vanguard report, most of Nigeria's ministries are idle and activities have slowed down due to the absence of a minister.
President Muhammadu Buhari has been declared president since May 29 but three months later, Nigerians are yet to know the direction of his government due to the absence of ministers.
Presidential Spokesman, Femi Adesina, says the president will appoint ministers "in the fullness of time", which has prompted the president being called "baba go slow".
However, activities at the country's ministries have slowed down and it's believed that this is slowing down the growth of the country.
Status Report
At the Ministry of Police Affairs operating under the Permanent Secretary, Alhaji Aliyu Ismaila, a civil servant, said that most of the work in the ministry had been suspended, due to the absence of a Minister. To him, the continued delay of their appointment of Minister will not help the economy.
Activities at the Ministry of Power have been under the Permanent Secretary, Amb. Godknows Igali, and a civil servant there, who spoke on the issue of no Minister, expressed worry over the frustration the situation had brought.
‘Definitely, all is not going on well with the absence of Ministers. Everybody knows that Permanent Secretaries can’t do everything. Ministers are needed to implement policies and when they are not there, most things will be at a standstill.
“The President should know how important Ministers are in carrying out his agenda. So, if he feels he wants to wait sometime longer, all well and good. He is the one who should be bothered more than we civil servants. After all, whether we have Ministers or not, we will receive our salaries at the end of the day.”
At the Ministry of Science and Technology, which has been under the guidance of the Permanent Secretary, Mrs Winifred Oyo- Ita, there was no usual bubbling of activities as the few workers seen sitting there were idle, discussing personal issues.
A senior staff there, who spoke, said that, as far as he was concerned, the absence of Ministers meant nothing to them, adding that work had been going on smoothly. He believed Buhari should take his time to screen the ministerial nominees before making them public.
At the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, activities there have been under the Permanent Secretary, Architect Sunny Echono.
The Ministry has its activities at the lowest ebb since the President’s inauguration as a Director in one of the departments in the ministry, who wanted to remain anonymous, said, “We have not been having too many activities as it used to be since there is no Minister yet.” However, he expressed optimism that, “as soon as a Minister is appointed, we believe things will pick up”.
The ministry has raised four special committees to ensure that key sub-sectors of the agricultural sector namely, textile and garment, food storage, grazing reserves, and extension services, don’t suffer.
At the Ministry of Foreign Affairs with Ambassador Bulus Lolo as the Permanent Secretary, some of its activities have so far been put on hold especially in the areas of foreign posting, recall of ambassadors and promotion because of the absence of Ministers, but bilateral relations between Nigeria and other countries are not hindered with visits of ambassadors to The Presidency as well as foreign trips of Buhari being put together by the Ministry.
For the Ministry of Health with Linus Awute as Permanent Secretary, things have been very slow without Ministers because the Permanent Secretary has no power to take some vital decisions. Some of these decisions include demand for increase for allowances by health workers which has made many unions to go on strike.
Vanguard
President Muhammadu Buhari has been declared president since May 29 but three months later, Nigerians are yet to know the direction of his government due to the absence of ministers.
Presidential Spokesman, Femi Adesina, says the president will appoint ministers "in the fullness of time", which has prompted the president being called "baba go slow".
However, activities at the country's ministries have slowed down and it's believed that this is slowing down the growth of the country.
Status Report
At the Ministry of Police Affairs operating under the Permanent Secretary, Alhaji Aliyu Ismaila, a civil servant, said that most of the work in the ministry had been suspended, due to the absence of a Minister. To him, the continued delay of their appointment of Minister will not help the economy.
Activities at the Ministry of Power have been under the Permanent Secretary, Amb. Godknows Igali, and a civil servant there, who spoke on the issue of no Minister, expressed worry over the frustration the situation had brought.
‘Definitely, all is not going on well with the absence of Ministers. Everybody knows that Permanent Secretaries can’t do everything. Ministers are needed to implement policies and when they are not there, most things will be at a standstill.
“The President should know how important Ministers are in carrying out his agenda. So, if he feels he wants to wait sometime longer, all well and good. He is the one who should be bothered more than we civil servants. After all, whether we have Ministers or not, we will receive our salaries at the end of the day.”
At the Ministry of Science and Technology, which has been under the guidance of the Permanent Secretary, Mrs Winifred Oyo- Ita, there was no usual bubbling of activities as the few workers seen sitting there were idle, discussing personal issues.
A senior staff there, who spoke, said that, as far as he was concerned, the absence of Ministers meant nothing to them, adding that work had been going on smoothly. He believed Buhari should take his time to screen the ministerial nominees before making them public.
At the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, activities there have been under the Permanent Secretary, Architect Sunny Echono.
The Ministry has its activities at the lowest ebb since the President’s inauguration as a Director in one of the departments in the ministry, who wanted to remain anonymous, said, “We have not been having too many activities as it used to be since there is no Minister yet.” However, he expressed optimism that, “as soon as a Minister is appointed, we believe things will pick up”.
The ministry has raised four special committees to ensure that key sub-sectors of the agricultural sector namely, textile and garment, food storage, grazing reserves, and extension services, don’t suffer.
At the Ministry of Foreign Affairs with Ambassador Bulus Lolo as the Permanent Secretary, some of its activities have so far been put on hold especially in the areas of foreign posting, recall of ambassadors and promotion because of the absence of Ministers, but bilateral relations between Nigeria and other countries are not hindered with visits of ambassadors to The Presidency as well as foreign trips of Buhari being put together by the Ministry.
For the Ministry of Health with Linus Awute as Permanent Secretary, things have been very slow without Ministers because the Permanent Secretary has no power to take some vital decisions. Some of these decisions include demand for increase for allowances by health workers which has made many unions to go on strike.
Vanguard
