Posts
This certainly is not the time to
start comparing and contrasting who is more significant among the cabinet
members sworn-in on the 11th of November, 2015, by President Buhari of Nigeria.
Nigerians have taken to social media to swell the head of some of the
appointees that they have the best portfolio and the likes.
Let's look at some of the various
ministries and their import and why you should not undermine them...
Transportation
is important in any nation before you can say a meaningful development has
occurred. People must be able to move goods and self to one place and another
in a convenient possible way. Be it air, land or water, it must be safe and
cheap.
Labour & Employment is another sector that should not be over-looked or
under-looked. The success of this sector will go a long way to involve, empower
and elevate the youths of this country.
Solid Minerals is also an important
ministry to achieving the goal of this present administration, of shifting
attention from oil. It is long over for Nigeria to shift focus from
over-dependency on oil and harness the rich mineral resources Nigeria is
blessed with. If this sector fails, sorry, Nigeria will have little to earn.
Power, Works and Housing is a loaded ministry but should not be regarded as the
nucleus of this administration, rather the whole cabinet should be seen as the
nucleus. But, it is important to note that, if this ministry fails, then
Nigeria will be no different from PDP rule, faced with epileptic power supply,
dilapidated roads and low-no housing system.
Minister of Interior is another important ministry. Sometimes regarded as ministry of
internal affairs or ministry of home affairs) is a government ministry
typically responsible for policing, emergency management, national security,
supervision of local governments, conduct of elections, public administration
and immigration matters. So much is expected from this ministry, to give
solutions and put a stop to some local security issues like kidnapping and all.
Women Affairs ministry is a vital ministry that sends the right message to local
and international communities, that Nigeria is in support of gender-equality
and is interested in empowering and educating women in this age and time, to
rewrite the de-service done to women in the past. The minister should engage
women in this administration.
Science and Technology, I bet you know how vital this ministry is...because the
world is evolving and it seems the rest of the world had left us some 1millions
years behind. Why, because our ministry of Science and Technology are dormant
and don't identify and make use of scientific research and innovation. Heard
some 'boys' are building robots, drones and cars in Nigeria!!! Why are we not hearing
about and supporting them? This ministry should fix this.
Finance is
always argued to be the nucleus of any organisation and only deal with dishing
out money. Well, Finance goes beyond dishing out money but involves advising on
when to spend that said money and mange it properly. Finance ministry should be
a success if it can try as much as possible to win the trust of financial
institutions and investors in developed countries...and present them with a
good blue-print of our necessary areas that needs investment.
Justice and Attorney-General is an important ministry that should be given close
assessment. In time past and even recently, Justice has been slow and somewhat
denied, which is bad for any developing country aspiring to curb corruption and
put in place discipline, law and order among its citizenry. This ministry
should work with these words, 'justice delayed is justice denied'. This
ministry and its Attorney-General must win the trust and confidence of the
people in the Nigeria Judicial system.
Communication
is an integral aspect of development in any nation and government. With poor
communication services and low performance from the Ministry of Science and
Technology, the people and government would not be able to get the right
information and harness the richness globalisation comes with.
Water Resources,
is as important as the words, 'water is life'. For any major development to be
said to have taken place in any nation, the people of the state or country,
from rural to urban, must have easy access to portable and clean water. We need
water to do almost anything in life, the poor needs water, the rich also needs
water, hence, so much is expected from this ministry and Nigerians need to give
a close look at what happens here.
Youth and Sports is a ministry to reckon with and is hugely saddled with weighing task
like the rest of the ministry. It is really not a place for sleep and folding
of arms. The focal point of this administration is the youth. It can be argued
that youth have for time immemorial have been neglected. I guess the minister
heading this ministry will do so well to address so many youth and development
problems.
Health is
wealth. And this brings us to yet another important ministry that Nigeria and
the president needs to pay close attention to. Developed countries didn’t just
sky-rocket to where they are based on mediocrity, they took health to be a
major issue to take them to that point of development. Every day, week, months
and year, people die to various disease, health issues, low standard of health
facilities, lack of money to spend on seeking medical attention, cancer,
motality issues and the like. The minister should be ready to raise the bar and
improve the standard of health in the country. If possible try to influence a
law, laying heavy taxes on politicians and rich people, who seek medical
attention outside the shores of Nigeria
Ministry of Agriculture should be given equal or more attention than the ministry of
petroleum. It was the cocoa, groundnuts, and other agricultural products of our
forefathers that first attracted the Europeans to us and even built most of
what Nigeria still has as a cultural heritage today. Nigerians know now that,
now is the time to switch attention from oil as a major source of revenue. How
long shall we depend on oil?
Budget & National Planning should be taking seriously and given close watch. I belief
the Mr Udo should be able to deliver at this job; where he is expected to
present, analyse and deliver national budget and plans to be orchestrated by
the Buhari led administration in the next four years.
Minister of Information is vital because it monitors and aid the passage of
information from the citizenry to and from the government, about what is
affecting them and various government policies.
Ministry of Environment; our environment is very important and presently under traits
by the way we use it and the dangerous things we as humans release to it… the
minister should look at Global Warming and see how it affects us and in turn
enact policies that will prevent more harms done to our environment. An
environment not properly kept is an endangerment to every living thing
inhabiting it.
Ministry of Foreign Affairs; as we all know, in recent times, Nigeria’s relationship with
other nations have grown stronger thanks to this ministry. But how Nigerians
are treated and seen in those countries entirely depends on the activities of
this ministry. No nation can exist in isolation in this age and time.
Ministry of Defence, is saddled with so much responsibilities in this present day Nigeria,
faced with terrorist attacks and insecurity. It is important to note that
without security almost other ministries will fail. So this ministry cannot
afford to fail.
Ministry of Trade, Investment & Industry is what it is. All import duties,
industries and investment ventures really fall to this ministry. The ministry
should be wise enough to accommodate/invite those investors who are not only
concerned about profit but improvement of value and lives of the people of
Nigeria. Also this is the time local industries should be aided to attain and
produce internationally. This ministry should try to initiate policies that
frowns against monopolist and outright capitalism.
Minister of Education; education is as vital as water in the 21st
century. The ministry should do all necessary to make sure all citizens have
access to education, if not higher education, basic education; where people
will be taught how to read and right, carryout arithmetic and think logically.
A society that is populated with uneducated citizens moves towards self-lost.
How can we forget about the Ministry
of Niger Delta? This is a ministry
that should be seen as important as the ministry of petroleum itself. It is the
region that produces the oil Nigeria lives on and it is also that region that
is more exposed to environmental hazard caused majorly by oil spill and gas
flaring. Without peace and proper development in that area, the Nigerian
government should be sued for human rights violation, by causing harm and
oppression to her citizenry in that region.
In all, we can see that all
ministries are very important in bringing the change this present
administration preaches.
Written by Richard Oluseye (@Roluseye)
No comments:
Post a Comment