A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Ugwumba Uche Nwosu, has advocated the introduction of a reward system aimed at promoting excellence among Nigerian ministers, towards ensuring the delivery of dividends of democracy to the citizens.
Nwosu, a former Chief of Staff to the Governor of Imo State, urged President Bola Tinubu to reward the best performing ministers in his administration.
Speaking with journalists in Abuja, Nwosu also advised that non-performing ministers should be sacked.
He noted that while it is still early to assess the administration, which will clock one year by May 29, 2024, visible indices show that Tinubu is on the right track.
Nwosu specifically canvassed national honours for ministers that perform very well.
He said, “Let me stress that the President Tinubu administration is just getting to one year in office. When you look at the ministers that were appointed last year, people will be asking, ‘How many of them have done well?’
“But we should also be looking at a reward system whereby ministers that perform well should be rewarded.
“Infact if I am Mr President, any minister that has performed wonderfully well should be given a national honour.”
Nwosu noted that Tinubu has done well in several sectors, including infrastructural development and urban renewal in the Federal Capital Terrritory, FCT, finance and the solid minerals sector, among others.
“I will say that Mr President has done well and this can be seen in various areas like FCT where we have seen infrastructural development, in the finance sector where the Naira is appreciating, in the solid minerals sector where efforts are being made to generate revenue through mineral deposits. Also, some of the refineries are about to start production.
“There are some ministers that have performed well to the extent that everyone can feel it.
“In the FCT the minister, Nyesom Wike, has performed well. Before now it seemed that that some of the roads and bridges in the FCT will never be completed.
There was a minister in the FCT over the last eight years and nothing was done but in less than one year we can feel the level of infrastructural development and urban renewal in the FCT. So many roads have been completed and are ready for completion.
“The administration has also made impact through the Ministry of Works. The minister, Umahi, has also done well. Before now ministers of work stay in Abuja and look at videos of projects but the minister goes to the field to monitor the projects to make sure that things are done well.
“Another area where the Tinubu government has recorded laudable achievements is through the Ministry of Interior. Before now getting a passport will take you like three, four months. But now, in less than two weeks you get your passport. That is the type of impact we need in the country now.
“You can also point to the finance sector, under the Minister of Finance, Wale Edun. The dollar was rising and we thought it will never come down but now it is coming down.
“The solid minerals sector is another area where the government is doing well. Are you aware that there were people that were given licence for more than 15 years and they just kept the licence inside their pockets without making use of it? Meanwhile there are those who are ready to mine but they couldn’t get the licences. It is very good that the minister revoked all those inactive licenses.
“The government has also been responsive on issues concerning gender, through the Minister of Women Affairs. Response. That is what Nigerians want to see. If there is a problem somewhere, you see her there trying to solve the problem.”
The APC chieftain, in the same vein, noted that some ministers have not lived up to expectations.
He said, “One of the areas I don’t know whether they have a serious agenda for the country is the Ministry of Youths. For me that is the Ministry around which all the ministries should revolve because if you look at Nigeria’s population, it is almost 60 per cent young people. That Ministry needs to be rejigged to effectively address the issues concerning young people.
“Another area that is not doing as much as it should is Information. It is not the duty of Mr President to come out everyday to talk about his achievements. It is not even the duty of the ministers to talk about their achievements. There is a Ministry that coordinates all the information concerning activities of the government, that is the Ministry of Information. The Ministry of Information should let the people know what the government is doing. Like right now there is fuel scarcity but where is Information and National Orientation telling Nigerians what the government is doing to address the problem? Rejig Ministry of Information, that is what the President needs to do.”
He also expressed reservations with the power sector, noting that the 300 per cent electricity tariff increment should be reversed, for the sake of medium and small scale industries.
Nwosu stressed that non-performing ministers should be sacked.
“Any minister that does not perform should be shown the way out. You cannot be in that office and you are not performing and because of that people are now abusing Mr President.
“There are millions of Nigerians who are qualified and capable so anybody who cannot perform should not be in that office.”