President Tinubu’s rejigging of his cabinet on Wednesday, dropping Five Ministers, appointing seven fresh ministers, redeploying about 10, and merging ministries has left many analysts asking: How would all these improve the lot of the common man?

Nigerians greeted the changes with praises and kudos across different platforms, especially social media. Various interpretations have been given to the President’s actions. Many believe, however, that the changes were an anti-climax falling below the far-reaching expectations of the people.

Nigerians are guessing what could have gone on in the President’s mind that could have influenced the changes because they have not occurred in sectors and ministries that could alter the state of things and bring a positive impact on the cost of living or affect prices of fuel and transportation. Second-guessing the President, some said that two of the sacked ministers have attracted negative publicity to the cabinet. These are the Ministers of Women Affairs and their counterpart in the Education Ministry, they were in the news for the wrong reasons.

The Commendations
The President was commended for at least having the courage to rejigging his cabinet to infuse fresh hands and discharge those that may not have been pulling their weight or have attracted opprobrium to the administration in the last eighteen months. Under his immediate predecessor, Ministers held sway and stayed throughout the tenure thereby making some of them to be ineffective and complacent.

The President was equally commended for attaching portfolios to the newly named ministers which hitherto was anomalous. He was also commended for returning the Ministry of Sports to the National Sports Commission which they argue encourages the development of sports more than the Ministry environment. Persons who will work in the sports commission are sports enthusiasts who are deeply involved in sports and decision-taking is faster, unlike the work of the Ministry which is largely driven by bureaucrats and impaired by unnecessary bureaucracy. Sports enthusiasts believe that sporting activities had good results in the past when it was under the nomenclature of the Commission.

While the merger of some ministries was interpreted by some as a cost-saving action, it was quickly negated by the marginal increase in the number of Ministers. Five were dropped but seven were added. Those dropped were Barr. Uju-Ken Ohanenye Minister of Women Affairs, Ms. Lola Ade-John Minister of Tourism, Prof Tahir Mamman SAN OON Minister of Education, Abdullahi Muhammad Gwarzo Minister of State, Housing and Urban Development and Dr. Jamila Bio Ibrahim Minister of Youth Development.

Analysts believe the overhauling should have been deeper with more Ministers considered non-performing dropped from the cabinet. Analysts argue that the Minister of Power Chief Adebayo Adelabu under whose watch the national grid has collapsed more than 10 years in one year deserved to have been shown the way out of the cabinet. The Minister for Finance, Mr. Wale Edun, under whom the economy has declined precariously, should have been dropped. The Minister of Petroleum Resources should have been shoved aside, but the irony is that the portfolio is held by the President. The Minister of Blue Marine and Blue Economy, Alhaji Adegboyega Oyetola is believed to be lack-lustre in office.

The Knocks
President Tinubu’s scrapping of the Niger Delta Ministry has sparked controversies from Niger Deltans. The Ministry was renamed Ministry of Regional Development to oversee all the regional development commissions, such as Niger Delta Development Commission, North West Development Commission, South East Development Commission, South West Development Commission, and North East Development Commission.

They ask: How can you scrap the Niger Delta ministry which is the cash cow of the Nigerian economy because nearly all the crude oil coming from there. Why create the livestock ministry since we already have the Ministry of agriculture? The Niger delta Ministry was created to take care of Niger Delta interests following incessant crisis in the region affecting the exploration of oil which threatened the financial well being of the country.

The President merged the Ministry of Tourism with the Ministry of Culture and Creative Economy but the reason for this was unclear and unexplained. Analysts opine that the new Ministry appears too large and the arguments for slicing the ministry initially may have been jettisoned with this new creation. Whether the merger of Tourism with Culture and the Creative Economy is a smart way to tap Nigeria’s cultural assets for economic growth is yet to be seen.

The creation of new Ministries like Livestock and Regional Developments conflicts with the spirit of the Orosanye report Committee report which recommends the merger and rationalisation of Ministries and parastatals of the government. The Tinubu administration had adopted the report with a promise to implement it but several months after, this has become a difficult task for the government.

In summary, though Nigerians looked forward to a cabinet change, what has been given may not inspire the hope for a turnaround in the focus and delivery of the administration and the fortunes of Nigerians. Nigerians also expect clear criteria for dropping some Ministers while keeping others who in their perception have also performed woefully. But, the discretion and prerogative of who to work with remains that of the President and the President alone.