Buhari becomes first Nigerian president without cabinet on Independence Day
For the first time in the history of Nigeria, a democratically elected president is celebrating the country’s Independence Anniversary without a cabinet.
Aside President Muhammadu Buhari, who was sworn in on May 29, no other Nigerian president can boast of that record.
Of course, we did not take the civil war years into account.
After his inauguration, Buhari said he would shop for saints who would fly the anti-corruption banner and earn the trust of Nigerians.
Buhari’s cabinet list did not reach Nigerian senators until Wednesday, the last day in September – the month he had promised to name his ministers.
Buhari may have sent the list to the Red Chambers, but Nigerians must wait till next week to know the angels who made the list.
Buhari said the list, which the Nigerian Constitution says must contain nominees from the 36 states of the federation, is incomplete.
At least 21 nominees were sent to the Senate after Buhari, Wednesday, returned from his trip to the United Nations General Assembly in New York, United States.
Names of other nominees will reach the Senate on Tuesday, Buhari said.
Nigerians have so much to celebrate this October after they ended 16 years of apparent mismanagement by the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
Even outspoken PDP Governor of Ekiti State, Ayodele Fayose, agrees Nigeria has little to show in terms of development after 55 years of independence from British colonialism.
Most Nigerians look forward to Buhari and his change-dangling All Progressive Congress (APC) to turn the story around.
Buhari’s ministers are expected to be part of that change.
Many say Buhari and his handlers took great effort to screen the ministerial nominees hence the delay in naming them.
“Impatience is not a virtue; order is more vital than speed,” Buhari himself said in his Independence Day speech, on Thursday morning.
While Nigerians wait for Buhari’s saints to be unveiled on Tuesday, it is on record that Nigeria – for the first time since she attained independence in 1960 – is without a cabinet on October 1.
