Nigeria - The Government.

President Yar'Adua on July 26, 2007, officially inaugurated his new cabinet, nearly two months after he took over from Obasanjo. The Senate approved the cabinet nominees on July 24. Consisting of 39 ministers, the cabinet was made up of both technocrats and bureaucrats. Some of whom belonged to the previous government. The new minister in charge of the Nigerian capital, Abuja, and those for the environment and agriculture were redeployed from positions they held in the government of Obasanjo.

Hassan Muhammad Lawal retained the labour portfolio he had occupied since 2004, while two former MPs who failed to get re-elected were included in the new cabinet. Mahmoud Yayale Ahmed who was Head of Service throughout the eight years of Obasanjo's rule was made defence minister despite his lack of military experience.

Yar'Adua's economic programme followed the same pattern as Obasanjo's as he also brought in technocrats to manage the country's finances. His Finance Minister, Shamsudeen Usman who stepped down as deputy governor of the central bank, already was part of the monetary policy makers of the Obasanjo regime.

Yar'Adua took a cue from Obasanjo who himself was in charge of the petroleum ministry throughout the eight years of his tenure. He named no overall minister for the sector, but appointed three junior ministers for petroleum, electricity and gas, respectively. The appointment of Henry Odein Ajumogobia, a lawyer with no oil background, as junior minister for petroleum was to have the oil-rich Niger Delta represented in the cabinet. Yar'Adua kept a pledge to co-opt the opposition into his cabinet. He gave two ministerial slots to the opposition All Nigeria's Peoples Party (ANPP), which challenged his legitimacy (see the background in down8NigrWhoAug20-07).

To help him run the Petroleum Ministry, Yar'Adua in July 2007 brought in Dr Rilwanu Lukman to act as his "honourary adviser". But Lukman then had many other engagements and could give a part of his time as he had to stay relatively long periods in London. By mid-2008, Yar'Adua had realised he could not handle the petroleum portfolio while his responsibilities as head of state and the government were too heavy. He then began pressing Dr Lukman to take up the petroleum portfolio.

It was in late 2008 that Lukman finally agreed to assume the role of full minister. That added much weight to the effort for the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) to be approved by the National Assembly. Now it is said it may take several more months or a year for the PIB to be passed and implemented (see omt8NigrWhoAug24-09).

The Background: Many politicians had criticised the long delay in naming the government, saying it might have hurt productivity and continuity in key sectors. Some of the old names were reappointed not for the purpose of continuing the Obasanjo era but because of their individual qualifications. Several of them had been appointed by Gen. Obasanjo towards the end of his administration. In most cases, they represented a very brilliant crop of young Nigerians. Yar'Adua is a person who likes to do things methodically. That was why he took his time in forming his cabinet.

Yar'Adua's April 21, 2007 election was marred by allegations from foreign and local observers of massive fraud, including ballot-stuffing and intimidation of voters. His government faced the challenge of rebuilding a country weakened by official corruption and decaying infrastructure, suffering daily power cuts and frequent fuel shortages despite its energy riches.

The size of the 39-strong cabinet reflected a constitutional requirement that each of the country's 36 states provide at least one minister so as to guarantee fair representation. However, it is hardly an encouraging symbol for a country where bureaucracy is a major obstacle to doing business, and where one of the main stated aims of economic policy is to reduce the size of the federal government.

Yar'Adua hoped to send a positive signal about his reformist intentions. His appointment of Usman as finance minister was in that vein. Usman had repeatedly spoken in favour of the free-market reforms launched by the Obasanjo administration in 2003, and of the need to deepen them. Usman was asked to focus on the ongoing fight against corruption, the need to reform land ownership, the importance of boosting the agricultural sector - and so reducing food insecurity, measures to streamline the bureaucracy, and reform of the country's grossly inefficient power sector.

However, while Usman and President Yar'Adua continue to stress the need to press ahead with reforms, progress has been slower than in recent years. Many of the easier reforms have been completed, and the next wave such as resolving the electricity crisis, improving insecure property rights, and reforming the weak judicial and education systems will be harder to implement and will in many cases yield only long-term gains.

Progress continues to be impeded by deeply entrenched vested interests, pressure to adopt more nationalistic policies for the economy, the weak civil service, and confusion caused by overlaps and contradictions between local, state and federal government actions. It is also hampered by the slow pace in developing a good working relationship between the president and the National Assembly a process complicated by the controversy over the April 21, 2007 elections, which some opposition groups are still challenging in the courts, and sensitivities about the anti-corruption campaign.

During the tenure of Obasanjo, suspicions were rife that the then president refused to shift ground as far as the oversight of the petroleum sector was concerned because he wanted to be a major player in the industry. And Obasanjo was been accused of making special favours for associated business tycoons, such as Aliko Dangote, who in 2007 tried but failed to buy 51% stakes in the Port Harcourt and Kaduna refineries.

That issue caused politicians to raise questions about Yar'Adua's hold on the petroleum portfolio; but there was the feeling that assigning three junior ministers to assist him in this field and having such heavyweight as Dr. Lukman on his side as "honourary adviser" were a demonstration of the seriousness with which the then new president took the urgent task of fixing the petroleum sector which had brought shame to the nation as one of the world's largest producers of high-quality crude oil.

One of the surprises in 2007 was Yar'Adua's decision not to appoint in the cabinet the representative of Katsina, Dr. Abba Sayyadi Ruma, as minister of education. Katsina is one of the northern states where Yar'Adua had served as governor for seven years. Dr. Ruma had served as minister of state for education when Mrs. Oby Ezekwesili, who then was the World Bank's vice-president for Africa, was the minister of education.

Dr. Ruma was widely believed to be part of the reform process. Many had thought Yar'Adua would re-nominate Dr. Ruma as minister in a bid to sustain the educational reforms instituted by Dr. Ezekwesili. But this was not to be as the president appointed a fresh hand to oversee this troubled sector.

Against that backdrop, Igwe Aja-Nwachukwu stepped in as the minister of education - assisted by the duo of Agada Anthony Jerry and Mrs. Aishatu Jibril Dukku as ministers of state. The development implied that Yar'Adua did not have much faith in the educational reforms of Obasanjo's regime, part of which had drawn the ire of some people.

Ojo Maduekwe's appointment as foreign minister did not sit well with what he had done over the years. Previously he served as secretary of the ruling PDP and minister of transport, with no experience in diplomacy and international relations. But making Maduekwe foreign minister was one of the conditions for Obasanjo to promote Yar'Adua as a presidential candidate, according to the APS source in Abuja.

The appointment of John Odey, former PDP national publicity secretary, as the minister of information was not unexpected. Odey had since 2005 held sway as the spokesman of the ruling party. Therefore, his appointment was a familiar terrain and a continuation of the job he had done in another capacity. In so doing, Yar'Adua equated the management of the government's information machinery with that of the greatest party in sub-Saharan Africa.

Prof. Adenike Grange has displayed her medical prowess in the ailing health sector. Grange borrowed a leaf from the late Prof. Olikoye Ransome Kuti whose health-care delivery initiative brought about a major revolution in the health sector during the military regime of Gen. Babangida.

With the emergence of Dr. Aliyu Modibbo Umar, a native of Gombe State, as the minister of the federal capital territory (FCT), the statement was clear that this strategic Abuja portfolio had become the exclusive preserve of the Muslim northerners. Since Abuja became the federal capital, no southerner has been appointed as its minister. Questions were raised as to what were being factored in, in the appointment of the FCT minister. Many asked if the main criterion was geographical location, which placed Abuja in the north.

During the first term of Obasanjo, the position was held by Mohammed Abba Gana, a Muslim northerner. Mallam Nasir el-Rufa'i, another Muslim northerner, held the position during the last four years of Obasanjo.

Nigeria's political class closed ranks to find a solution to the fall-out from the flawed April 21, 2007 presidential and parliamentary elections. The political tension intensified after an April 23 announcement that Yar'Adua, the reclusive governor of Nigeria's northern state of Katsina, was the landslide winner of the presidential race. In that environment, pressure from opposition parties had mounted for the Senate to hold an emergency session to denounce the polls and call for a re-run, a move which would have given the military greater room to challenge the legitimacy of the incoming government.

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