By Frank Meke
On Friday, January 12th, news broke out that the presidency has relieved all the eleven or so parastatal heads under the Ministry of Arts, Culture, and Creative economy of their appointments.Mark my words, It was not a suprise. It was a mere routine change, and depending on how you may interpret it, changes that could speedily bring about new narratives in those key areas or could take us ten years backwards.
To those of us who are deep in this business, many of such changes are usually done in the name of the president, and if you ask me, even the president may not have have met such persons before or have an idea of the background of such appointees.
However, it is glaring that the changes in the Culture Ministry must come, but certainly some us don’t know the hour. In preparing our minds for this development, we did a piece on this page entitled ” Culture and Tourism: The Making Of of Tribe of Judas, Thursday 4th of January, 2024.
It is still fresh, so you can search for it online to appreciate why these changes must happen even though we expected exceptions. Those who performed creditably well and deserve our gratitude
for bringing innovation, passion, and uncommon creativity to changing our cultural tourism economy are few among the lot swept away by Hannatu Musa Musawa.
If distinction, prowess, innovation, passion, and verifiable deliveries are Musawa ‘s measuring rubric for picking her team, certainly, some names above all other names in those agencies, such as Otunba Segun Runsewe, Ahmed Mohammed Ahmed and Ado Yahuza , formerly of NCAC, National Troupe of Nigeria and National Institute for Cultural Orientation, respectively could still be in the saddle.
But that’s not how we run our government in this clime. The only achievement of some ministers in office, almost a year by the end of this January, is to clean sweep both performing and dead pillars under their ministry and dig in their own team.
Aviation and Aerospace Minster, Festus Keyamo warned recently that he would not close his eyes to any infractions by heads of agencies under his ministry and without mincing words, warned of the expected consequences of failure to deliver.
It is indeed no longer business as usual, and for those who will betray our trust in this sector, they sure should know that the eyes of President Ahmed Tinubu are on them.
The beauty of the President’s interest in those called to serve is aptly captured by his performance assessment metrics and to which both the ministers and their lieutenants must work hard to measure up or be discarded.
I have seen some Ministers putting their heads of agencies under oath, an enduring and engaging signature, to which bears either agonising or refreshing timelines on the minds of appointees like the tower of Babel
It’s one thing to take up a job. It’s another thing to actually deliver, and this is where we all must stand to make a difference.
The renewed hope agenda of this administration is not about hosting conferences in the villa just to corner the president’s attention but to go out there and touch the lives of Nigerian people. It’s not a game of catwalk or painting lips to showcase vanity.
I recall certain humorous interpretation of President Jonathan’s interest in tourism a few years back. His minister of tourism, Mr Edem Duke, turned the spacious corners in the villa to a mini exhibition gallery to “showcase” Nigerian tourism to a busy president.
Through his four years in office, Mr Duke ” performed “all his tourism abracadabra within the ear shot and eyesight of President Goodluck Jonathan in the villa, a deliberately deceitful and pretentious gameplay which frustrated tourism development in the country and specifically made us a laughing stock in the community of tourism nations.
There was also another clown in the then Nigerian Tourism Development Corporation, ( Ntdc)now Nigerian Tourism Development Authority ( NTDA) whose only achievement is to use Nigerian flag as a headtie
I know that our women love gele( headties and scarfs of all types), but this lady , headlined a stupid and laughable green, white, green gele, but failed in all entirety to put a block on tourism foundation she met on ground.
Those acts of show of shame and deceptive inclination can not happen now, not under this administration, so let all comic actors and such like who wish to waltz their way through such protocols be warned that our opinions now count and that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is watching, eyes in goggle and all.
To me, I welcome Hannatu Musa Musawa team to the ” Turn by Turn Nigeria Ltd ” appointment in her ministry, our ministry but the minister and her appointees must work harder with detailed proof of deliveries with the performance assessment metrics as a Catholic creed that must be met or be shoved aside. Sadly, some shoes will be big to fit and to carry. All the same, the race has started, and let see those that will successfully hold forth.
We shall give this team enough time, at least three months, to tell us how their policies, interpretation, and implementation deliveries will impact positively on our cultural tourism and creative economy.
To those who were asked to leave by Hannatu Musa Musawa, we are grateful. Your legacies will speak for you and stand you out. There are many effectual doors opened to us, and there are adversaries. It is not the end of the world.
Being relieved of a public office is not an end to life. Most of you surpassed our expectations and literally broke blocks with your bare hands to leave behind solid cultural foundations to which our children yet unborn would be proud of. To those who didn’t measure up and were asked to go, we encourage you to do a rethink and self-assessment, work hard on your weaknesses and thank God you are not in jail for lost opportunities and failings to over two hundred million Nigerians whom God put in your hands and you couldn’t put a smile on their faces.
Madam Musawa, we eagerly await the result of your performance assessment by the end of this month. knowing Hadiza Bala Usman very well, most ministers will not make it.
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