By Frank Meke
President Ahmed Bola Tinubu has approved the deployment of Dr. Mukhtar Yawale Mohammed as permanent secretary, federal Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Creative economy.
This is barely two weeks after we had through an article tilted, HANNAPHOBIA, AND THE QUEST FOR A PERMANENT SECRETARY published through various industry key online platforms, drew the attention of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and Head of the civil service of the Federation,.Mrs Walson Jack over the lingering poker game employed by the minister who preferred using directors in the ministry to head the strategic office of the permanent secretary.
About noon on Monday, a release from the office of the head office of service signed by mrs Eno Olotu , Director, information and Public Relations, dropped on WhatsApp number from a highly placed source in government who didn’t make any comment concerning the development but possibly to alert me that president Bola Ahmed Tinubu is concerned that the ministry is brefet of a strategic administrative head in the past seven months, after the retirement of the former permanent secretary.
Between November 2024 and last week, the minister has deliberately joggled the directors in the ministry to do her bidding, and that includes procurement approvals, which is a serious technical administrative ecosystem which cannot be handled through subterfuge and gaps in knowledge which most of the directors lacking experience could easily become toys in the hands of the minister.
Industry leaders who reacted to the appointment and deployment of Dr Mukhtar Mohammed expressed happiness at development as it would help galvanise the ministry and its agencies to attend to the needs of the private sector players who are yet to benefit from the renewed hope agenda for Culture and Tourism in the past two years.
President, Federation of Tourism Associations of Nigeria ( ftan) Mr Nkereweum Onung praised the president for filling the gap in the administrative process of the ministry, praying that the new appointment will do his job without fear or favour.
” Actually, we need strong administrative leadership in the ministry, and we hope Dr Mukhtar will deliver, not just about restoration the cultural tourism institutional memory but to inspire and glavernise the workforce and industry players to support the administration of president Bola Ahmed Tinubu”.
The ftan president commended the Nigerian tourism press for holding industry leaders and appointees accountable, noting that without press reports exposing the absence of a substantive permanent secretary seven months after the former one retired from office, the ministry would have suffered lots of challenges and which could invariably affect the sector as a whole.
In his reaction, chairman, Board of Trustees, Associations of Tourism Practitioners of Nigeria ( Atpn) Alhaji kabir Malan congratulated the new permanent secretary, adding that his coming will reawaken hope and great expectations for the ministry and the industry.
“His key areas, which can make his tenure impactful and transformative, are the strengthening of institutional efficiency, a review of internal structure and operations to streamline process, foster results oriented culture, and staff motivation” he explained.
Alhaji kabir Malan further advised the new permanent secretary to ensure timely and transparent disbursement of resources to key departments, encourage tourism sector revitalisation and support the implementation of a comprehensive tourism master plan for the country, and to also enhance destination marketing with focal attention on domestic tourism as the key driver of economy recovery.
He emphasized the need for inter ministerial and stakeholders collaboration and synergy with industry practitioners and associations for grassroots input, stating that an institutionalised stakeholders forum to foster dialogue would enrich the ministry.
We are indeed happy to welcome, Dr. Mukhtar Mohammed to our industry, but must let him know that our eyes and ears are on him for the good of the industry, and we pray for his success. However, we shall not fail to call him out for accountability if he fails to perform up to expectations.
