The appointment of former governor of Benue State, George Akume, as the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), by President Bola Tinubu, came as a surprise to many. The implication is that those who had shown interest in the job, lobbied, engaged in political intrigues and games of wits, all failed to get the plum job.
Actually, Akume and President Tinubu have a history, as they have known each other for over two decades. Besides being members of the 1999 class of governors, President Tinubu and Akume’s paths further crossed in the defunct Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), which was Tinubu’s political creation to advance his interest and those of his allies.
The question, therefore, is never about the pedigree of the distinguished Senator, given his tenure as Benue State Governor for two consecutive terms to becoming a Senator representing Benue North West senatorial district – serving as Minority Leader of the Senate, and to a cabinet minister.
The SGF office, according to Boss Mustapha, who was the immediate past SGF, is an extremely important office in terms of coordination of government’s activities and also stringing together government policies, programmes and projects.
“It is his (Akume) responsibility to guide the government. So, his job is enormous. Under his office, he has six permanent secretaries, so, it is a combination of five to six ministries in one place that will be reporting to him on different agencies.
“But the most important part of this office is the fact that he is the light beam of this government in terms of driving, coordinating and formulating policies.
“So, it is not a small job, but I am confident that he has been ably prepared and groomed for it and I believe he will take the office a notch higher than where I left it,” Mustapha said.
The job of the SGF has proven over time to be important in any administration, given its role to propel the effective functioning of the presidency and the entire Federal Government.
Given the significance of Akume’s office, expectations are high as members of the public seek a departure of what used to be, and to set the country on a right footing to better the administration of President Tinubu.
Speaking with The Guardian, a council member, world journalism education congress representing Africa, Prof. Ralph Akinfeleye, said Akume must not take for granted the responsibility and challenges of his job, and asked him to take a cue from his predecessor, Mustapha.
“It’s a call to service and it should be treated as such to succeed. It is a 24/7 assignment and he must do it diligently.
“I think he should not take anything for granted. He should hit the ground running to bring in innovation and not just talk. So, he should match his words with action.
“This is an important, critical, and very challenging position, and he is going to meet some people, who will help him as well as some people who will not want to help him. It is left for him to seek balance between those evil forces to the society and the saints, who are going to work with him in the society,” he said.
Akinfeleye urged the SGF to avoid procrastination and act as and when due, and also get in tune with the happenings in the society and maintain a powerful network with all his friends and adversaries both in his party and other parties to be able to consolidate his actions.
On his part, senior lecturer in Political Science department, University of Ibadan, Dr Idowu Johnson, noted that one of the things that might jeopardise his office is if he mingles politics with policy.
“For an effective policy formulation, monitoring and implementation, within the context of the new regime what is to be done is to make sure that the SGF should not match politics with policies.
“It is very important that the present SGF must be different from his predecessors by separating politics from policy, I believe this would move the nation forward,” he said. He called for neutrality of his office, saying this would be an improvement on the achievement of his predecessors.
“The SGF must not only have direct access to the president of the country, but also has one-on-one interaction with all the MDAs, Brokers, Governors, and if possible, special advisers. It is when he has access to them that he can carry out policy formulation extensively. But, if he engages in political gimmicks, it will have an adverse effect on the administration he represents.”
Dr Johnson urged the SGF to be conversant with the economic realities in the country and work effectively with the president to ameliorate the sufferings of the people thereby, moving the country forward.
Global president, Yoruba Council worldwide, Oladotu Hassan, a lawyer, believes that Akume is qualified for the office, given his experience as a parliamentarian, governor and minister. He added that Akume had garnered the necessary experience to deliver a succinct administrative duty to Nigeria, specifically the office of the president.
“We understand the enormity of the task before him. This is because he is to supervise over 2,000 MDAs, parastatals, ministerial appointments, and every other agency of government that are under his watch, because he remains the administrative head of the government.”
He maintained that one of the key areas the SGF must give premium attention is security, stressing that Nigerians are eager to see a succinct administrative structure, whereby local security structures are properly created as another tier of security apparatus.
He advocated the establishment of a national Joint Task Force (JTF) where all local security groups, vigilante,Amoketun, Eastern and the Northern civilian JTF and Hisbah would be profiled and given a specific commission that would regulate, train, and ensure adequate security at the local level.
“Also, on the issue of education, there is a need to guide the government to ensure proper administration in the educational system beyond the lip service that we have witnessed before. Thirty per cent allocation to the education sector must also be properly made.
“Through his office, the SGF must set out a special committee, and also create a liaison desk in every parastatals of government whereby at every end of the month, there is a proper audited report of finances, expenditure, activities and programmes. This would enable proper oversight, monitoring and evaluation of the duties of all appointees of government.
“This would excuse a situation where there would be handicapped appointees who will not properly execute their duties for lack of experience,” Hassan stated. He also called for a background check of every appointee, adding that no appointee should be given appointment without being qualified for the office.
“The SGF must consider the laws and every related statutory responsibility of such a person that is being considered and the person must be found fit and proper for such office, this has been lacking in the past. We have seen lots of appointments for undue personalities who have wasted our resources. Taxpayer’s money was drained because we don’t have compassionate people that are fit and proper for the job.
“Also, in view of building a better foreign policy the administrative structure must be able to ensure adequate monitoring of all our embassies and citizens globally to ensure that there is proper capturing of all citizens data. If we cannot get our data as citizens, there is nothing we are doing with governance and democracy. How can you not know the number of the people that you profess to represent?” He asked.
He asked that as part of the 80 page renewed hope agenda of president Tinubu, the SGF office must study the document and work within time, adding that Nigerians are eager to see beneficial changes.
He suggested that there must be proper citizen communication every month, adding that the office of the SGF must be able to get an adequate report to ensure that there’s a quarterly or monthly report through the office. Nigerians, he pointed out, need to be properly informed because it is the office that houses all appointments and upholds the guiding principles of the government.
“Senator Akume must do things differently. Nigerians want to interface with our SGF, we want to know the position of things, and we want to be properly informed in respect of cushioning the effect of the fuel subsidy. The office of the SGF should be able to work with every 36 state SSG’s offices to deliver the dividend of democracy, while ensuring that there’s reduction in transport fares and other basic amenities. We also need tariff cuts in electricity.
“The SGF must be detribalised. He must not see people from Benue alone as those that merit appointment. He should also pick special advisers across the country. I implore Senator Akume to address the nation at intervals and give us up to date facts. He must also be readily available to ensure adequate delivery of the dividends of democracy.
“We must succeed as a nation. Democracy is the government of the people, for the people and by the people and the office of the SGF is at the centre of serving the people,” he declared.
