‘’ Put a Nigerian Politician in charge of the Sahara Desert in five years time, there will be shortage of sand’’ -Unknown.......

The task of assembling a cabinet can be herculean especially in our climes. Regional, ethic, religious, godfathers, political party, friends, family and allies interest come to play. The Ruling All Progressive congress (APC) is an amalgam of different political parties and interest group hence power sharing must be done in such a way that each group will have a sense of belonging. The delay in forming a cabinet by the new govt is mainly attributable to this fact despite other excuses from the presidency. Nigeria Tribune, reported last week that only three of ministerial nominees whose names were submitted to security and financial agencies for screening were certified ‘’clean’’. It will be recalled that president Muhammadu Buhari had insisted that only corruption free and competent Nigerians will be part of his government. The presidency has not confirmed nor denied the Nigerian Tribune report. If the report is indeed true, then we need to spread the net in the search of corruption free and competent Nigerians to serve in the cabinet because the ratio of clean to non-clean politicians in the APC camp which now stands 1:18 is discouraging

Political pundit continue to insist that corruption is the biggest problem in Nigeria but i always differ. Hypocrisy is our biggest problem. Yes! We say one thing in public and do another in private. We climb the moral high horse to show our piety but descend to the ‘’ lowest of low’’ when no one is watching. Is it not ironical that with our large number of Bible wielding and Koran reciting populace, Nigeria rank very low in all rectitude. So also is the political class, In time of election they promise to change the status quo to make life better for the people but after election, they change the promise and make life better for only their families, friends and cronies. They point accusing fingers at their opponents and accuse them of corruption while they are also beneficiary of corruption. The purported 33 failing corruption test out the total of 36 gives credence to this fact. If we always match our words with actions and lead by example, then Nigeria would have been the best place in the universe.

Corruption and Weak institutions are the next in my list. Institutional weaknesses enables corruption to thrive and corruption leads to further weakening of institutions. Any government serious with fighting corruption must first strengthen its institutions in order to make a headway. Anything short of this amount to scratching the surface, window dressing or just playing to the gallery. According to transparency International corruption is the abuse of entrusted power for private gain. Going by this definition most public office holders in Nigeria are corrupt. The masses are always fixated on embezzlement of funds but there are many other corrupt practice which we overlook and have started to accept as norm. If 36 politicians or their nominees are subjected to real corruption test, i believe almost all will fail except such a person has not previously held a public office.

The president will assemble his incorruptible cabinet in September according to his recent article in the Washington Post. As a concerned Nigeria, i stand with the president’s decision to involve only competent and corruption free Nigerians. It is a tall dream but it is achievable. It will be a herculean task but there is enough time to curb the nooks and crannies of the entire nation to get clean men to pilot the affairs of the nation. I would have proposed religious people but because so much hypocrisy abound in the land, i prefer practical people. Men who practice what they preach, men who value their reputation more than the lucre of power. Men who truly feel the pulse of the common man and are always ready to diagnose and profer solutions with positive outcomes, not those who eat roasted corn with us during election only to deny asking for our votes after election. Having an incorruptible cabinet is not the magic wand to good governance and fighting corruption but it is the first step.

The fight against corruption should be ALL OR NONE. Anybody involved in corrupt practice should be made to face the law. There should be no middle ground or sacred cow; it must be total in accordance with the law. Having strong institutions is also indispensable because weak institutions can also corrupt those with good intentions. The president can also adopt the “Separating the Yam from the Goat’’ principle as propounded by former President Goodluck Jonathan. this is a preventive measure and must be complemented by punitive measure for those who still scale the fence to get the yams.

Finally, President Muhammadu Buhari will be the first Nigerian President to spend 100 days in office without a cabinet, if he finally assembles his cabinet in September. He has reiterated in many fora that only the best will be part of his cabinet. It is necessary to give him the benefit of doubt. However, it will be a scandal and huge disappointment after Nigerians had waited with bated breadth, we started hearing or seeing names of the old faces and voices whose antecedents negates the mantra the party rode to victory.

Source: The FCT Post - http://www.fctpost.com/2015/07/24/anticipating-buharis-incorruptible-cabinet/