So you want to be minister? Read this and
despair

By Dele Sobowale
“The Ministers are there to make a lot of noise;
for the politicians to make a lot of noise…
People from different constituencies want to
see their people directly in government, and
see what they can get out of it.”-President
Muhammadu Buhari.
“I had rather be right than President.” - Henry Clay,1777-1852,letter to Senator
Preston of South Carolina,1839.
When I first read that statement, by Clay, in a
course on American Government in my second
year as an undergraduate in 1965, my first
reaction was “this guy must be crazy, who
would not want to be American President at
any price?” But, I was young then, and courses
in Philosophy, and especially Ethics, had not
been undertaken to sharpen my intellect and
morals. Now, I know that position, power and
wealth are not the only things for which
people must strive at all costs. Above all, a
man must aim for self-respect; he must stand
for something or fall for anything. After
reading that statement from President Buhari,
nothing should induce any self-respecting
Nigerian, male or female, to accept a
ministerial appointment – if it is offered. But, I
am jumping the gun. Let me go back a few
weeks.
Shortly after Buhari appointed several people
in August, a sage, and one of my mentors and
heroes taunted me by asking “Dele, what do
you think of Buhari’s choice of cabinet which
excludes the South West?”
“But, Buhari has not appointed his Ministers,
he had selected his advisers”, I said. “It shows
how naïve you are; Ministers are mere errand
boys, the important decisions are made by the
kitchen cabinet and your people are not
there.”
Despite the strength of the logic, my mind still
refused to accept it. A week after that sobering
and deeply disturbing conversation, Chief
Ogunlewe, former Minister of works under
Obasanjo also announced that “Buhari has
formed his cabinet”. He was the Minister who
announced to Nigerians in 2007 that
Obasanjo’s government had rehabilitated 500
Nigerian roads. Asked to name them he
refused. That falsehood was exposed by the
fact that the road leading to Ogunlewe’s home
town, Ijede, on the Ikorodu-Epe expressway
was not touched at all – while he was busy
with 500 phantom roads rehabilitated. But,
despite that, Ogunlewe made the point that
Ministers are visitors to the seat of power;
most decisions are made by “Advisers” for
Ministers to execute.
Still, I clung stubbornly to the belief that,
under Buhari’s change programme, Ministers
would be appointed and valued for their
intellect, competence, character, work rates
and integrity. The statement above, credited to
Buhari, changed all my perceptions about the
role Ministers will play in this government.
Even before their appointment, they have been
visited with the sort of contempt which the
office of Minister in any government does not
deserve. They have been told that they will be
regarded as people who “are there to make
noise” and who are “in government and see
what they can get out of it”. Taken together,
those views of Ministers characterized them as
noisy parasites. Can any self-respecting
individual, not desperate for a job, accept an
appointment based on that view of his/her role
in government?
Henceforth any Minister in this administration
should not be offended if he is called a
noisemaker or vulture– after all, his boss had
tagged him/her with that disgraceful
appellation before taking office.
Let me end this article by recalling a personal
example. In the mid-1980s, as a very
successful Marketing Manager with North
Brewery, I was offered a job with another
brewery in the south, without applying for it.
My take home pay increased by 200% and as a
young man eagerly accepted the offer. Within
nine months the new brewery’s sales had
increased by over 300%. Of all the top
managers, I was the darling of the Chairman,
who during our quarterly meetings routinely
insulted other managers; sometimes the
maledictions passed to their parents (“your
father”, “your family” etc). But, because the
man paid so well, none of the managers
wanted to leave.
One day, after one of my colleagues had his
parents and grand-parents thoroughly abused,
I asked the fellow why he did not quit. His
answer was “Dele where would I find another
job paying so well?” It then became clear to
me. In this company we were trading insults
rained on our parents for money. I would have
none of it. I promised to walk out the day it
happened to me. I would rather eat sand than
accept that.
It happened soon enough. We went for budget
presentation for the coming year. I presented
the marketing budget including advertising
expenditure. The advertising agency we used
was 100% owned by the Chairman and the
expenditure was prepared in collaboration with
its Managing Director, Cornelius Tay, (later of
C-Tay Agency). The Chairman took one look at
the advert proposal and flared up in his usual
manner. I got up, excused myself, went to the
parking lot, drove out, got to the office and
resigned my appointment.
They waited for me and discovered that I was
not returning to the meeting. When the
brewery MD came to the office and asked me
to report to the Chairman’s office, next day, I
told him “No, I no longer work for him; he
cannot because of money insult my parents”.
Later, in life, I added myself to the list. My
attitude about wealth is summed up this way.
“The true measure of your wealth is how much
you will be worth when you have lost all your money”.No job is worth one’s self-
respect.NONE.
http://www.vanguardngr.com/2015/09/so-you-want-to-be-minister-read-this-and-despair/