Industrialist tasks Buhari on appointment of technocrats as ministers

… Urges US to be alive to its promises

As Nigerians await the constitution of a new cabinet by the Muhammadu Buhari administration, an industrialist and Chairman of Total Aluminium and Systems Ltd, Frank Owelle, has advised the President to go for thoroughbred technocrats who would be ready to sacrifice personal comfort for the love of country.

Owelle, who spoke with BusinessDay yesterday, also said he was hopeful that the recent visit of President Buhari to the United States of America and all the discussions that featured would ultimately be in the interest of Nigeria.

The international businessman noted that Nigeria was in a terrible economic mess, emphasizing that urgent steps needed to be taken to get the country on the right track.

“First and foremost, I want to once again congratulate President Muhammadu Buhari on his victory at the March 28 election and his subsequent inauguration. I also congratulate former President Goodluck Jonathan on his maturity in accepting the outcome of the election without making any fuss about it. I would say that contrary to the insinuation that the new government is being slow, my take is that it needs time to settle down in order to deliver on its promises to the nation. You see, it was a tran- sition from one party to another. It was the first time since the return of the country to democracy we saw that. It had been, from PDP to PDP; it was not cumbersome. But now, it is from PDP to APC. So, naturally, you should expect that government may not take off on a smooth note; there must be some teething problems,” Owelle said.

On the delay in the appointment of ministers, he said that the government’s explanation that it is bidding its time and would want to sign on ministers after it must have set an integrity template, below which such ministers must not operate, is commendable.

According to him, “President Buhari has explained that he was presently more concerned with sanitising the system and ridding it of corruption than appointing ministers. I read that he said he wouldn’t want to appoint someone today and make changes tomorrow; and that given the war for the recovery of stolen funds, which may have implication for the people who are going to be appointed, if he appoints someone today and, perhaps, in the drive, that individual is implicated, firing such a person may now create a loophole. So, the man wants to tie up all loose ends to avoid unnecessary mistakes.

“But my candid advice to him is that he must go for core technocrats who will be ready to sacrifice self for the love of country. I see a lot of people running around the President and I am not very sure they all possess the qualities I would want the ministers we need now to possess. The ministers could be politicians, but with the mind to serve. The economy is really in distress and businesses are really suffering. There must be that concerted efforts on the part of the ministers whether they are appointed now or in September- to put on their thinking caps on how to jump-start the economy.”

The Anambra-born industrialist also urged the federal law makers to face the job for which they were voted to do, noting that the bickering over leadership in the bicameral legislature may have affected the duties of the National Assembly.

“I want to use this opportunity to advise the Senate and the House of Representatives members to display patriotism and ensure that they write their names in gold by their good deeds. The leadership crisis in the two chambers of the federal legislature has affected their duties and it is high time they called themselves to order,” he said. He also commended the renewed interest of the International community in the affairs of Nigeria, saying “it is a sign of good things to come.”

“The enthusiasm with which the international community welcomed the new administration is reassuring. Within a short space of time, President Buhari has visited United Kingdom, Germany and America. Remember that the G-7 nations had met with him, promising a lot of assistance. This shows that Nigeria is very strategic in international politics.

“The President’s recent visit to America should be viewed from the standpoint of what Nigeria stands to gain. From the interactions at the several levels of meetings that were held, the government of US and investors promised to show more commitment in Nigeria. President Barack Obama said his country was going to assist Nigeria in the areas of fighting corruption, recovering of looted funds, oil theft, among other promises. My concern is that America must be alive to its promises this time around. If they put into action all that they said they would do, Nigeria would be better for it,” Owelle said.

ZEBULON AGOMUO