Nobody knows how to get at least 234 million Nigerians talking like President Tinubu. After spending weeks away from the country, the President is finally back, and he came with a bag full of violence. For his first major move after resuming his presidential duties physically, he fired five ministers on Wednesday, October 23 and replaced them faster than most people replace their exes.
Most Nigerians want to know why President Tinubu dismissed these guys. I couldn’t get the President on speed dial to get answers for curious Nigerians, but after doing some research, I discovered some messy news that has made Nigerians question the competence of these dismissed ministers in the past.
Minister of Women Affairs, Uju Kennedy
Threatened a victim of sexual assault
In September 2023, a leaked audio recording surfaced online, where Uju Kennedy was heard threatening to jail a female student from the University of Calabar(UNICAL). This was particularly insensitive because the student was among those who had spoken out against UNICAL’s suspended dean of the law faculty, Prof. Cyril Ndifon, for sexual harassment. In the recording, Uju warned the student to be “very careful” and “keep off from the court case” because “nobody raped you (the female student)”. She was also heard saying, “And this man has gone to court. My ministry will join them and make sure you go to jail so that you will be an example to others.” The Minister ended up apologising a few days later after a group of over 500 women’s rights activists demanded a public apology from her for working against the interests of women in Nigeria.
Said she didn’t need to “do anything” to promote female inclusion in governance
During an interview with Arise TV, Uju was asked what policies should be implemented to promote female participation in governance under the Tinubu-led administration. In response to this question, she said, “My dear sister, when it comes to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, I don’t need to do anything.” This didn’t sound like the response one would expect from the Minister of Women Affairs, who is passionate about female inclusion in government, especially given that President Tinubu promised that his cabinet would be made up of 35% women but still isn’t close to achieving that number.
Justified spending ₦1.5m to fuel six vehicles in her convoy
In July 2024, some members of the House of Representatives raised concerns about some of the former Minister’s suspicious expenses. They wanted to know why her ministry spent ₦45 million on a New Year party, ₦20 million on sanitary pads, and another ₦1.5 million on fuel for the convoy that accompanied her on a work trip to Anambra state. In response, Uju expressed surprise that she could even be challenged for spending millions on fuel because “What is ₦1.5m for those cars?”
Started a petition to end the mass marriage of orphans and retracted it.
In May, Uju Kennedy-Ohanenye took the Speaker of the Niger State House of Assembly, Abdulmalik Sarkindaji, to court after he decided to marry off 100 orphans to help “reduce the orphans’ struggles”. In what would have been recognised as one of her most commendable moments in office, Uju stood her ground and insisted that the mass marriage wouldn’t hold. A few days later, she took three steps back and agreed with the Speaker. The orphans were married off later in May despite heavy criticism from Nigerians.
Minister of Education, Tahir Mamman
Banned under 18 from tertiary institutions.
On July 18, 2024, during the policy meeting of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), Mamman announced that students under the age of 18 would no longer be given admission into tertiary institutions in the country.
“JAMB is hereby notified that there is now a ban on underaged students, those under the age of 18, from our tertiary institutions for the 2024 admissions. Our laws require students to be in school for six years..,” he said.
This minister’s directive drew much outrage from stakeholders at the meeting, so he shifted it to take effect in 2025.
Minister of Youth Development, Jamila Bio Ibrahim
Advised youths against protesting
In July, while Nigerian youths prepared to protest against bad governance and extreme hardship in the country, the minister said
Didn’t interact with youths
For some time now, Nigerian youths on X have complained about the minister’s reluctance to communicate with the demographic she was supposed to represent, by sometimes refusing interviews and also by locking her X account. This led to some calling for her sack way before Tinubu reshuffled his cabinet
Since the president announced her dismissal, many young people have celebrated the move, saying it was long overdue.
Minister of State for Housing and Urban Development, Abdullahi Gwarzo
Wasn’t active enough
Since assuming office, Gwarzo has not been involved in any major controversy, but he has one big sin—inactivity.
Apart from news about his dismissal, not much is written or known about the minister’s performance, and this was clear enough from some reactions to his recent post on X.
Minister of Tourism, Lola Ade-John
Was inactive-ish’
Unlike Gwarzo, you could say the Minister of Tourism was fairly in the news however, her ministry did not have much to show for it. During the anniversary of her one year in office in May, the minister mentioned her key achievements; however, none of them had any tangible effects.
On a different occasion on October 7, the minister hinted at a poor budget as the reason her office was not doing all that it should. ”We are constrained financially for now and can’t do much, but hopefully, by next year’s budget, we will have done our homework well, and I assure you that we are going to do many tourism projects together because of what you did during the World Tourism Day in Lagos, was the way to go in promoting Nigeria which is very dear to my heart,” she said.
