Former presidential aide Laolu Akande has called on President Bola Tinubu to use the forthcoming cabinet reshuffle as an opportunity to bring in transformative minds who can help him navigate the challenges Nigeria is facing.
Speaking on the My Take segment of the soaring Channels TV programme-Inside Sources with Laolu Akande on Sunday, Akande urged the president to draw from his tenure as Governor of Lagos State from 1999 to 2007, where he implemented significant reforms and assembled a formidable team that got the job done.
Akande’s comments followed an announcement by presidential spokesman Bayo Onanuga, confirming that President Tinubu plans to reshuffle his cabinet soon.
“The cabinet reshuffle is an opportunity,” Akande stated. “Now that the Presidential Spokesman Mr. Bayo Onanuga has confirmed a plan to RESHUFFLE that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu presidency would be reshuffling his cabinet, the President should see this as an opportunity.”
Akande noted President Tinubu’s reform of the judiciary in Lagos as one of his standout achievements, noting that it brought significant improvements to the welfare of judges and helped curb corruption within the state judiciary. Tinubu’s establishment of the Office of the Public Defender, a model now adopted across the country, further demonstrated his commitment to institutional reform.
“Based on his records in Lagos, there are at the minimum three imprints that the President left in Lagos when he was Governor, that are seemingly transformative & we are wondering why not do an encore- now at the Federal level?
“A reformed judiciary system where the welfare of the judges was significantly upgraded, then resolving the problem of corruption in the state judiciary while also updating the system with Public Defender’s OFFICE,” Akande said “These have become a model across the country today.”
Akande also emphasized the importance of the local government reforms that Tinubu pioneered in Lagos, which allowed governance to reach the grassroots level. During his tenure, Tinubu expanded the number of local governments in Lagos, creating more opportunities for development and service delivery to the people.
The veteran journalist said Tinubu established a local government system “that takes the government to the people via the ability of the State govt to create them and bring development very close to them.”
Another critical area of Tinubu’s success as governor was his innovative approach to Internally Generated Revenue (IGR). Akande noted that Tinubu’s administration significantly increased Lagos State’s financial capacity, making it less reliant on federal allocations and empowering it to fund its development agenda.
Akande urged President Tinubu to replicate this success on a national scale by assembling a competent team of experts in key sectors of governance. He credited Tinubu’s Lagos success to his ability to identify and bring together top-notch individuals who were skilled, focused on public interest, and ready to implement reforms.
“How did then Governor Tinubu manage to achieve some of this things? He assembled a top notch team of competent individuals who knew what they were doing and who had significant public interest in mind. He had a transition team that developed master plans for each sector of governance and in some cases appointed those who developed those plans to govt positions in order to implement them. And they did,” the former presidential aide noted.
Akande expressed concern that the current cabinet is too large and populated with individuals who may not have the necessary expertise or commitment to effect the changes the country desperately needs. He called on the president to prioritize competence over political patronage and to remove “deadbeats” from the cabinet.
“This is no time for ministers learning on the job! Right now there are more dead beats in the cabinet and it’s also too large & unwieldy!,” Akande noted.
As Nigeria grapples with significant economic challenges, including inflation, unemployment, and insecurity, Akande believes that the success of President Tinubu’s administration depends on his ability to appoint visionary leaders who can implement bold, effective policies in the key sectors.
He said the nation needs a President at such a time like this that will appoint “transformative minded people and processes in the key sectors and the incumbent should use this cabinet reshuffling as the opportunity to make that happen.
“When the President was Governor, he had a compelling Chief of Staff who sat down and got things done? When he was Gov, Tinubu had trusted aides and Commissioners who could disagree with him for his own good and the good of the State. Who are those in this current presidency?”
