When President Muhammadu Buhari delayed six months before choosing his cabinet, a lot of Nigerians raised eyebrows and questioned his intentions.

Others asserted that it was wise to make a careful selection of the best men and women who will effect the Change we all crave.

At their swearing-in ceremony, President Buhari said all his 36 ministers are “round pegs in round holes”. 10 months have passed since the ministers assumed office and a number of them have been nothing short of disappointing and unsuitable for their portfolios.

Calling them “square pegs in round holes” as opposed to President Buhari’s assertions will be an understatement. Nigeria has never been in the hands of people more confused and helpless as this lot.

We could not help but do a recap of all the comments;

Minister for Finance, Kemi Adeosun: After the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) had declared that Nigeria is officially in a recession, this University of East London graduate in a televised address said: Recession is just a word and we’ll come out of it. It was an honest but badly executed attempt to console Nigerians. Saying recession is only a word is downplaying the hardship that many Nigerians face.

Minister for Sports, Solomon Dalung: This one has to be the most ridiculous of the pack. He dons a red beret which he spells as “barret” for some weird reason that we cannot fathom. The spotlight fell on his incompetence during the 2016 Olympics games at Rio in August. Addressing the U-23 team’s delay in Atlanta before the games kicked off, Dalung referred to Nigeria as the United States of Nigeria. We still do not know whether it was a genuine blunder on his part or he actually believes that this country is the US of N. This is one of the many ways he has publicly gaffed in words and mannerisms.

Minister for Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed: This man has risen to social media fame for making contradictory comments on national issues. Nigerians say his first name is synonymous with lies. But aside working contrarily to the description of his portfolio, Lai Mohammed has made some really daft comments that leave us wondering about the activities that go on in his mind space.

At a House of Reps debate in May, the Minister suggested that dressing up masquerades in the South East can create jobs for 1000 young men. If 100 men dress this masquerade in the morning and another 100 will undress him in the evening, all of Nigeria’s unemployment issues will go away. Aren’t we all wowed by this palliative measure to reduce unemployment in the country?

Minister of State for Education, Prof Anthony Anwukah: At a recent outing, the minister blamed Nigerians’ “over-bloated lifestyle” for the economic recession in the country. Essentially, it’s now our fault as citizens that the nation’s GDP has declined by -2.06 percent, it’s our fault that the value of the Naira has seen a historic crash, it’s our fault that foreign airlines are leaving the country and the local ones are closing shop. Let’s us all just take the blame as Prof. Anwukah wants.

Minister for Labour and Employment, Chris Ngige: President Buhari’s federal appointments have been biased to favour a certain section of the country. This has caused slight ruckus amongst politicians who have been sidelined and political analysts have condemned the level of nepotism that exists in this administration.

Chris Ngige is one of the few Easterners who got a political appointment so he made a statement to justify his boss’ actions (as a loyal boy). Some people are complaining that President Buhari is favouring certain people from certain sections of the country, without knowing that such people have been loyal to the president since 2003. Loyalty pays. Oh, so public service is about loyalty now? What happened to skills and experience?

Minister for Transport, Rotimi Amaechi: Foreign airlines started pulling out of Nigeria in June, the economy was no longer conducive for the business, most of them were worried they would run into a loss. Amaechi told Nigerians to accept this and move on with their lives. In his words: the earlier Nigeria accepts this, the better for us. We are not going to die, when they were not here, were we not flying? This is just tiring.

Tolu

Your pop culture/entertainment go-to. Music head. Wallflower. I do not like to write. On a mission to decipher covfefe.