Buhari’s ministers: Between certificates and competence

I think President Muhammadu Buhari was manifestly right in his choice of prolific writer and veteran columnist, Malam Adamu Adamu, as the substantive Minister of Education ahead of the very scholarly university don and gentleman, Professor Anthony Onwuka. Our recent calamitous experiences in terms of governance under the watch of a president with a PhD, who was also surrounded by cerebral academics with countless certificates as ministers and Special Advisers, must have guided President Buhari in his choice of ministers for certain portfolios. He was very careful not to place certificates above competence. So, he journeyed on a path less travelled.
If the success or otherwise of any government is determined by just degrees or curriculum vitae/resumes of its appointees, the immediate past administration of President Goodluck Jonathan would have dwarfed iconic world leaders like Barack Obama, David Cameron and Francoise Hollande in terms of good governance. But that was never the case. Here was an administration that paraded the very best who were drawn from both within and outside the shores of Nigeria, yet ended its tenure rather ingloriously. It had leading academics like Professors Chinedu Nebo, Viola Onwuliri, Nicholas Ada, Ruquayatu Rufa’i, Ita Okon ,Onyebuchi Chwukwu as well as Drs Akinwumi Adeshina, Olusegun Aganga, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Shamsudeen Usman, among others, yet it nearly ran the nation aground.
The administration recorded spectacular failure in virtually all sectors except for sectors like Agriculture, Transportation and Industry, Trade and Investment where it had ministers who did wonders amidst endless political interferences. So, don’t blame President Buhari for choosing to place a university professor as subordinate to a pen-man and accountant as substantive minister of education.
President Buhari knows full well that you don’t need to be a university professor to preside over the nation’s education sector as a minister. All you need is the requisite exposure, common sense and clear-cut understanding of what the problems are and how to proffer workable solutions to them.
By this action, President Buhari is indeed leading in the campaign against placing needless emphasis on just certificates and relegating content of character and competence to the background. I sincerely share in this crusade.
Nigeria is fast becoming a country where people possess countless certificates with no commensurate expertise and requisite knowledge/competence. I have encountered graduates of Mass Communication who couldn’t pen readable press statements! But I know of a guy with just a secondary certificate who occasionally proof reads a few of my works!
I share in the submission of our erudite Professor Pat Utomi on the rising number of certificated Nigerians with little or no understanding of what they profess when he summarily described them as “Certificated illiterates”. This is very spot-on. Please no one should get me wrong on this. While I strongly support and encourage people to broaden their horizon through quality education and networking, I frown against gathering certificates for all reasons but knowledge.
We are daily treated to rib-cracking dramas during interview sessions by graduates with lovely grades but empty skulls. Ironically, I’ve encountered a number of secondary school leavers with very amazing intellect. They speak clean and error-free English language. I see no harm in being good at just one thing than having everything and appear bad in all. Let’s talk more about content and stress less on certificates.
I easily get thrilled by raw talent than certificated talent. While it is very good to acquire more certificates, a mission I consider so dear to my heart, I think it’s also important that we ground ourselves very well in any chosen discipline. Former Governor Ibrahim Idris of Kogi State in spite of his unimpressive educational profile was able to turn around the fortunes of Kogi State University, Anyigba for good when he scouted for first class educationists like the late Professor Francis Idachaba to work for him.
As at the time he focused on KSU, former Governor Idris had no university certificate in his kitty yet he knew the importance of having a fully accredited university. For this singular act, former Governor Ibro has me as a fan.
It is not really about piling up certificates; it’s about what you do with them, both for personal and collective good.   
AbdullahiYunusa wrote in from Imane in Kogi state. [email protected]