When their names made President Muhammadu Buhari’s ministerial list, many Nigerians, acquainted of their impressive resumes, were full of high expectations about the positive contributions they would make to the administration. But not so anymore, as just a little over a year after their appointment as ministers, they are seen to have gone into hibernation. This report spotlights those ministers that Nigerians have ‘forgotten,’ either on account of what is believed to be their poor visibility or underperformance.
Dr. Kayode Fayemi
Though the name of the ministry has since been changed from the Ministry of Solid Minerals Development to the Ministry of Mines and Steel Development, observers believe that not much has changed or been witnessed in this sector full of economic potentials.
The Minister of Mines and Steel Development Dr. Kayode Fayemi had on assumption of office pledged his commitment to developing the solid minerals sector, while ironically pointing at the government’s own inadequacies at identifying what is good for Nigeria and mustering the will to promote it.
He initially came across as one of the top five in Buhari’s cabinet that have the expertise and experience to see the government deliver on all its promises to the Nigerian voter.
Also, given the policy of the Buhari-administration on diversification, Nigerians expected his ministry to be in the lead in generating non-oil revenue for the nation.
He identified limited infrastructure, insufficient geological data, limited corporate federalism, illegal artisanal mining community challenges, weak institutional capacity and insufficient funding as the bane of the sector and promised to take these numerous challenges head on, and deliver on the Federal Government’s vision, of building a mining sector that Nigerians can be proud of 30 years or more from now.
However, with over a year in office, Fayemi has not recorded any visible success in addressing the challenges he identified as bedeviling the solid mineral sector.
Abdulrahman Bello Dambazau
