“It’s Either You Work Or Go Away”, President Tinubu Charges Ministers

By Ayodele Oni

President Bola Tinubu has reminded Ministers that they are standing on the mandate of the people and must work assiduously towards achieving the task of their ministries or be ready to leave the government.

According to Tinubu, the continued stay in office of ministers in his cabinet will be based on performance which will be reviewed periodically.

The President gave the warning on Wednesday, while declaring open the 2023 Cabinet Retreat for Ministers, Presidential Aides, Permanent Secretaries and Top Government Functionaries, in Abuja.

He announced that the Special Adviser on Policy Coordination, Hadiza Bala-Usman, would spearhead the Result Delivery Unit.

“That is why we established Results Delivery Units. At the end of this retreat, you are going to sign a Bond of Understanding between the ministers, the Permanent Secretaries, and myself.

“If you are performing, there is nothing to fear. If you missed the objective, we review. If there no performance, you leave us. No one is an island, and the buck stops on my desk.

“I assure you that you will have a free hand. You must be intellectually inquisitive to ask how? Why? When? and why it must be immediate.

“I have taken a young lady, very dynamic Hadiza Usman to head that delivery units. If you have any complaints about her see me. If you are ready to work with her, stay there. Delivery, yes! We must achieve it for the sake of the millions of the people.”

The unit, he said, will monitor the performances of the Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) across the eight priority areas of his administration – Food Security; Ending Poverty; Economic Growth and Job Creation; Access to Capital; Inclusivity; Security; Fairness and rule of law, and Anti-Corruption Stance.

The President reminded the ministers of their responsibility to serve the people who entrusted their mandate on him.

Tinubu reiterated the commitment of his administration to take 50 million Nigerians out of poverty, saying “poverty is not a shameful thing. It is only unacceptable. And we have to banish it because it is unacceptable.”

He also enjoined the ministers to focus on their ministries’ progress and come up with bold endeavours, stressing that his administration was determined to turn the nation’s population into an asset.

The President also urged the civil servants to cooperate with the ministers to form a formidable team for the good of the country.

“As I’ve stated before, no one succeeds alone. You the civil service, you must not see a minister as he or she will come and go and you will be there.

“You must make a positive team for the good of this country. Yes! I admit and accept the asset and liability of my predecessor, which is part of the definition in my professional background.

“But you are in this ship. You will make good of it but not wreck it. You are a member of a great family. Don’t see being a minister as opportunistic.

“See, he or she as a partner that we must take the ship forward. Navigating through turbulence and clear weather.”