NIGERIA IN THE EYES OF MINISTER OF CULTURE

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BY BIODUN OJEKUNLE.

Nigeria may be on the economic downturn, but it seems from all indications that it’s still business as usual in government circles. While the poor masses face precarious socio-economic troubles, our government officials are going around as if the call for a deliverer, the renewed hope expectations are skewed against the poor and not for the poor.

If there’s one Minister who has enjoyed unbelievable support from President Tinubu in recent times and possibly more than others, it is Hannatu Musa Musawa, Minister of Culture and Creative Economy.

Though, she has practically failed to justify the confidence reposed on her by the president, Hannatu Musa Musawa still wants to spend about N3bn on culture research and development without any known admissible delivery ecosystem.

It is worrisome, though, considering the economic bedlam in the country, yet the national assembly passed such a humongous budget without pity to the sorry state our economy and the Nigerian people. No wonder the anti graft agency is on the neck of ex- corrupt ministers.

Please can someone explain or justify such a huge amount for cultural research and development that is not already in the public space,?. Is it a padded baggage in Hannatu’s ministry?

Even her budget for 2024 cycle also captured road construction in her home state of Katsina and also in Bichi, Kano, where her father grew up , indicative of projects driven by nepotism. Maybe some one need to explain to us when it became the mandate of the ministry of culture to build to roads and install street lights! What should the Ministry of Works be doing? Coastal roads alone?

Thank God that all the budget positions can be gleaned from the budget office and also in public space, so it is wise that this government which has asked Nigerians to wait for better days, to tell us why a whopping three billion naira should be thrown into the sea for cultural research.

If you are careful enough to also interrogate the budget of the ministry’s eleven agencies, there are also the same allocations for the same items, some cleverly bearing different project titles. It is the way we roll in Nigeria while our people suffer.

Nigerians are watching, and it’s evident that the renewed hope agenda is being rubbished by super failed Ministers such as Hannatu Musa Musawa.

Last week, she ranted out of desperation to mark down her zero performance metrics , stating that the rested Abuja carnival would be resuscitated come November, possibly forgetting that the National Festival of Arts and Culture ( NAFEST) takes place in same calendar month, except however she has unilaterally changed the date with the states having no say or input.

As we look forward to May 29, Democracy Day celebrations, we hope Hannatu Musawa will join the ranks of those who came to culture, failed woefully, and shoved aside for poor performance .

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