By Akinpelu Akintola
The cacophony of cries and screams of blue murder on various social media platforms from some quarters widely believed to be opposition elements, on supposed "inappropriateness" of portfolios assigned to some newly appointed Commissioners in Osun State has been observed, albeit with some sense of pity for the public display and exposure of ignorance and nuisance on the part of its purveyors. Ordinarily, such pieces of disjointed and uncorrelated vituperations wouldn't have been dignified with a response, considering the fact that the peddlers are still nursing the wounds of their outright rejection by the good people of Osun State which they suffered in the last general elections, but then; this reply becomes necessary in order to educate the public on the undiluted legality and normalcy in the assignment of portfolios as prudently carried out by the Osun State Governor.
It will be recalled that upon nomination and having successfully passed through the rigorous processes of screening by the relevant Committee of the Osun State House of Assembly and eventual confirmation by the whole house; the Swearing-in ceremony of the 25 newly appointed Commissioners in Osun State was conducted by His Excellency, Senator Ademola Nurudeen Jackson Adeleke on Wednesday 19th July, 2023 amidst pomp and pageantry and to the admiration /all-round celebration of well-meaning citizens of the State. The State Governor, in his speech, announced the various portfolios to be handled and supervised by each of them. Of course, this signaled the rolling out of the Governor's cabinet, a body responsible for the management of state affairs towards ensuring the delivery of her people-oriented manifestos. Unarguably, a positive step in the right direction.
Interestingly, possibly pained by the fact that their needless outbursts on the delay in constituting the cabinet had been laid to permanent rest, the opposition were quick to find holes in the assignment of portfolios which they based majorly on lack of correlation between the discipline of some personalities and the offices assigned to them. Of particular reference and emphasis was the appointment of Barr. Jola Akintola, a home-based legal practitioner from Ilesa, as the Commissioner for Health. We need not feel sorry for their pettiness since they are evidently dazzled by the dexterity and due diligence employed by the people's Governor in appointing men of timber and caliber whose acceptability amongst the citizenry is second to none. The era of recruiting "Lagos boys" as cabinet members, which APC is known for in Osun State is now history. Governor Adeleke proved his salt and was true to his words.
First and foremost, it is very important to educate the public that the Governor acted in his wisdom and within the inalienable rights granted his exalted office by the extant laws of the land – the 1999 Nigerian Constitution (as amended) to be precise. As enshrined in the said constitution, the only cabinet member whose occupier must be statutorily taken from a particular profession (legal profession) is the Commissioner for Justice and Attorney General. It is noteworthy that this was validly complied with by the appointment of Barr. Wole Jimi Bada as the number one law officer of the state. The prerogative to assign ALL OTHER PORTFOLIOS irrespective of the background, expertise, profession and experience of the occupiers remain the exclusive preserve of the Governor and no amount of bad spirited criticism will take that away from him. The actions of the Governor are fully backed by law.
Secondly, by precedence, lawyers have been trusted with the affairs of the Health Ministry even before the creation of Osun State. As a matter of fact, in the old Oyo State (Parent State of the present Oyo and Osun States), Barr. Fatoki from Inisha was the Commissioner for Health in 1979 under Chief Bola Ige. Also, by sheer coincidence, this is not the first time same Health Ministry will be assigned to a lawyer in our dear state. Students of history will remember very quickly that during the tenure of Chief Abdulkareem Adebisi Akande as Governor of Osun State, Barr. Niyi Owolade was saddled with the responsibility of overseeing the affairs of the Ministry of Health and which he performed satisfactorily until he was otherwise engaged. What is more? It is quite ironical that politicians from same acclaimed Progressive fold whose silence was deafening then, were quick to raise an eyebrow this time around. Further, the eight years reign of the Immediate Past President of Nigeria – Muhammudu Buhari, an Army General, as Minister of Petroleum is still fresh in our collective memories. Someone should please remind me of the portfolio which Barr. Babatunde Raji Fashola SAN handled during the same tenure. To further prove they spoke from both sides of the mouth, Osun APC used an IT trained person, Remi Owomaiye, with no background in Civil or Structural Engineering as Commissioner for Works and Transport under the immediate past administration headed by Alh. Gboyega Oyetola. Succinctly put, this shameless display of hypocrisy as evident in their saintly theory is better dismissed as a case of pot calling kettle black. Those who live in glass house should not throw stones.
At this juncture, it becomes imperative to test the wide practicability /acceptability or otherwise of the practice at the international scene. There are barrage of incontrovertible evidences that revealed the propriety of the scenarios under reference is not limited to the shores of Nigeria as same happens to be both past and subsisting practice even in the developed nations of the world. For the sake of emphasis and for academic purposes, permit me to mention a few instances. In the United States of America, the Secretary of Health and Human Services, Xavier Becerra, is an American lawyer. Going by his position, he heads the United States Department of Health Service and the Principal Advisor to the President of the United States on all health matters. He's equivalent of the Minister of Health in Nigeria. In the same vein, Steven Paul Barclay (who qualified as a solicitor in 1998) is a British politician who could best be described as a versatile politician judging by the multi-discipline positions he held in the past. He has served as Secretary of State for Health and Social Care under the incumbent UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, having previously held the position from July to September 2022 under Boris Johnson. He served as Secretary of States for Exiting the European Union (EU) from 2018 to 2020, Chief Secretary to the Treasury from 2020 to 2021, Minister for the Cabinet Office and Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster from 2021 to 2022 and Downing Street Chief of Staff from February to July 2022. With respect to the fore goings, the false alarm raised by the opposition has been rendered null and void and of no effect whatsoever, since the present circumstances in Osun State has been proved to be in consonance with global best practices. As lawyers would say – Res ipsa loquito (The facts have spoken for itself).
Thirdly, administratively, the duties of a Commissioner is not necessarily tied to the technical know-how of his or her assigned Ministry as the hierarchy of technocrats and civil servants headed by the Permanent Secretary, who are well schooled and groomed in their fields of expertise are expected to carry out most functions and submit appropriate recommendations to the Commissioner. The duties of the Commissioner include but not limited to granting approvals (based on recommendations painstakingly made), present ideas and proposals to the Governor and the State Executive Council and also monitor / supervise prompt and proficient execution of projects handled by the Ministry. An Agric Economist can manage the Ministry of Education without issues. So, when you see Osun APC losers wail about having a lawyer as Commissioner of Health in Osun, you should rather pity them for their show of ignorance and hypocrisy. What actually matters in public service is capacity, and not necessarily field of study, which as we have seen in the past, really made no much difference.To function effectively as a Commissioner is not rocket science.
In the light of the above, it becomes pertinent to briefly explore the academic and leadership credentials (past and present) of the much criticized Commissioner for Health – Barr. Jola Akintola. Asides being a proud holder of LLB and LLM degrees in Law from the prestigious Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Ile-Ife, Osun State; it is worthy of mention that he is one of the pioneer set of Nigeria Law School, Bwari, Abuja (1999 set) who graduated with a 2.1 (Second Class Upper Division), a feat hardly achieved by lawyers then. On the political scene, he had served as Secretary PDP Ilesa East Local Government, Caretaker Secretary and later substantive Secretary of Ilesa East Local Government, former Chairman of Osun State Schools Board, Ilesa East; two times Chairman of the PDP in Ilesa East, Returning Officer for PDP in Ilesa East at all General Elections held between 2014 till date. He also displayed his leadership acumen beyond the grassroots level as his wealth of experience was found useful at the State level when he was appointed Chairman of Transport Committee few weeks after the inauguration of the present administration. At the moment, he is the Chairman of the Disciplinary Committee of the PDP in Osun State. Career-wise, He is the Principal of Jola Akintola & Co, a law office of unequalled standing and had successfully handled litigations from the lowest to highest courts of the land. His scope of law practice has been extensively widened and explored in Election Petition cases as he represented the Party in post-election litigations from 2014 till date. He is presently the Chairman of Nigeria Bar Association (NBA), Ilesa Branch. The decision to judge his academic and leadership prowess or otherwise now lies with the public.
Permit me to digress a little. With the plethora of diverse responsibilities which are entrusted in the hands of lawyers in our society coupled with optimal delivery of targeted results and objectives as mostly witnessed; what readily comes to mind is the uniqueness of the wig and gown profession. Even as a Computer Scientist, I cannot but doff my hat for the excellence and unequalled versatility of the legal profession. It is highly commendable that lawyers effortlessly fit into any department of human endeavours. At the risk of sounding immodest (with due respect to other professions), they alone could (and still can) head the three arms of any democratic government. Also, as an added advantage, they alone have a cabinet portfolio that they share with no other profession. There is law of everything, and they are trained to know something about "those" everything. There is Law of Medicine but no Medicine of Law. In the good old days, it was erroneously taken for granted that politics was made for lawyers. They were the movers and shakers of any political grouping. Little wonder His Excellency Governor Ademola Adeleke, a goal getter who knows his onions appointed four lawyers out of a total of twenty-five (25) Commissioners and positioned them strategically in the most important Ministries viz Justice, Local Government & Chieftaincy Affairs. Health and Information. Kudos to Mr. Governor!
Finally, this write-up will not be complete without some advice for the opposition elements who are hell bent on making a mountain out of a molehill especially a "Facebook lawyer" whose failed prediction of victory for former Governor Oyetola at the Supreme Court, after quoting several laws is taking an undue toll on his psyche and sense of reasoning. If a lawyer who was once a Commissioner in Osun State and assigned a portfolio outside his legal profession now criticizes his senior for doing same, that undoubtedly amounts to hypocrisy – Ti Oju akata ba le'wo, s'enu adiye lo wa to si. They are hereby advised to find some more meaningful ventures to embark upon instead of wasting their time in finding faults where there is none. No amount of calculated mischief is capable of undermining the rising popularity and acceptance of His Excellency Senator Ademola Adeleke and the giant strides attained by his administration within a limited timeframe. Imole de, okunkun parada.