To satisfy political interests President Tinubu created a Ministry of Solid Minerals led by his protégé Dele Alake and a separate Ministry of Mines and Steel which will oversee the Ajaokuta Steel Mill a moribund steel Russian-built complex that has not produced steel in nearly four decades...
Last month Solid Minerals Minister Dele Alake blamed some 'powerful Nigerians' for the illegal mining activities which fuel banditry kidnapping and terrorism...
Tinubu put his right-hand man from the south-west Dele Alake in charge of the Ministry of Solid Minerals regulating mining of lithium gold and other precious metals while Lateef Fagbemi is Attorney General and Minister of Justice...
Others have minimal policymaking experience such as Minister of State for Housing and Urban Development Abdullahi Tijjani Gwarzo (a career politician) Minister of Steel Development Shuaibu Abubakar Audu (whose late father Abubakar Audu a governor of Kogi State was Tinubu's close friend) and Minister of Solid Minerals Dele Alake (a journalist and political spokesman)...
PRESIDENT BOLA TINUBU'S 46-PERSON MINISTERIAL TEAM Post – name (state age profession) SKILL-BRINGERS (7) Communications – Olatunbosun Tijani (Ogun 46 tech entrepreneur) Education – Tahir Mamman (Adamawa 69 academic administrator) Finance – Wale Edun (Ogun 61 banker) Foreign Affairs – Yusuf Maitama Tuggar (Bauchi 56 politician/diplomat/oil executive) Health – Muhammed Ali Pate (Bauchi 54 medicine/public health) Health (deputy) – Tunji Alausa (Lagos 56 medicine) Housing – Ahmed Musa Dangiwa (Katsina 60 banker/construction executive) THE EX-GOVERNORS (9) Budget – Atiku Bagudu (Kebbi 61 ex-governor) Defence – Mohammed Badaru Abubakar (Jigawa 60 ex-governor) Defence (deputy) – Bello Matawalle (Zamfara 61 ex-governor) Federal Capital Territory – Nyesom Wike (Rivers 55 ex-governor) Labour and Employment – Simon Lalong (Plateau 60 ex-governor) Marine and Blue Economy – Adegboyega Oyetola (Osun 68 ex-governor) Petroleum Resources – President Bola Ahmed Tinubu Police Affairs – Ibrahim Gaidam (Yobe 66 ex-governor) Works – David Umahi (Ebonyi 60 ex-governor) ALLIES AND CRONIES (19) Agriculture and Food Security – Abubakar Kyari (Borno 60 career politician) Agriculture and Food Security (deputy) – Aliyu Sabi Abdullahi (Niger 56 politician) Art Culture and the Creative Economy – Hannatu Musawa (Katsina 43 lawyer) Aviation – Festus Keyamo (Delta 53 lawyer) Housing (deputy) – Abdullahi Tijjani Gwarzo (Kano 62 career politician) Information – Mohammed Idris 'Malagi' (Niger 57 newspaper editor) Innovation Science and Technology – Uche Nnaji (Enugu 60 business/politician) Attorney General and Justice – Lateef Fagbemi (Kwara 64 lawyer) Niger Delta – Abubakar Momoh (Edo 62 career politician) Petroleum/Oil (deputy) – Heineken Lokpobiri (Bayelsa 56 career politician) Power – Adebayo Adelabu (Oyo 52 banker) Solid Minerals – Dele Alake (Ekiti 66 journalist) Special Duties – Zephaniah Jisalo (FCT 53 career politician) Sports – John Owan Enoh (Cross River 57 career politician) Steel Development – Shuaibu Abubakar Audu (Kogi 42 banker) Steel Development (deputy) – Uba Maigari Ahmadu (Taraba 57 career politician) Transportation – Sa'idu Ahmed Alkali (Gombe 54 career politician) Water Resources (deputy) – Bello Muhammad Goronyo (Sokoto 58 career politician) Women's Affairs – Uju Kennedy-Ohanenye (Anambra 50 business) THE SPONSORED (11) Education (deputy) – Yusuf Tanko Sununu (Kebbi 56 medicine) Environment (deputy) – Ishak Salako (Ogun 64 medicine) Federal Capital Territory (deputy) – Mairiya Mahmud (Kano 47 medicine) Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation – Betta Edu (Cross River 36 politician) Industry Trade and Investment – Doris Uzoka-Anite (Imo 42 finance) Interior – Olubunmi Tunji Ojo (Ondo 41 business/politician) Labour and Employment (deputy) – Nkiru Onyejeocha (Abia 54 career politician) Petroleum/Gas (deputy) – Ekperikpe Ekpo (Akwa Ibom ~50 career politician) Police Affairs (deputy) – Imaan Sulaiman-Ibrahim (Nasarawa 43 business/civil service) Tourism – Lola Ade-John (Lagos 60 consultant) Water Resources – Joseph Utsev (Benue 43 administrator) * President Tinubu will name at least one more minister because he has yet to nominate a minister from Kaduna State (Nigeria's constitution requires that the President nominate at least one minister from each state)...
Dele Alake a member of the President's kitchen cabinet was asked to 'sing the national anthem'...
Another long-time ally on the list is Dele Alake a former editor of the Concord owned by Moshood Abiola who won the 1993 election later annulled by the military and died in prison in 1998...
