President Muhammadu Buhari has charged members of his cabinet to rededicate themselves to work in order earn the trust of Nigerians as the cabinet marks one year tomorrow (Friday).
The cabinet was inaugurated by Buhari on Thursday, November 11 last year at the Council Chambers of the Presidential Villa where the ministers were also assigned portfolios.
The President spoke at a session to mark one year of the inauguration of the cabinet.
It would be recalled that Buhari inaugurated his cabinet six months after he took over power from former President Goodluck Jonathan on May 29 last year.
The session held yesterday against backdrop of calls on Buhari to reshuffle or dissolve his cabinet over poor performance, particularly over the economic recession. Briefing State House Correspondents after the meeting of the council which lasted an hour, Minister of Mines and Steel Development Kayode Fayemi said FEC reviewed the progress level and performance of the ministers one year after inauguration. Fayemi made the comments in the company of the Minister of Water Resources Suleiman Adamu and Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity Mr Femi Adeshina. The Minister said, “The President’s charge is simple.
You know the President is not a man of many words. His charge to us is just get on with it, ensure that you earn the trust of Nigerians by doing the best you can to serve the country.”
According to Fayemi, the President noted that the challenges ahead were still enormous, saying that “we cannot afford to rest on our oars.“We read what we write and we get the feedback coming from the populace. We need to continue to explain, we need to communicate to Nigerians what we are doing. We would find a way to speak individually about what we have been doing in a last one year. At the ministry level there will be some kind of commemoration but noting extra ordinary.”
According to him, the review gave the ministers the opportunity to reflect on the progress they have made as a government and the challenges that “we still have to tackle and the commitment we have to reiterate.” Fayemi said the ministers also thanked the President for giving them the opportunity to serve the nation and do so in a manner that advances the democracy and development of the country.
At the session, the council approved the direct procurement of 38 Nissan four-wheel patrol vehicles for Mines Inspectorate division of Ministry of Mines and Steel in the 36 states and the FCT.
The 38 vehicles would be shared one for each state of the Federation and FCT and an additional one for Lagos because of its size The total cost of the vehicles is N326,781 million with a unit cost of N8.190 million.
Fayemi noted that for a decade no vehicle has been purchased for the Mines and Steel Inspectorate division to oversee the activities in various states in artisan and informal mining situations and the surveillance of illegal mining activities.
He said the approval for the vehicle was in line with the commitment of the Federal Government to support made-in-Nigeria products.
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