In about ten days or so, Nigeria will be celebrating her unenviable 64th Independence anniversary. President Bola Tinubu is expected to follow tradition and address the nation. Tinubu has become known for largely recycling many of his past speeches. But this time, we expect something capable of giving Nigerians genuine “renewed hope”.

Tinubu is about to complete the first 16 out of 48 months in his first tenure. This year’s independence offers him an opportunity to reposition the structure of his government from this crowded, politically-heavy template to something leaner, meaner and more result-oriented.

Despite the famished economy that his predecessor Muhammadu Buhari left behind, Tinubu still went on to constitute a 48-man cabinet, the largest in our nation’s history. Indeed, he is preparing to add one more – for the livestock breeders. This should not be. There is nothing he can do with new ministries that he cannot do even more effectively through well-structured departments or agencies.

We call on the president to consider paring the cabinet to 36 ministers and much fewer ministries. Political jobbers must go and play their individual roles in revamping the economy and restoring the nation’s security. Too many people are cocooned in government and shielded from the harsh realities of the world in which the ordinary Nigerian lives. The more crowded a government, the more it is isolated from the people.

It is also time to look into the Oronsaye Report and scrap or merge government agencies and departments for more effective service delivery. Tinubu should summon the same gumption he used to impose subsidy removal to bring the architecture of the Federal Government to shape for more effective response.

The president should also reconsider his global junkets. Most presidents of serious countries rarely travel outside. These include the leaders of the countries that Tinubu and other Nigerian leaders visit, such as the UK, France, UAE, China, Canada, Russia and the USA. These travels smack of jamborees which are ill-suited for the suffocating security and economic challenges that Tinubu swore to tackle.

We need our president to stay home and be hands-on with the task of leadership. He should lead from the front and breathe down the necks of officials to achieve results effectively. The political jobbers should give way to tested hands, the so-called technocrats. Nigerians cannot wait till 2027 because tomorrow is too far.

An essential factor in the rejig process is the need to drastically reduce the overwhelmingly regional and ethnic outlook of the Tinubu government. Extreme nepotism was one of the primary reasons for Buhari’s failure. Its continuation under Tinubu has contributed to lack of visible progress in any area.

All hands should be properly brought on deck. It is the only way the nation can move forward.