Hajia Hanatu Musawa: When appointment goes sour

Public appointments in Nigeria are veritable opportunities for the lucky appointees to have a cut on the so-called ' national cake' horse ride into easy wealth.

Across the country, such appointments are usually heralded with pomp and pageantry; drumming, singing and dancing and drinking.

The appointees reel in ecstacy, hosting, family friends and other well wishers alike, in some cases, for days.

However, there were unsavoury cases where some appointees areg faced with challenges, making these opportunities sour

Hajia Hanatu Musa Musawa is a case in point.

Appointed as the Minister of Culture by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu last year, plethora of controversy trailing the young lawyer seems to be giving her goose pimples.

And as such, she has been battling for survival to clear her image and retain her plum seat.

She has been battling to clear her image of skipping the one year mandatory National Youth Service before taking up the appointment, an allegation she has flagrantly denied. By

First, the fatal shot thrown at Musawa came from unexpected quarters: Human Right Writers Association, HURIWA.

The group had alleged that Hanatu abandoned her NYSC.

Whereas, the group stated that the NYSC Act stipulates that any Nigerian graduate below 30 years of age who refuses to make himself/ herself available for the compulsory one-year service has committed an offence and liable on conviction to a fine of N4000 or both such fine and imprisonment .

The National Coordinator of the group Emmanuel Onwubiko affirwd Hanatu was indeed a serving NYSC in 2023.

Indeed, a deputy director in the Federal Ministry of Information, Suleiman Haruna dismissed the defence of the allegation against Musawa, saying, the reply purportedly from the Federal Ministry did not emanate from them.

The Minister had accused the Department of State Security Services, DSS, which unveiled her failing, of bias and undue diligence in carrying out it's duties on her NYSC status.

Hanatu had faced hurdles at the Senate while being cleared for the job before she was allowed to 'take a bow ang go', just as HURIWA condemned the Senate move to ask her bow and go!

The Minister was accused of abandoning her NYSC in Ebonyi state, South East Nigeria, where she was posted having just showed up years after abandoning the scheme.

Later, Hajia Musawa, to make up for the issue, was posted to a law firm in Abuja to do the NYSC where Tinubu picked her.

Since then, Katsina state-born young woman, has been contending with several other issues.

For example, she hurriedly sacked heads of the agencies, said to be performing under her; National Theatre, National Institute for Cultural Orientation, NICO, and Centre for Black.African Arts Civilisation, CBAAC, others, in a manner described by industry observers as laced with vendetta and non-procedural.

But the Minister is noving on in spite of these barrage of attacks against her over her action.

 She has expressed optimism that the New Oil in Nigeria, is the cultural economy,, which she would exploit to the nation's benefit.

She said it is the keys y driver of growth; and it presents an opportunity to accelerate Nigeria's development on local and global stages.

While hosting the Director General of the Nigerian Department bot the African Development Bank, ADB, Hanatu interfaced with him on how to access $617million IDICE fund for the creative industry, just as she hosted some critical players in the culture Minister, including SONATA-Society of the Nigerian Theatre Artists in the move to bolster the ministry under her watch.

Despite all these moves by her, analysts say tongues are still wagging about her suitability for the important national job.

They say there is the strong need to thorough my scrutinize our public officials to avoid past pitfalls.

They cited the cases of suspended Dr Beta Edu, former Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, alleged to have mismanaged public funds and Musawa, wio is facing integrity test.