Hannatu Musa Musawa, President Ahmed Tinubu’s minister of Arts, Culture and Creative economy, is more powerful than the president who appointed her. Every week, Hannatu hugs controversy, some very mundane and pedestrian, justifying the fear of Nigerians, particularly those in the culture and creative economy that she does not deserve to find a place in the renewed hope team of president Ahmed Bola Tinubu.
What’s her newest ignoramus intervention? She wants to head to the United States to appeal to the organisers of Grammy Awards to create a Nigerian nay African Grammy replica, a pedestrian and poor sense of interpretation of the Grammy, which does not reflect the deep cultural content and context of Nigerian music and dance.
If President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has kept a close tap on Nigerian music and identified with the cultural music of kwam one, is it then not a misnomer for a culture minister who from all available intelligence around her, does not understand that Nigerian music has come of age, breaking cross cultural limitations, and holding Europe, America and the rest of the world in active captive admiration.
Over the years, certain verifiable and authentic Nigerian cum pan African music and films festival Awards have emerged to drive full-blown, the growth potentials of Nigerian artists and creating huge economies around it, boosting skills in digital media and cultural crafts and dances.
Unfortunately madam Culture controversy, does stubbornly go about the national cultural assignment as a dangerous flu waiting to wipe away humanity and the Nigerian culture sector.
In the heat of her newest, avoidable confrontations and controversy with stakeholders in the industry, Hannatu’s euro centic cultural focus has pitched her up again with Nigerian culture and creative communities which are beginning to get tired of her confusion and poor capacity to deliver on the president’s cultural tourism expectations.
Though Hannatu claimed to be a lawyer and a writer, it is however interesting to note that her naive interpretation of our cultural diversity and its huge economy is not lost on Nigerians except on those who forced her on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu who had creative nose and eyes to discover and nuture great minds and potential leaders of the future.
This minister, who has an oil and gas background, certainly does not deserve to be Nigeria’s culture minister in this time when the country needs to bring her best legs and minds forward to gain full traction in creating and curating culture jobs and to empower the Nigerian young persons.
In seven months, all she has achieved is to fall into one gully or the other, making the president who appointed her to look like a shadow of his best pedigree as the godfather of Nigerian political and human capacity builder.
Indeed, we doubt if Hannatu Musa Musawa is actually president Ahmed Tinubu best candidate for the culture job.
If actually she is, there is no way Hannatu would single handedly upvote mere directorates into full agencies without a presidential permission. As if that gross error does attract a sack from office , Hannatu transmuted and appropriated the power of Mr. President and the National Assembly, and appointed the chief executives of her pet organisations without bathing an eyelid.
Don’t let us talk about her NYSC discharge certificate issues again because the matter is before the courts, but we dare ask for how long, would president, Ahmed Bola Tinubu, tolerate this disaster of minister, waiting to reverse all cultural gains of the past.
Popular thespian, Richard mofe Damijo, had warned Hannatu to stay her lane because she was never part of Nigeria culture and creative train and therefore should not grandstand as if she is something new that happened to the industry.
Unfortunately, Hannatu will not listen to such friendly and helpful advice but has like a bull in a Chinese shop, turned Nigeria’ s Cultural community, to the kingdom of the blind, shattering dreams and expectations of the biggest economy in Nigeria.
