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When a minister tells a journalist “you are too small” to warrant reporting to the president, we are no longer in the realm of public service; we are witnessing imperial posturing. Such was the spectacle on The Morning Show on Tuesday, when Minister of Works, David Umahi, and co-host Rufai Oseni clashed over questions about the Lagos-Calabar coastal highway project.
Umahi’s statement: “You are too small for me to report to the president. Stop saying I reported you to the President”, was not just crude, it exposes the mindset of President Bola Tinubu’s ministers, that they serve the cabinet, not the people. Umahi was simply telling Oseni that questioning him is beneath the journalist. This is dangerous. It offends the principle of accountability. It erodes the terrain of public discourse. And it reveals the arrogance of power unchecked.
But Umahi is not an outlier. He is, rather, symptomatic of a pattern we see elsewhere, especially around Nyesom Wike. In fact, the very idea that a minister might believe he is exempt from tough questions or public scrutiny has become an unspoken entitlement in some quarters of the Tinubu administration.
Just months ago, Umahi famously walked out on journalists covering a press briefing. According to Punch, he stormed out of the ministry’s conference room, declared “there is no press here,” and left reporters bewildered, demanding that his staff move on with the meeting without media presence.
Vanguard also documented the incident saying Umahi arrived 52 minutes late, abruptly declared the press conference could not hold, and left journalists without explanation.
Then there is Wike, a man who, in his past as governor, has shown flashes of muscular politics, and now as FCT minister seems determined to replicate those traits in Abuja.
Reports from Daily Trust indicate that Wike’s revocations of land allocations in the FCT have continued unabated.
A more serious concern is the case of Hassan Mairiga, a staff of the FCDA who was accused of leaking documents implicating Wike’s land allocations to his sons. Mairiga was queried and reportedly held despite claims he merely exposed alleged wrongdoing.
Taken together, the incidents involving Umahi and Wike reveal a pattern. Certain ministers seem to believe their office places them above scrutiny, criticism, or justified questioning. They act as though they are princes in a court, not public servants in a democracy.
This arrogance is especially perilous because it signals to subordinates, institutions, and the public that the rules apply only to ordinary citizens, never to the powerful. It marginalises journalists, silences dissent, and corrodes institutional integrity.
Tinubu, in appointing individuals of such temperament, implicitly allowed ego to masquerade as capability. He must bear responsibility for maintaining a cabinet that is answerable and accountable, not one comprised of untouchables.
True public service must be open to interrogation. Ministers should welcome press conferences, town halls, question time, and ethics checks. They should not denounce journalists as “too small” or “ignorant.” They should not enforce silence but permit dissent. They should behave like guardians, not overlords.
Ministerial appointments are not sinecures; they are mandates. And mandates must always remain revocable by the court of public opinion, institutional oversight, or presidential correction.
Therefore, if Umahi or Wike truly believe they are “too significant” to be questioned, then they are unfit to hold public office. Tinubu should either ask them to resign or dismiss them before they cause deeper damage to his presidency and to Nigeria’s democratic culture.
Because at the end of the day, those who control public funds and the space of public discourse must be accountable. And Nigeria’s corporate memory should never forget the day its ministers decided they were emperors.
Ogunyemi, a public affairs analyst, writes from Lagos.
