In what may qualify for an entry into the Guinness Book of Records, it took President Goodluck Jonathan seven long months to make up his mind on who should replace a minister he sacked last June and five months to find a replacement for another minister forced to resign in August.

In a letter read on the Senate floor yesterday at the resumption of plenary, Jonathan appealed for prompt confirmation of two ministerial nominees: Kabiru Turaki, a senior lawyer from Kebbi State, and Professor Chinedu Nebo, an educationist from Enugu State.

Turaki is to replace former Defence Minister Haliru Bello Muhammed from Kebbi State, who was removed from the cabinet on June 21 last year, while Prof. Nebo, a former Vice-Chancellor of the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, takes the slot vacated by former Minister of Power, Prof. Barth Nnaji from Enugu, who was forced to resign on August 28.

Jonathan, who is regularly lampooned for his snail speed, defends himself by saying that he likes to take his time so as to avoid making mistakes.

Ostensibly buckling under a heavy workload, junior Defence Minister Erelu Olusola Obada had on Tuesday slumped during the 2013 Armed Forces Remembrance Day Celebration in Abuja, the Nigerian capital. With the imminent appointment of a substantive minister, the old woman can gladly look forward to having a less hectic schedule.

•Photo: It has taken Jonathan seven months to find a replacement for erstwhile Defence Minister Haliru Bello Muhammed.