Finally, ministers have taken their oaths of office in my country Nigeria. Perhaps there were surprises, perhaps there were not, but a few Nigerians got their speculations right.
Today I watched the President call out names of ministers designate, with their offices one after the other from the 1st to the 36th.
Like in previous successive administration, some he called Ministers, some he called Minister of State or State Ministers. A larger chunk of the populace only have an idea as to who a Minister of State is, but not an exact knowledge.
So......................
Who is a Minister of State?
A Minister of State reports to the Cabinet Minister. To be precise, he/she is the junior member who works in close coordination with a Union Minister to help the latter in meeting national goals pertaining to that Ministry. It is incumbent upon a State Minister to deal with issues of the ministry under the aegis of the Union Minister.
Who is a Cabinet Minister?
A Cabinet minister or Union minister is the person who commands utmost authority of the concerned ministry. He/she is appointed by the President .A Cabinet Minister is treated as the head of a particular ministry such as Education, Health, Home, Foreign, etc.
Every Cabinet Minister has the power to take independent decisions pertaining to his/her ministry. The PM can advise them on policies and convene cabinet meetings to assess progress and status of relevant administrative functions.
Minister of State with Independent Charge
Sometimes a State Minister is given independent charge of ministries, which don't have a Cabinet Minister to oversee the operations.
It is to be understood that the power of the Minister of State is confined to the particular region, and it is his responsibility to take care of the state-centric functioning of a ministry. The Union Cabinet minister comes into picture when a bigger policy decision needs to be taken. Moreover, the President may not always call all State Ministers to discuss issues, but only the Cabinet Minister.
Reference Links :
- Prime Minister of India Website