There is a God! The last time we spoke Ruel Reid was curt in his information minister’s hat at the prime minister’s invitation-only media soirée. After an hour and drinks, I was exiting the great house when I felt a hand on my shoulder. Voilá, my host had arrived! We shook hands, joked briefly, and he waded into the crowd. Near the car park I ran into Ruel, who spluttered in my face as if in a conniption: “Wa…wha… what you doing here?” And being a bit mellow I said, “Good evening and good night.” Then, with brain in gear, he said: “Oh, yes, you are part of the media fraternity, too. Okay, fine.”

His vapid rudeness in contrast to Andrew Holness’s bonhomie made me recall Sun Tzu’s gem: “Keep your friends close and your enemies closer.” I was no enemy; politics is not life and Ruel is a novice at winning ways!

The web of deceit I believe to exist in the Education Ministry is not yet unravelled, but the personal fallout is painful, so pray for Ruel’s family and friends; may his kids be spared trauma and find solace as disgrace is a lonely place.

In this grim milieu, Granny’s words are apt: “When yuh dig one hole be sure to dig two!” Selah.

Ronald Thwaites for minister of education is viral on food courts. It seems ludicrous at first, but all things considered, and given Prime Minister Andrew Holness’s penchant for Americana, maybe not. We talk unity, laud jointure of Portia’s economy reset, and Andrew is embracing it; so why not this innovation?

Thwaites and his party leader would step up or shut up! In 2009, US President Barack Obama put Republicans as secretary of transport and secretary of defence in his Cabinet. Both had served President George W Bush when Obama was a rabid critic of the Iraq war. We need a spirit of going for glory with the best man.

Sir, the education transformation project is crucial, it needs continuity and, given the steep learning curve, why not use a safe pair of hands?

The project traversed administrations well, but suffered by Reid’s bungling, bluster, botched launch of the Primary Exit Profile (PEP). He became a control freak who created bad blood with top schools, teachers.

Prime Minister, you want free education, but where is the budget increase to fund it? The 2017 budget bought us 30 per cent Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) passes and 70 per cent failure, so how much more do schools need to reverse these stats? The reality is most CSEC aces attend top schools, at which parents’ contributions buy excellence. Will Cabinet free up schools so parents who can, pay; and the ministry pay top-up for Programme of Advancement Through Health and Education (PATH) students so all schools draw level? We can then move from this free putrid stew to free quality education.

Thwaites’ appointment as minister from now to the calling of elections would be unprecedented, but isn’t Holness an innovator? Sir, the national project cannot advance if you limit yourself to what the elders did. If former prime ministers could have made education work or prospered Jamaica they would have. They did not set out to fail; they just did.

Team Simpson Miller/Phillips stabilised our economy, and your team, by robust continuity, may join them in the history books. Man up!

The generational incompetence of our serial Cabinets is clear. Many are amazed that the iconic success of individual Jamaicans globally is not matched by our Cabinets. In 70 years of self-government we got a farrago of promises, but not one decade of prosperity; no function works well — not health, security, housing, transport, food production — and education is moving up but not yet out of the woods!

Thwaites, as minister, is improbable but compelling. As the best-performing education minister of the generation, a servant leader in legal aid for the masses, a talk show host of signal balance, he should be on pole. Many still call him minister. He’s in demand for school, alumni events here, abroad; on the ball with education transformation which is now in its 15th year. He is hope for the poor. Ronnie is respected, loved, the most identifiable brand here and the Diaspora, so if he builds it they will come!

Sir, the big hurdle is politics and who does it more important than scoring the goal? When white-built South Africa criticised Mugabe he lashed out saying blacks in Zimbabwe were starving, but happily it was black leaders starving them not whites! What a race to the bottom!

Consider this conundrum: We give people more, but they have less. We have land and strong people, but can’t feed ourselves. We have freedom and a long list of rights, but citizens cower behind iron grilles. We are most unequal, yet the rich get richer, the poor poorer. And, we have more churches per capita, but are the murder capital of the world.

Prime Minister, you fired 15 per cent of your Cabinet in six months and the sky did not fall; so lead, be bold, innovate, and make history! Stay conscious!

Franklin Johnston, D Phil (Oxon), is a strategist and project manager; Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport (UK); and lectures in logistics and supply chain management at Mona School of Business and Management, The University of the West Indies. Send comments to the Observer or franklinjohnstontoo@gmail.com.