Taiwo Oyedele has arrived at the Ministry of Finance as the most technically accomplished tax architect Nigeria has ever appointed to this role. His command of domestic resource mobilisation and fiscal compliance architecture is exceptional. Wale Edun was equally formidable. He was a neoclassical diplomat, excelling in sovereign debt restructuring, FDI mobilisation and keeping Nigeria visible and attractive to international capital markets. Both are brilliant. Both are distinguished. And yet, their appointments show a failure of imagination that no amount of individual competence can resolve.