One of the points those who opposed Buhari’s presidential ambition raised against him was that given his antecedents, he would not be fair to all Nigerians based on ethnicity and religion. By his actions and utterances, he has not proved that view wrong. This does not augur well for the unity, peace and progress of the nation.
By Azuka Onwuka
With the recent appointment of Mr. Ibrahim Idris as the Acting Inspector-General of Police (bypassing 30 of his seniors), President Muhammadu Buhari further made the headship of virtually all the military-cum-defense agencies and related agencies which wear uniform a Northern affair.
Records show the following: Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Tukur Buratai – North; Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar – North; Acting Inspector General of Police, Mr. Ibrahim Idris – North; Minister of Defense, Brig Gen (retd) Mansur Dan Ali – North; National Security Adviser, Major Gen (retd.) Babagana Munguno – North; Chairman, Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Mr. Ibrahim Magu – North; Director-General, Department of State Services, Mr. Lawal Daura – North; Comptroller-General of Nigeria Customs Service, Col Hameed Ali (retd.) – North; Comptroller-General, Nigerian Immigration Service, Mr. Kure Abeshi – North; Controller-General, Nigerian Prisons Service, Alhaji Ja’afaru Ahmed – North; Commandant-General, Nigeria Security and Civil Defense Corps, Mr. Abdullahi Muhammadu – North; Director-General of the National Youth Service Corps, Brig Gen Sule Kazaure – North; Comptroller-General of the Federal Fire Service , Mr. Garba Anebi – North.
If it is recalled that the Minister of Interior, Lt. Gen. Abdulrahman Damazzau (retd.), under whose ministry are Prisons Service, Immigration Service, Fire Service and the Nigeria Security and Civil Defense Corps, is also from the North, then the Ministry of the Interior with its agencies is virtually controlled by the North in clear breach of the Federal Character policy enshrined in the constitution.
Furthermore, even though it was not Buhari that did it, yet for the first time in the history of Nigeria, all the three arms of government are headed by Northerners: Executive, President Muhammadu Buhari; Legislature, Dr. Bukola Saraki; Judiciary, Justice Mahmud Mohammed.
In addition, the two arms of the legislature are headed by Northerners: Dr. Bukola Saraki, Senate President, and Mr. Yakubu Dogara, Speaker, House of Representatives.
Currently, the three levels of the law courts are headed by Northerners: The Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, Justice Mahmud Mohammed (North); President of the Court of Appeal, Justice Zainab Adamu Bulkachuwa (North); Chief Judge of the Federal High Court, Justice Ibrahim Auta (North).
It should be recalled that in 2015, Buhari appointed Alhaji Abubakar Malami as the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice also from the North.
Furthermore, the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, which supervises the conduct of national and state elections, is also a Northerner: Prof. Mahmood Yakubu.
The unwritten code used to be that the President of the country would appoint someone from a different zone (different language, different religion) as the INEC Chairman to give a sense of balance and increase the believability in the “independence” of INEC.
That was why many people raised their voices when Buhari appointed Yakubu, who is from Bauchi State, just one state away from Buhari’s Katsina State, as the INEC boss; for even though Bauchi is grouped under the North-East, it is not seen as being culturally and religiously different from Katsina.
It is like a President from the South-East appointing an Igbo from Delta State or Rivers State as INEC Chairman because Delta and Rivers are technically in the South-South, or a President from the South-West appointing a Yoruba from Kwara and Kogi as INEC Chairman on the grounds that Kwara and Kogi are in the North.
The argument of those who support this dangerous precedent is that what matters is getting those who are qualified and who will get the required results. But that argument is baseless. Statistics show that the North does not come close to the South in education and manpower.
Year after year, statistics from the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board show that any pair of Imo State and Delta or Imo State and Ogun or Imo State and Anambra produces more candidates than the 19 states of the North.
State-by-state performance statistics in senior secondary school examination from NECO and WASSCE also show that no Northern state usually appears among the top 10 states. Admission into Unity Schools follows the same trend. That is why the least cut-off marks are given to Northern states. However, competent hands can be found in abundance from all zones and states of Nigeria.
In terms of the performance or uprightness of office holders, there has been nothing to show that the North has any edge over the South. Some past office holders had excelled not because of their ethnic origin but because of their individual quality.
For example, Nuhu Ribadu shone at the EFCC; Dora Akunyili shone at NAFDAC; Akinwumi Adesina shone at the agriculture ministry. Also, those who had been arrested and found guilty of embezzlement of public funds cut across all ethnic groups, religions, age brackets and sexes.
It should be noted that Buhari benefited from the balancing and zoning of offices that Nigeria has been practicing. In December 2014 when he contested the presidential ticket of the All Progressives Congress, if he was from the South-West, South- East, or South-South, he would not have been seen as a serious contender, no matter his integrity, vision and leadership strengths.
Even though Rochas Okorocha was a candidate in that contest, it was obvious it was a contest for Northerners, just like Abubakar Rimi insisted on contesting the PDP ticket with Chief Olusegun Obasanjo and Dr. Alex Ekwueme in 2003 when it was seen as a Southern contest.
In the APC primaries, the candidates were: Buhari, Atiku Abubakar, Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso and Sam Nda-Isaiah. The reason for it being seen as a Northern contest was that President Umaru Yar’Adua, from the same Katsina State as Buhari, had died in office, after spending less than three years in office, and there were strong sentiments that the North needed to be allowed its eight years in the presidency like Obasanjo had done as a Southerner.
In addition, if it does not matter where office holders come from, why didn’t Buhari choose popular politicians like Kwankwaso, Atiku Abubakar Nasiru el-Rufai or Aminu Tambuwal, all fellow Northerners, as his running mate?
He knew that if he had done that, he would have lost the election, no matter how “qualified, clean and popular” he and his running mate were. These two points testify to the fact that Buhari benefited from zoning and balancing of offices.
Furthermore, our Constitution states that federal appointments must reflect federal character. Buhari has only reflected that in the appointment of ministers. In other appointments, he has disregarded that aspect of our Constitution that he swore to uphold.
The danger in this is that in future, a Southern President may decide to do something worse than what Buhari is currently doing. If any part complains, they will be given ample evidence of how it was done in the past by Buhari and many people rationalized it.
In addition, a diverse country like Nigeria needs the President to take actions and make statements that show that he treats all parts of the country equally. Much of the tension and crisis in the country today can be attributed to the obvious unfairness that Buhari has displayed in his one year in office.
A President with an all-inclusive orientation would have won over the majority of those who did not even vote for him within his six months in office. But Buhari’s actions show that he does not care. He seems to say: “You can say whatever you like or do whatever you like, it will not stop me from carrying on the way I like.”
One of the points those who opposed Buhari’s presidential ambition raised against him was that given his antecedents, he would not be fair to all Nigerians based on ethnicity and religion. By his actions and utterances, he has not proved that view wrong. This does not augur well for the unity, peace and progress of the nation.
Even some Northern groups and personalities like Alhaji Balarabe Musa, a former Kaduna State governor; Alhaji Tanko Yakassai, Chairman of the Northern Elders Forum; and Dr. Junaid Mohammed, Convener of the Coalition of Northern Politicians, academics, professionals and businessmen, who see the bigger picture and the inherent danger in this trend, have raised their voices against this trend by Buhari.
Whether it was Alhaji Shehu Shagari or Chief Olusegun Obasanjo or Alhaji Umaru Musa Yar’Adua or Dr. Goodluck Jonathan or even the military dictators that ruled Nigeria, each of them ensured that a semblance of balance was struck between the North and the South and among the various states, ethnic groups and religions in the area of appointments and projects.
No leader can achieve 100 percent equality among all the groups in terms of spread of offices or projects, but there is no justification whatsoever for what we currently have in Buhari’s presidency. It has gone far beyond the limits of fairness.
As the President of Nigeria, Buhari is like the father of the nation. A father who loves his home and wants the peace and progress of that home avoids actions and utterances that will show he favors some children and create a gulf among his children.
Azuka Onwuka is an author, columnist, blogger, life coach – an apostle of magnetic writing. His articles are republished @Writers War Room.
