Obaseki made the call on Thursday, at the commission’s seminar for South-South Zone, with the theme: “The Spread of Socio-economic and Infrastructural Facilities – Need for Strategic Partnership with Stakeholders,” in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital.
“We must constantly project a national outlook in the appointments of Nigerians into federal ministries and agencies and ensure that infrastructural facilities are evenly spread across the country. We must reinforce the principles of fairness, equity, justice, which form the tripod upon which the Federal Character Commission rests,” Obaseki told the audience.
“To ensure harmony in our polity, I will suggest that the Federal Character Commission establish a compliance monitoring department that will scrutinise federal government appointments and the distribution of infrastructural projects across the country. The compliance monitoring department should raise the red flag when the provisions of the Federal Character are abused or flouted.”
Obaseki who was represented at the event by the Special Adviser on Special Duties, Yakubu Gowon, advised: “If appointments and infrastructures are skewed or tilted in favour of one part of the country or state, those from other parts of the country will feel short-changed and become agitated.”
According to him, stories abound of how some people abuse the provisions of the Federal Character, adding: “we learnt that some people fraudulently change their states of origin and take over appointment slots reserved for other states. This is condemnable.”
On synergy, Obaseki told the commission to strengthen synergy with the state governments and publicize its activities by advertising appointment slots regularly, so that the various state governments can utilize their respective slots.
“I recommend that similar strategy should be adopted in the allocation of infrastructural facilities.”
He said there was a raging debate about whether the Federal Character Commission has outlived its usefulness and therefore should be scrapped and that some argue that the principle of federal character negates meritocracy, industry and creativity.
“My position is that, everything in life is dynamic. The only institutions that die with time, are those that refuse to modify their ways to keep steps with changing times and trends.”
Obaseki recommended that the commission should be ready to reinvent its systems from time to time so that it is not left behind.
