[size=14pt]Northernisation policy exposed - Forces truncate Senate probe of Federal Character violation[/size]

Taiwo Adisa, Group Politics Editor - 14.06.2009

Fresh details of the alleged Northernisation agenda of the present administration came to the fore at the weekend with the revelation that no fewer than 20 Federal Government agencies have been reported to the Senate over violation of the Federal Character Principle inserted in the 1999 Constitution.

Sections 14(3&4) of the 1999 Constitution indicate that the composition of the governments and their agencies, both at the federal and state levels, must conform with the Federal Character of Nigeria.

The constitution stipulates that positions are to be spread in a way to ensure unity and promote a sense of belonging among the ethnic groups and the states that constitute the federation.

Apparently working in line with the projections of a team of Northern politicians, who were said to have met in Bauchi and Abuja recently to pontificate on the need for the North to clear all top political appointments in the country, the government of President Yar’Adua has been reeling out appointments which give the North an edge over the other zones.

Sources have confirmed to Sunday Tribune that revelations before the Federal Character Commission (FCC), as well as the Senate Committee on Federal Character, have indicated a long list of violations of the Principle of Federal Character by the North in most Federal agencies.

There was outcry recently when President Umaru Yar’Adua appointed Mr. Sanusi Lamido Sanusi as the new Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), following the expiration of the tenure of Professor Chukwuma Soludo.

Sanusi hails from Kano State like other managers of the nation’s economy, including the Minister of Finance, Mansur Muktar and the Minister of National Planning, Dr. Shamsudeen.

Some opposition leaders had also argued that to further confirm that Kano State is being perpetuated in the governance of the country, the incumbent head of the Nigerian Army, the Chief of Army Staff, also hails from the state.

Investigations revealed that out of the 20 agencies that have been heavily indicted of violations of the Federal Character Principle by the Federal Character Commission (FCC), only three agencies were indicted of favouring the South East, while the 17 others favoured the North.

The three agencies which were linked with undue preference for the South East in their records of employment, according to investigations, include the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the National Communi-cations Commission (NCC).

According to a source, “In the last few years, there have been increase in the number of South East candidates who get employed at the CBN and the NCC. There are also reports that similar violations were recorded in the Nigeria Energy Commission. There are clear cases of violations of the Federal Character principle in three agencies in favour of the South East.”

It was gathered that the CBN had recently defended its lopsided employment policy which favoured young professionals from the South East, by saying that its employments were carried out through competitive processes which ensured that only the professionally minded people got the jobs.

The CBN recently wrote a government agency probing the violation of the Federal Character at the apex bank, saying that its employment strategies were geared at ensuring professionalism.

“It is curious to note that even though a Yoruba man, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, was the president who appointed Soludo as CBN governor, the Yoruba were almost declared persona non-grata in the apex bank, while other parts of the country except the South East suffered the same fate,” a source told Sunday Tribune.

Statistics from government quarters have confirmed the lopsided employment records of the CBN and the NCC, whose management under the Executive Vice Chairman, Chief Ernest Udukwe is said to also unduly favour the South East.

But besides these two agencies, a majority of the government agencies operate recruitment policies that directly favour the North.

There was outcry when the Federal Government appointed the new Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Alhaji Sanusi Barkindo, following the ceding of the Ministry of Petroleum to Dr. Rilwan Lukman, another Northerner. It was gathered that the NNPC has been guilty of violations of the Federal Character Principle in more than ten years.

Other agencies that have been indicted of violations of the Federal Character Principle and deliberately favouring the “Northern agenda” include the Nigerian Army, the State Security Services (SSS), Nigeria Intelligence Agency (NIA), the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR), Nigeria Liquified Natural Gas Limited (NLNG), the National Salaries and Wages Commission, Federal Medical Centre, Gusau, Federal Medical Centre Birnin-Kebbi, the Nigeria Communications Satellite(NIGCOMSAT) and the Petroleum Technology Development Trust Fund (PTDF).

It was gathered that the perpetuation of the North, especially the North West in the Army, elicited a petition to the National Assembly recently, where the petitioners accused the Army of “Kaduna Southernalisation.”

But sources informed the Sunday Tribune that the Nigerian Army and the SSS have risen to defend themselves.

It was gathered that the Army had fired back after its indictment for violation of the Federal character was revealed by saying that its recruitment has been affected in the North by the non-participation of women, a situation which then made it concentrate its recruitment on men.

It was equally learnt that because the Army could not balance the ratio of men in the North compared to the other geo-political zones, the statistics has been made to look as if it deliberately recruit more from a section of the North.

The SSS was said to have replied to its indictment in a similar manner, by indicating that its recruitment in the North has been affected by the non-participation of women.

Besides the indictment by the FCC of the agencies, an inquest by the Senate following series of petitions indicting the management of several federal parastatals of violation of the Federal Character Principle, has revealed what has been described as “unprecedented marginalization” of a section of the country through the recruitment policies of the agencies.

While the chairman, Senate Committee on Federal Character, Senator Smart Adeyemi and 21 other Senators had planned to move a motion in the Senate to ensure an official hearing into the matter, it was gathered that some forces, who sensed dangers had intervened, asking the Senators to back out of the bid.

The planned motion has so far been kept in the cooler in the Senate. Other Senators who had declared support for Senator Adeyemi’s motion include Senators Olorunnimbe Mamora, Ayogu Eze, Isiaka Adeleke, Joseph Akaargerger, Ayo Arise, Andrew Babalola, George Sekibo, Lee Maeba, Zainab Kure, Grace Folashade Bent; Kamorudeen Adedibu, Chris Anyanwu, Aloysius Akpan, Mohammed Ahmed, Joy Emodi, Dahiru Awaisu Kuta; Lawan Ahmed Ibrahim, Anthony George Manzo, Anthony Agbo and Nkechi Nwaogu.

In June last year, the Federal Government defended its appointments against the alleged Northernisation policy by reeling out the figures, which indicated that the South had more appointments than the North.

A statement by the Special Adviser to the President on Communication, Mr. Olusegun Adeniyi, had indicated that the President appeared to have favoured the South in the appointment of his personal aides and advisers and special assistants.

The statement indicated that “a verifiable list of all the personal aides, special advisers and other appointees to the Yar’Adua Presidency reveals that the North is actually behind the South. While the President retained about 80 per cent of the personnel from the Obasanjo era, even a glance at the states of origin of the few he himself appointed, reveals that majority are actually from the South.”

It further said: ”Records kept by the Office of the Chief of Staff to the President show that out of the 57 political appointees in Presidency, 31 come from the South and only 26 from the North. A breakdown of Presidential Aides further reveals that of the 19 Senior Special Assistants (SSA), 11 are from the South and eight from the North while of the 23 Special Assistants (SA), 13 are from the South and 10 from the North. There are only four Personal Assistants (PA), three are from the South with only one from the North.”

But some sources have said that the quantity and quality of the appointments have to also be examined.

Sources said that whereas the South could boast of more appointments in the number of special aides of the President, the influence and budgets attached to the offices occupied by Northern aides tend to further confirm the claim of marginalisation.

According to a source, “Whereas the Special Assistant in charge of Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) answers the same title as others, the occupant of that portfolio is in charge of funds that dwarf that of some ministries, while his colleagues who hold similar titles have no budget at all attached to their offices.

“What use is 100 special presidential aides from the South, who have no power to influence a project compared to one or a few from the North who control vital segments of the government?,” the source queried. http://www.tribune.com.ng/14062009/news/news1.html

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1.they dont see us as humans
2.they hate africans
3.no nigerian working in india i mean desent job.
4.media campagn against us
5.their is nothing they do which if enpowered we cant do,our spirit is stronger than theirs if respected by our oppressors.