₦airaland Forum

Should Federal Character Matter In Public Offices Appointment?

There is no doubt that the major aim of most of the countries of the world is to fill their public offices with competent, vibrant and visionary people, so as to aid national development but it is highly egregious, sardonic and devastating that our country Nigeria, is still wallowing in sheer ignorance by placing more emphasis on ethnicity, religious diversity and geographical distribution in the appointments to public service institutions, through the adoption of a toxic and retrogressive policy called “Federal Character”

Imbibing the epigrammatic aphorism that, greeting is an ethic of a virtuous child, I salute the illustrious chief host of this intellectual discourse, the resplendent chairman and chairlady, the inexhaustible coordinators, the conscientious panel of judges, the peppy moderators, my resolute co-debaters and the scrumptious audience of Nairaland forum. I remain an entity that bears OyedejiOyeniyi (Neyoor), a passionate representative of the better by far University that is located in the ancient town of Ilorin. I want to seize this unwonted opportunity, to fervently oppose the motion that states “Should Federal Character Matter In Public Offices Appointments”

To say that Federal Character should matter in public offices appointment is disastrous to our nation’s prosperity is an understatement. It is not only inimical to our growth and development but also divides the country further along ethnic and religious lines. Therefore, there is a need to use other viable ways to make appointments to fill our delicate and imperative public offices. Without much ado, let me laconically buttress my assertion by unveiling the following concrete points of mine:

Although, federal character was enshrined into the Nigerian constitution in the year 1979, with the sole aim of ensuring that appointments to public service institutions reflect the ethnic, religious and tribal diversity in Nigeria, but so far the policy is nothing but a choke in the wheel of the country’s success, as it intolerably hinders merit and competency. As a country, we don’t have to keep sabotaging competency, integrity and experience of our people only to work in conformity with federal character policy. The quality of human resources in any organization determines the quality of what the organization will have in return. Adopting Federal Character in public offices appointment is like celebrating mediocrity. We’ve had many instances whereby some people were not appointed to some positions just because of this federal character policy, neglecting the fact that these people possesses the requisite knowledge, experience, integrity, competency and all it takes to perform exceedingly well in that position

Without nursing any form of ambiguity, I can say categorically that the federal character policy is a threat to the national unity. By the virtue of section 14 (3) and (4) of the Nigerian constitution “The composition of the government of the federation or any agencies and the conduct of its affairs shall be carried out in such a manner as to reflect the federal character of Nigeria and the need to promote national unity, and also command national loyalty, thereby ensuring that there shall be no predominance of persons from a few states or from a few ethnic or other sectional groups in that government or in any of its agencies.” The above section of the constitution preaches more of disunity than the unity it focuses on because if we are united and we see each other as one, there wouldn’t be need for appointments to reflect every tribe before it could be seen as upright. Divided we fall, united we stand. Unity is when ministers don’t necessarily have to be chosen from every state in Nigeria before they can be regarded as being complete. The last time I checked, The United States of America and some other civilised countries in the world do not select their cabinets, so as to reflect all the states and tribes they have, just because they are united and that is why they always end up with few but unique and outstanding cabinets. The same cannot be said of Nigeria, where more emphasis is laid on federal character, and at the end of the day, we churn out pitiable Federal Executive Council that uses our nation to nourish themselves, and leaving us in a penurious state.

Without mincing words, I will re-emphasize by saying that federal character shouldn’t matter in public offices appointment because it hinders egalitarianism. Apart from the fact that federal character promotes mediocrity, it still doesn’t give room for equality and that is why we keep hearing of catchment areas whenever admission is to be made into our educational institutions. For instance, some universities accept lesser scores from candidates within their regions compared to other regions. Why is the cut-off points released by the Ministry of Education for admission into the 104 unity schools in this country always trailed with agitations? Federal character is disrupting our educational sector and making some people more equal than the rest hence, the need for us to stop its adoption in not just the appointments to our public offices but in all spheres of our lives in Nigeria.

Conclusively, I will stress further that federal character shouldn’t matter in our public offices appointment because the policy is not only detrimental to our national growth but also archaic and old-fashioned. In the past 200 years, the U.S.A constitution has been amended 27 times and all these amendments were effected to correct the deficiencies in the constitution. The federal character policy in the Nigerian constitution needs serious adjustment. There is need for the adoption of merit-based system for the appointment into our public offices. We are one in Nigeria, we need to be united and give room for competency, integrity, excellence, brilliance and intelligence to neglect the harmful, obsolete and devastating policy called “Federal Character” that promotes tribal, religious and ethnic differences that further cause disunity and agitations from different quotas in the country.


Thanks!


Bibliographies

Reuben Abati, May, 2016. “Federal Character and Its Discontents”. Premium Times Newspaper. http://blogs.premiumtimesng.com/2016/01/31/federal-character-discontents-reuben-abati

Aliyu A, “The Federal Character Principle as a Necessary Evil”. http://www.gamji.com/article8000/NEWS8603.htm

Justcash, June, 2010. “Federal Character: A curse to Nigeria” https://www.nairaland.com/464612/federal-character-curse-nigeria

Tonye Barcanista, May, 2015. “The political of inequality in Nigeria” https://www.nairaland.com/2287684/political-inequality-nigeria

1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 2011 as amended.

Chaii finally.


Now it's time for REBUTTALS.




YOU HAVE 1Hour for that.


Neyoor
Graciousolo
OAUTemitayo
Emaculate99


Ishilove
Obinoscopy
Caracta


Please take note.

emaculate99:
On the 5th day of May, 2016, Mr drtwist, a south-southerner, took to Nairaland to explain how being from the richest region in the country had not helped him secure a place in the military after years of searching while his brothers from the north were easily recruited - feeling neglected. This was how Niger Delta Militancy started. It comprised of young men in the region who were dissatisfied with their inability to find jobs, destruction of their lands and rivers (which served as means of survival) without any intervention from the government. Suffering and poverty became the order of the day. If care is not taken, Mr Drtwist and the rest, can be turned into readymade tools in the hands of the Niger Delta militants.

I just imagine the pains of this man in question. perhaps, he might have the competency, integrity, ability, agility and all it takes to have this military job. If federal character is not the main yardstick, the man might have gotten this job based on merit. what is stopping him from having the military job if not this toxic and retrogressive policy called "Federal Character"?

Neyoor:
Should Federal Character Matter In Public Offices Appointment?

There is no doubt that the major aim of most of the countries of the world is to fill their public offices with competent, vibrant and visionary people, so as to aid national development but it is highly egregious, sardonic and devastating that our country Nigeria, is still wallowing in sheer ignorance by placing more emphasis on ethnicity, religious diversity and geographical distribution in the appointments to public service institutions, through the adoption of a toxic and retrogressive policy called “Federal Character”

Imbibing the epigrammatic aphorism that, greeting is an ethic of a virtuous child, I salute the illustrious chief host of this intellectual discourse, the resplendent chairman and chairlady, the inexhaustible coordinators, the conscientious panel of judges, the peppy moderators, my resolute co-debaters and the scrumptious audience of Nairaland forum. I remain an entity that bears OyedejiOyeniyi (Neyoor), a passionate representative of the better by far University that is located in the ancient town of Ilorin. I want to seize this unwonted opportunity, to fervently oppose the motion that states “Should Federal Character Matter In Public Offices Appointments”

To say that Federal Character should matter in public offices appointment is disastrous to our nation’s prosperity is an understatement. It is not only inimical to our growth and development but also divides the country further along ethnic and religious lines. Therefore, there is a need to use other viable ways to make appointments to fill our delicate and imperative public offices. Without much ado, let me laconically buttress my assertion by unveiling the following concrete points of mine:

Although, federal character was enshrined into the Nigerian constitution in the year 1979, with the sole aim of ensuring that appointments to public service institutions reflect the ethnic, religious and tribal diversity in Nigeria, but so far the policy is nothing but a choke in the wheel of the country’s success, as it intolerably hinders merit and competency. As a country, we don’t have to keep sabotaging competency, integrity and experience of our people only to work in conformity with federal character policy. The quality of human resources in any organization determines the quality of what the organization will have in return. Adopting Federal Character in public offices appointment is like celebrating mediocrity. We’ve had many instances whereby some people were not appointed to some positions just because of this federal character policy, neglecting the fact that these people possesses the requisite knowledge, experience, integrity, competency and all it takes to perform exceedingly well in that position

Without nursing any form of ambiguity, I can say categorically that the federal character policy is a threat to the national unity. By the virtue of section 14 (3) and (4) of the Nigerian constitution “The composition of the government of the federation or any agencies and the conduct of its affairs shall be carried out in such a manner as to reflect the federal character of Nigeria and the need to promote national unity, and also command national loyalty, thereby ensuring that there shall be no predominance of persons from a few states or from a few ethnic or other sectional groups in that government or in any of its agencies.” The above section of the constitution preaches more of disunity than the unity it focuses on because if we are united and we see each other as one, there wouldn’t be need for appointments to reflect every tribe before it could be seen as upright. Divided we fall, united we stand. Unity is when ministers don’t necessarily have to be chosen from every state in Nigeria before they can be regarded as being complete. The last time I checked, The United States of America and some other civilised countries in the world do not select their cabinets, so as to reflect all the states and tribes they have, just because they are united and that is why they always end up with few but unique and outstanding cabinets. The same cannot be said of Nigeria, where more emphasis is laid on federal character, and at the end of the day, we churn out pitiable Federal Executive Council that uses our nation to nourish themselves, and leaving us in a penurious state.

Without mincing words, I will re-emphasize by saying that federal character shouldn’t matter in public offices appointment because it hinders egalitarianism. Apart from the fact that federal character promotes mediocrity, it still doesn’t give room for equality and that is why we keep hearing of catchment areas whenever admission is to be made into our educational institutions. For instance, some universities accept lesser scores from candidates within their regions compared to other regions. Why is the cut-off points released by the Ministry of Education for admission into the 104 unity schools in this country always trailed with agitations? Federal character is disrupting our educational sector and making some people more equal than the rest hence, the need for us to stop its adoption in not just the appointments to our public offices but in all spheres of our lives in Nigeria.

Conclusively, I will stress further that federal character shouldn’t matter in our public offices appointment because the policy is not only detrimental to our national growth but also archaic and old-fashioned. In the past 200 years, the U.S.A constitution has been amended 27 times and all these amendments were effected to correct the deficiencies in the constitution. The federal character policy in the Nigerian constitution needs serious adjustment. There is need for the adoption of merit-based system for the appointment into our public offices. We are one in Nigeria, we need to be united and give room for competency, integrity, excellence, brilliance and intelligence to neglect the harmful, obsolete and devastating policy called “Federal Character” that promotes tribal, religious and ethnic differences that further cause disunity and agitations from different quotas in the country.


Thanks!


Bibliographies

Reuben Abati, May, 2016. “Federal Character and Its Discontents”. Premium Times Newspaper. http://blogs.premiumtimesng.com/2016/01/31/federal-character-discontents-reuben-abati

Aliyu A, “The Federal Character Principle as a Necessary Evil”. http://www.gamji.com/article8000/NEWS8603.htm

Justcash, June, 2010. “Federal Character: A curse to Nigeria” https://www.nairaland.com/464612/federal-character-curse-nigeria

Tonye Barcanista, May, 2015. “The political of inequality in Nigeria” https://www.nairaland.com/2287684/political-inequality-nigeria

1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 2011 as amended.

Can you explain how the federal character has promoted mediocrity?
Is there any part of the federal character principle wherein it is stated that standards and benchmarks should be lowered because of any ethnic groups or state?

Check your mention and reply to the questions, very important...

graciousolo:


In 2009, the Chairman of the Federal Character Commission (FCC), Prof. Oba AbdulRaheem, was quoted as saying, “18 states are not currently benefitting from the ‘federal character principle’ of the 1999 Constitution”. The states were described as having low representation in appointments into Federal Ministries and Agencies. [b]According to the Prof. AbdulRaheem, each of the 36 states is expected to have about 2.5 % and 3.0% representation in appointments made by Federal Ministries and Extra-Ministerial Departments. A source from the FCC was also quoted as saying “the implication of the current irregularity is that these states may not have civil servants from their states in the hierarchy of the Federal Civil Service in the next few years”.


Furthermore, this principle is supposed to foster equal public office appointments across the ethnic groups but, this is obviously not the case in Nigeria. For instance, as at 2014 about 70% of Nigeria Foot-soldiers were from Hausa-Fulani. About 80% of all Permanent Secretaries in Federal Ministries were from Hausa-Fulani. About 80% of those given Oil Wells presently in the Oil from Niger Delta Region were from Hausa-Fulani. About 60% of Generals in the Nigerian Military were from Hausa-Fulani. About 60% of the Heads of Parastatals were from Hausa-Fulani. About 60% of the Top Ranks in Nigerian Police Force were from Hausa-Fulani. About 70% of Nigerian State Security Services (SSS) officials were from Hausa-Fulani. About 60% Top Posts in each of: Nigerian Prison Services, Nigeria Immigration and Nigerian Ports Authority were from Hausa-Fulani. Not much has changed today. We ask ourselves questions like what has the application of federal character helped us achieve? Has it lead to further National integration? Has it proven to be an adequate tool for national development? I'll let you be the judge.

In Nigeria, the government can choose to forgo Federal Character while appointing because of the non-justiciability of the principle. If the principle is made justiciable, this kind of appointment cannot be done without the government being made to face the wrath of law. This means for federal character to be made effective in Nigeria, you must make it justiciable by removing section 6(6C) of the 1999 constitution

the first bolded should be the case if federal character is made justiciable.

Neyoor:
Should Federal Character Matter In Public Offices Appointment?

There is no doubt that the major aim of most of the countries of the world is to fill their public offices with competent, vibrant and visionary people, so as to aid national development but it is highly egregious, sardonic and devastating that our country Nigeria, is still wallowing in sheer ignorance by placing more emphasis on ethnicity, religious diversity and geographical distribution in the appointments to public service institutions, through the adoption of a toxic and retrogressive policy called “Federal Character”

Imbibing the epigrammatic aphorism that, greeting is an ethic of a virtuous child, I salute the illustrious chief host of this intellectual discourse, the resplendent chairman and chairlady, the inexhaustible coordinators, the conscientious panel of judges, the peppy moderators, my resolute co-debaters and the scrumptious audience of Nairaland forum. I remain an entity that bears OyedejiOyeniyi (Neyoor), a passionate representative of the better by far University that is located in the ancient town of Ilorin. I want to seize this unwonted opportunity, to fervently oppose the motion that states “Should Federal Character Matter In Public Offices Appointments”

To say that Federal Character should matter in public offices appointment is disastrous to our nation’s prosperity is an understatement. It is not only inimical to our growth and development but also divides the country further along ethnic and religious lines. Therefore, there is a need to use other viable ways to make appointments to fill our delicate and imperative public offices. Without much ado, let me laconically buttress my assertion by unveiling the following concrete points of mine:

Although, federal character was enshrined into the Nigerian constitution in the year 1979, with the sole aim of ensuring that appointments to public service institutions reflect the ethnic, religious and tribal diversity in Nigeria, but so far the policy is nothing but a choke in the wheel of the country’s success, as it intolerably hinders merit and competency. As a country, we don’t have to keep sabotaging competency, integrity and experience of our people only to work in conformity with federal character policy. The quality of human resources in any organization determines the quality of what the organization will have in return. Adopting Federal Character in public offices appointment is like celebrating mediocrity. We’ve had many instances whereby some people were not appointed to some positions just because of this federal character policy, neglecting the fact that these people possesses the requisite knowledge, experience, integrity, competency and all it takes to perform exceedingly well in that position

Without nursing any form of ambiguity, I can say categorically that the federal character policy is a threat to the national unity. By the virtue of section 14 (3) and (4) of the Nigerian constitution “The composition of the government of the federation or any agencies and the conduct of its affairs shall be carried out in such a manner as to reflect the federal character of Nigeria and the need to promote national unity, and also command national loyalty, thereby ensuring that there shall be no predominance of persons from a few states or from a few ethnic or other sectional groups in that government or in any of its agencies.” The above section of the constitution preaches more of disunity than the unity it focuses on because if we are united and we see each other as one, there wouldn’t be need for appointments to reflect every tribe before it could be seen as upright. Divided we fall, united we stand. Unity is when ministers don’t necessarily have to be chosen from every state in Nigeria before they can be regarded as being complete. The last time I checked, The United States of America and some other civilised countries in the world do not select their cabinets, so as to reflect all the states and tribes they have, just because they are united and that is why they always end up with few but unique and outstanding cabinets. The same cannot be said of Nigeria, where more emphasis is laid on federal character, and at the end of the day, we churn out pitiable Federal Executive Council that uses our nation to nourish themselves, and leaving us in a penurious state.

Without mincing words, I will re-emphasize by saying that federal character shouldn’t matter in public offices appointment because it hinders egalitarianism. Apart from the fact that federal character promotes mediocrity, it still doesn’t give room for equality and that is why we keep hearing of catchment areas whenever admission is to be made into our educational institutions. For instance, some universities accept lesser scores from candidates within their regions compared to other regions. Why is the cut-off points released by the Ministry of Education for admission into the 104 unity schools in this country always trailed with agitations? Federal character is disrupting our educational sector and making some people more equal than the rest hence, the need for us to stop its adoption in not just the appointments to our public offices but in all spheres of our lives in Nigeria.

Conclusively, I will stress further that federal character shouldn’t matter in our public offices appointment because the policy is not only detrimental to our national growth but also archaic and old-fashioned. In the past 200 years, the U.S.A constitution has been amended 27 times and all these amendments were effected to correct the deficiencies in the constitution. The federal character policy in the Nigerian constitution needs serious adjustment. There is need for the adoption of merit-based system for the appointment into our public offices. We are one in Nigeria, we need to be united and give room for competency, integrity, excellence, brilliance and intelligence to neglect the harmful, obsolete and devastating policy called “Federal Character” that promotes tribal, religious and ethnic differences that further cause disunity and agitations from different quotas in the country.


Thanks!


Bibliographies

Reuben Abati, May, 2016. “Federal Character and Its Discontents”. Premium Times Newspaper. http://blogs.premiumtimesng.com/2016/01/31/federal-character-discontents-reuben-abati

Aliyu A, “The Federal Character Principle as a Necessary Evil”. http://www.gamji.com/article8000/NEWS8603.htm

Justcash, June, 2010. “Federal Character: A curse to Nigeria” https://www.nairaland.com/464612/federal-character-curse-nigeria

Tonye Barcanista, May, 2015. “The political of inequality in Nigeria” https://www.nairaland.com/2287684/political-inequality-nigeria

1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 2011 as amended.

Using universities admission process here is irrelevant. The topic is about appointment and not admission.

Neyoor:
I just imagine the pains of this man in question. perhaps, he might have the competency, integrity, ability, agility and all it takes to have this military job. If federal character is not the main yardstick, the man might have gotten this job based on merit. what is stopping him from having the military job if not this toxic and retrogressive policy called "Federal Character"?

What is stopping him is not Federal character. Based on the analysis of employment posted by your colleague, you can see that northerners have free entry to the military because Federal Character was not made justiciable for it to matter in employment. if it is made justiciable, he would have gotten the job.

emaculate99:
Constitutionally, appointment into public offices is expected [/b]to reflect federal character in order to aid integration. [b] Sadly, this provision was made non-justiciable, that is, the government can forgo federal character while appointing without facing the wrath of law. Its non-justiciability has brought feelings of marginalisation in the face of visible dominance of office by some regions. This feeling has been known to have fuel protests and the fight for emancipation of the aggrieved region. If care is not taken, national insecurity and division will set in. In a bid to stop this callous consequence, federal character should be made justiciable.

we have been adopting a policy as far back as 1979, yet the policy has not been effective and justifiable. why not neglect such policy, besides, don't you think the policy is cancerous to our national development?

Neyoor:
Should Federal Character Matter In Public Offices Appointment?

There is no doubt that the major aim of most of the countries of the world is to fill their public offices with competent, vibrant and visionary people, so as to aid national development but it is highly egregious, sardonic and devastating that our country Nigeria, is still wallowing in sheer ignorance by placing more emphasis on ethnicity, religious diversity and geographical distribution in the appointments to public service institutions, through the adoption of a toxic and retrogressive policy called “Federal Character”

Imbibing the epigrammatic aphorism that, greeting is an ethic of a virtuous child, I salute the illustrious chief host of this intellectual discourse, the resplendent chairman and chairlady, the inexhaustible coordinators, the conscientious panel of judges, the peppy moderators, my resolute co-debaters and the scrumptious audience of Nairaland forum. I remain an entity that bears OyedejiOyeniyi (Neyoor), a passionate representative of the better by far University that is located in the ancient town of Ilorin. I want to seize this unwonted opportunity, to fervently oppose the motion that states “Should Federal Character Matter In Public Offices Appointments”

To say that Federal Character should matter in public offices appointment is disastrous to our nation’s prosperity is an understatement. It is not only inimical to our growth and development but also divides the country further along ethnic and religious lines. Therefore, there is a need to use other viable ways to make appointments to fill our delicate and imperative public offices. Without much ado, let me laconically buttress my assertion by unveiling the following concrete points of mine:

Although, federal character was enshrined into the Nigerian constitution in the year 1979, with the sole aim of ensuring that appointments to public service institutions reflect the ethnic, religious and tribal diversity in Nigeria, but so far the policy is nothing but a choke in the wheel of the country’s success, as it intolerably hinders merit and competency. As a country, we don’t have to keep sabotaging competency, integrity and experience of our people only to work in conformity with federal character policy. The quality of human resources in any organization determines the quality of what the organization will have in return. Adopting Federal Character in public offices appointment is like celebrating mediocrity. We’ve had many instances whereby some people were not appointed to some positions just because of this federal character policy, neglecting the fact that these people possesses the requisite knowledge, experience, integrity, competency and all it takes to perform exceedingly well in that position

Without nursing any form of ambiguity, I can say categorically that the federal character policy is a threat to the national unity. By the virtue of section 14 (3) and (4) of the Nigerian constitution “The composition of the government of the federation or any agencies and the conduct of its affairs shall be carried out in such a manner as to reflect the federal character of Nigeria and the need to promote national unity, and also command national loyalty, thereby ensuring that there shall be no predominance of persons from a few states or from a few ethnic or other sectional groups in that government or in any of its agencies.” The above section of the constitution preaches more of disunity than the unity it focuses on because if we are united and we see each other as one, there wouldn’t be need for appointments to reflect every tribe before it could be seen as upright. Divided we fall, united we stand. Unity is when ministers don’t necessarily have to be chosen from every state in Nigeria before they can be regarded as being complete. The last time I checked, The United States of America and some other civilised countries in the world do not select their cabinets, so as to reflect all the states and tribes they have, just because they are united and that is why they always end up with few but unique and outstanding cabinets. The same cannot be said of Nigeria, where more emphasis is laid on federal character, and at the end of the day, we churn out pitiable Federal Executive Council that uses our nation to nourish themselves, and leaving us in a penurious state.

Without mincing words, I will re-emphasize by saying that federal character shouldn’t matter in public offices appointment because it hinders egalitarianism. Apart from the fact that federal character promotes mediocrity, it still doesn’t give room for equality and that is why we keep hearing of catchment areas whenever admission is to be made into our educational institutions. For instance, some universities accept lesser scores from candidates within their regions compared to other regions. Why is the cut-off points released by the Ministry of Education for admission into the 104 unity schools in this country always trailed with agitations? Federal character is disrupting our educational sector and making some people more equal than the rest hence, the need for us to stop its adoption in not just the appointments to our public offices but in all spheres of our lives in Nigeria.

Conclusively, I will stress further that federal character shouldn’t matter in our public offices appointment because the policy is not only detrimental to our national growth but also archaic and old-fashioned. In the past 200 years, the U.S.A constitution has been amended 27 times and all these amendments were effected to correct the deficiencies in the constitution. The federal character policy in the Nigerian constitution needs serious adjustment. There is need for the adoption of merit-based system for the appointment into our public offices. We are one in Nigeria, we need to be united and give room for competency, integrity, excellence, brilliance and intelligence to neglect the harmful, obsolete and devastating policy called “Federal Character” that promotes tribal, religious and ethnic differences that further cause disunity and agitations from different quotas in the country.


Thanks!


Bibliographies

Reuben Abati, May, 2016. “Federal Character and Its Discontents”. Premium Times Newspaper. http://blogs.premiumtimesng.com/2016/01/31/federal-character-discontents-reuben-abati

Aliyu A, “The Federal Character Principle as a Necessary Evil”. http://www.gamji.com/article8000/NEWS8603.htm

Justcash, June, 2010. “Federal Character: A curse to Nigeria” https://www.nairaland.com/464612/federal-character-curse-nigeria

Tonye Barcanista, May, 2015. “The political of inequality in Nigeria” https://www.nairaland.com/2287684/political-inequality-nigeria

1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 2011 as amended.

Politicians and civil servants are the one deliberately bypassing standards and benchmarks put in place to ensure the efficiency of the public service!
Can you explain why the same mediocrity and corruption pervades state and local government public services?

OAUTemitayo:
Using universities admission process here is irrelevant. The topic is about appointment and not admission.

it would be irrelevant only and when Educational institution is scrapped out the public offices institutions.

Neyoor:
we have been adopting a policy as far back as 1979, yet the policy has not been effective and justifiable. why not neglect such policy, besides, don't you think the policy is cancerous to our national development?

Right to free education was not made justiciable, why not neglect that? How can something work when you are preventing it from working? Can a car work without fuel? Justiciability of this will make the government implement it better because of the fear of the wrath of law. Why do you think the free education in Nigeria is not free? it is because of the non-justiciability nature of it. if this is remove, I bet it with you, you will see its good work

graciousolo:
Should Federal Character Matter In Public Offices Appointment?

Even though it was created to answer the question of our nationhood and national integration, this is one of the reasons why Nigeria's status as a nation is still debated till date. I wonder why people who should see themselves as one and, should have similar goal of improving the country are bothered with the principle of federal character even though it has been proven to be detrimental to the nation's progress and development.



Before I proceed further, I am using this opportunity to thank the organisers of this wonderful debate; it's been a long ride. Greetings to the incorruptible judges, my friends and opponents, my dogged teammates, not forgetting the amiable Nairaland audience. I am graciousolo, representing the great citadel of learning, the University of Ilorin and, I am here to state unequivocally that, “Federal character should not be considered when appointing public office holders.”


For the sake of clarity I will give an insight into what the principle of federal character is. The federal character principle became officially recognised in the 1979 constitution. This policy was aimed at addressing the issues of ethnic representation in the public sector. The implication of this was that issues of admission, recruitment, promotion and appointment became based on this principle.

I will also explain what a public office is or who a public office holder is. A public office refers to offices or parastatals under the government where services are rendered to the public. A public office holder is someone who holds a position in a government parastatal and is saddled with serving the public.


According to wikitionary, a public office is a position or occupation established by law or by the act of a government body, for the purpose of exercising the authority of the government in the service of the public. Therefore a public office holder is a person who holds this position. Should people in such positions be appointed based on anything less than merit? I don't think so.


To start with, since the colonial epoch through the independence, Nigeria has sort to fashion out a socio-political mechanism or structure that will foster positive social interaction, development, curb or at least reduce minority exploitation in a pluralistic society such as hers'. The idea of federal character principle is on of such mechanism. Unfortunately, this idea has been saddled with impunity and bias.

The idea of the principle of federal character must sound nice and pleasing to the ear based on its intent but, some factors has flawed this principle especially in Nigeria of today. For instance, the inappropriate application of the federal character principle aids mediocrity, inequality, corruption, lack of transparency and/or competition and above all tribal dominance by the major ethnic groups. Federal character ordinarily protects minorities, but under the constitution it is operated to protect the majority ethnic groups, lack of will of competitiveness and open-mindedness.


In 2009, the Chairman of the Federal Character Commission (FCC), Prof. Oba AbdulRaheem, was quoted as saying, “18 states are not currently benefitting from the ‘federal character principle’ of the 1999 Constitution”. The states were described as having low representation in appointments into Federal Ministries and Agencies. According to the Prof. AbdulRaheem, each of the 36 states is expected to have about 2.5 % and 3.0% representation in appointments made by Federal Ministries and Extra-Ministerial Departments. A source from the FCC was also quoted as saying “the implication of the current irregularity is that these states may not have civil servants from their states in the hierarchy of the Federal Civil Service in the next few years”.


Furthermore, this principle is supposed to foster equal public office appointments across the ethnic groups but, this is obviously not the case in Nigeria. For instance, as at 2014 about 70% of Nigeria Foot-soldiers were from Hausa-Fulani. About 80% of all Permanent Secretaries in Federal Ministries were from Hausa-Fulani. About 80% of those given Oil Wells presently in the Oil from Niger Delta Region were from Hausa-Fulani. About 60% of Generals in the Nigerian Military were from Hausa-Fulani. About 60% of the Heads of Parastatals were from Hausa-Fulani. About 60% of the Top Ranks in Nigerian Police Force were from Hausa-Fulani. About 70% of Nigerian State Security Services (SSS) officials were from Hausa-Fulani. About 60% Top Posts in each of: Nigerian Prison Services, Nigeria Immigration and Nigerian Ports Authority were from Hausa-Fulani. Not much has changed today. We ask ourselves questions like what has the application of federal character helped us achieve? Has it lead to further National integration? Has it proven to be an adequate tool for national development? I'll let you be the judge.


On the 25th of June 2015, the Vice President Professor Yemi Osinbajo, was reported to have called for the scrapping of the federal character principle and the Federal Character Commission established to implement it. This report was later refuted but, in refuting it, the vice president said he only urged that merit came first before any consideration of ethnic background. His reply has only helped to validate the premise that federal character might trample merit.

Conclusively, Federal character shouldn't matter in the appointment of public officers because this will lead to appointing individuals who don't have the right skill and experience and individuals who don't have the zeal for such offices. I strongly believe based on observable facts that applying federal character to appointing public office holders will definitely lead to mediocrity and merit will be forgone. This will lead to unfavourable socio-economic policies, socio-political policies and inappropriate implementation of good policies.

Once again, should federal character principle be applied when appointing public officers? No, this principle has been flawed. Merit, Passion should always be the pivotal element. Thank you.


Reference(s):
***http://m.covenantuniversity.edu.ng/Profiles/Olanrewaju-Ilemobola/Quota-System-Federal-Character-Principle-and-Admission-to-Federal-Unity-Schools-Barriers-to-Learning-in-Nigeria

***public office - Wiktionary en.m.wiktionary.org/wiki/public_office
http://www.focusnigeria.com/federal-character.html

***http://www.dailytrust.com.ng/daily/index.php/columns/friday-columns/58963-on-federal-character-i#Kc9TCR5DjcMKLArm.99

***http://chrisdonasco..co.ke/2014/02/federal-character-princinple-and-in.html?m=1

***http://nigeriavillagesquare.com/forum/main-square/75111-what-federal-character.html

This your statistics of 70% Hausas controlling the army cannot hold water.
it is known that the North does not consist of only Hausas. infact majority of Nigeria former leaders from the North are not Hausas, the northern minorities, IBB is Nupe, Gowon is from Jos and not an Hausa, Buhari is a Fulani.
You are probably stereotyping that anybody not from the east and west is an Hausa.
And please provide relevant references to back up your proposition that 80% of the Directors are hausas

emaculate99:
FEDERAL CHARACTER SHOULD MATTER IN PUBLIC OFFICES APPOINTMENT.
Omirin Emmanuel (Emaculate Ife)
Position: Support
School: OAU
For a Federation that was coerced together, lack of equal representation of the federating units is the greatest threat to the national integration of such country. This bores down to the 1914 mistake when Nigeria was coerced together without any recourse to the people's feeling. Instead of breaking up, national integration was chosen. In a bid to maintain the national integration and development, the government was faced with two options federal character: a principle of equal representation of the federating units or meritocracy: a principle that cares not for the equal representation of the federating units. If lack of equal representation is the greatest threat to national integration of a coerced country, then which out of federal character and meritocracy is a threat?
Constitutionally, appointment into public offices is expected to reflect federal character in order to aid integration. Sadly, this provision was made non-justiciable, that is, the government can forgo federal character while appointing without facing the wrath of law. Its non-justiciability has brought feelings of marginalisation in the face of visible dominance of office by some regions. This feeling has been known to have fuel protests and the fight for emancipation of the aggrieved region. If care is not taken, national insecurity and division will set in. In a bid to stop this callous consequence, federal character should be made justiciable.
Naturally, no sane person can work efficiently in an unfriendly environment. A product of marginalisation is protest. Most times, protesters prevent workers from going to their place of work thereby slowing down the productivity of the workers which in turn affect the nation's economy negatively. There might be a change of event, they might go violent by vandalising properties. But will there be any development if workers are prevented from working or properties are being vandalised? For the sake of the economy and development, federal character should be considered.
Moreover, anyone conversant with the world will note that federal character is not alien. It is the quota based form of affirmative action that is given full force of law in UK, US, India, Canada, South Africa among others. The love the government of these countries have for their people necessitated their choice of not sacrificing integration on the altar of meritocracy. If these countries practice affirmative action for the purpose of integration, why then should Federal Character not matter in appointments?
On the 5th day of May, 2016, Mr drtwist, a south-southerner, took to Nairaland to explain how being from the richest region in the country had not helped him secure a place in the military after years of "searching" while his "brothers" from the north were easily recruited - feeling neglected. This was how Niger Delta Militancy started. It comprised of young men in the region who were dissatisfied with their inability to find jobs, destruction of their lands and rivers (which served as means of survival) without any intervention from the government. Suffering and poverty became the order of the day. If care is not taken, Mr Drtwist and the rest, can be turned into readymade tools in the hands of the Niger Delta militants.
Analogically, democracy is a government based on majority's wish and not merit. Just like democracy, Federal Character is based on the wish of not being marginalised. Wish of the people is a driver for the two concepts. It is apparent that people's wish is given great esteem in the world. If that is not the case, aristocracy should have been more popular than democracy since it gives room for the best to rule. Federal Character is our democracy, it should matter in our appointment.
Legally, the safety of the people is the supreme law; all good laws must guarantee the safety of the people directly or by implication. In a country like Nigeria where protest which might lead to chaos can spring out at the slightest scent of marginalisation like the Biafra agitation which is fuelled by their feelings of being marginalised. Which law do you think will guaranty the safety of the people more when implemented? Meritocracy that will allow marginalisation of some regions or federal character that will give no room for marginalisation? You choose!
My Daddy is a man that stands between chaos and the citizens.[b][/b] Each day, he cheats death and listen to the music played by gunshots on the battlefield because he wants to protect the country. He sees his friends being killed beside him but he keeps praying for God's protection as he fights for the country's unity. If you were my Daddy, would you rather choose to protest a law that will protect the country's unity which your teammates died for? I believe you would go for that which will protect the country's unity.
Meritocracy might be good but Nigeria is not yet ripe for it. Nigeria will be ripe for it when fear of marginalisation and domination is removed. She can also be ripe for it if this forced marriage is broken into pieces and ethnicity becomes a thing of the past. Till then, Nigeria should make Federal Character matter in appointments into public offices.

Sir, your analogy may bring about temporary peace but, this will not lead to a better Nigeria.We want a progressive country and not one riddled with mediocre public office holders.


We pray for your dad. But we should hope your dad is surrounded by passionate soldiers and soldiers who got there based on merit and, Nigeria is old enough and ripe enough for progress or should I say a merit based system.

graciousolo:
Should Federal Character Matter In Public Offices Appointment?

Even though it was created to answer the question of our nationhood and national integration, this is one of the reasons why Nigeria's status as a nation is still debated till date. I wonder why people who should see themselves as one and, should have similar goal of improving the country are bothered with the principle of federal character even though it has been proven to be detrimental to the nation's progress and development.



Before I proceed further, I am using this opportunity to thank the organisers of this wonderful debate; it's been a long ride. Greetings to the incorruptible judges, my friends and opponents, my dogged teammates, not forgetting the amiable Nairaland audience. I am graciousolo, representing the great citadel of learning, the University of Ilorin and, I am here to state unequivocally that, “Federal character should not be considered when appointing public office holders.”


For the sake of clarity I will give an insight into what the principle of federal character is. The federal character principle became officially recognised in the 1979 constitution. This policy was aimed at addressing the issues of ethnic representation in the public sector. The implication of this was that issues of admission, recruitment, promotion and appointment became based on this principle.

I will also explain what a public office is or who a public office holder is. A public office refers to offices or parastatals under the government where services are rendered to the public. A public office holder is someone who holds a position in a government parastatal and is saddled with serving the public.


According to wikitionary, a public office is a position or occupation established by law or by the act of a government body, for the purpose of exercising the authority of the government in the service of the public. Therefore a public office holder is a person who holds this position. Should people in such positions be appointed based on anything less than merit? I don't think so.


To start with, since the colonial epoch through the independence, Nigeria has sort to fashion out a socio-political mechanism or structure that will foster positive social interaction, development, curb or at least reduce minority exploitation in a pluralistic society such as hers'. The idea of federal character principle is on of such mechanism. Unfortunately, this idea has been saddled with impunity and bias.

The idea of the principle of federal character must sound nice and pleasing to the ear based on its intent but, some factors has flawed this principle especially in Nigeria of today. For instance, the inappropriate application of the federal character principle aids mediocrity, inequality, corruption, lack of transparency and/or competition and above all tribal dominance by the major ethnic groups. Federal character ordinarily protects minorities, but under the constitution it is operated to protect the majority ethnic groups, lack of will of competitiveness and open-mindedness.


In 2009, the Chairman of the Federal Character Commission (FCC), Prof. Oba AbdulRaheem, was quoted as saying, “18 states are not currently benefitting from the ‘federal character principle’ of the 1999 Constitution”. The states were described as having low representation in appointments into Federal Ministries and Agencies. According to the Prof. AbdulRaheem, each of the 36 states is expected to have about 2.5 % and 3.0% representation in appointments made by Federal Ministries and Extra-Ministerial Departments. A source from the FCC was also quoted as saying “the implication of the current irregularity is that these states may not have civil servants from their states in the hierarchy of the Federal Civil Service in the next few years”.


Furthermore, this principle is supposed to foster equal public office appointments across the ethnic groups but, this is obviously not the case in Nigeria. For instance, as at 2014 about 70% of Nigeria Foot-soldiers were from Hausa-Fulani. About 80% of all Permanent Secretaries in Federal Ministries were from Hausa-Fulani. About 80% of those given Oil Wells presently in the Oil from Niger Delta Region were from Hausa-Fulani. About 60% of Generals in the Nigerian Military were from Hausa-Fulani. About 60% of the Heads of Parastatals were from Hausa-Fulani. About 60% of the Top Ranks in Nigerian Police Force were from Hausa-Fulani. About 70% of Nigerian State Security Services (SSS) officials were from Hausa-Fulani. About 60% Top Posts in each of: Nigerian Prison Services, Nigeria Immigration and Nigerian Ports Authority were from Hausa-Fulani. Not much has changed today. We ask ourselves questions like what has the application of federal character helped us achieve? Has it lead to further National integration? Has it proven to be an adequate tool for national development? I'll let you be the judge.


On the 25th of June 2015, the Vice President Professor Yemi Osinbajo, was reported to have called for the scrapping of the federal character principle and the Federal Character Commission established to implement it. This report was later refuted but, in refuting it, the vice president said he only urged that merit came first before any consideration of ethnic background. His reply has only helped to validate the premise that federal character might trample merit.

Conclusively, Federal character shouldn't matter in the appointment of public officers because this will lead to appointing individuals who don't have the right skill and experience and individuals who don't have the zeal for such offices. I strongly believe based on observable facts that applying federal character to appointing public office holders will definitely lead to mediocrity and merit will be forgone. This will lead to unfavourable socio-economic policies, socio-political policies and inappropriate implementation of good policies.

Once again, should federal character principle be applied when appointing public officers? No, this principle has been flawed. Merit, Passion should always be the pivotal element. Thank you.


Reference(s):
***http://m.covenantuniversity.edu.ng/Profiles/Olanrewaju-Ilemobola/Quota-System-Federal-Character-Principle-and-Admission-to-Federal-Unity-Schools-Barriers-to-Learning-in-Nigeria

***public office - Wiktionary en.m.wiktionary.org/wiki/public_office
http://www.focusnigeria.com/federal-character.html

***http://www.dailytrust.com.ng/daily/index.php/columns/friday-columns/58963-on-federal-character-i#Kc9TCR5DjcMKLArm.99

***http://chrisdonasco..co.ke/2014/02/federal-character-princinple-and-in.html?m=1

***http://nigeriavillagesquare.com/forum/main-square/75111-what-federal-character.html

You are saying that the federal character is responsible for the poor socip economic policies of Nigeria? That is definitely not true.
What is responsible for that is the selfishness and shortsightedness of all politician holding public offices across the nation.
If Federal character is responsible for economic policy failures at the centre, is it also the reason why state governments cannot profer sound economic policies to diversify their economies away from the over reliance on oil revenue leading to majority of them not being able to pay salaries today because of oil glut?

Neyoor:
Should Federal Character Matter In Public Offices Appointment?



Without nursing any form of ambiguity, I can say categorically that the federal character policy is a threat to the national unity. By the virtue of section 14 (3) and (4) of the Nigerian constitution “The composition of the government of the federation or any agencies and the conduct of its affairs shall be carried out in such a manner as to reflect the federal character of Nigeria and the need to promote national unity, and also command national loyalty, thereby ensuring that there shall be no predominance of persons from a few states or from a few ethnic or other sectional groups in that government or in any of its agencies.” The above section of the constitution preaches more of disunity than the unity it focuses on because if we are united and we see each other as one, there wouldn’t be need for appointments to reflect every tribe before it could be seen as upright. Divided we fall, united we stand. Unity is when ministers don’t necessarily have to be chosen from every state in Nigeria before they can be regarded as being complete. The last time I checked, The United States of America and some other civilised countries in the world do not select their cabinets, so as to reflect all the states and tribes they have, just because they are united and that is why they always end up with few but unique and outstanding cabinets. The same cannot be said of Nigeria, where more emphasis is laid on federal character, and at the end of the day, we churn out pitiable Federal Executive Council that uses our nation to nourish themselves, and leaving us in a penurious state.

How does it preach inequalities?

For record, Nigerians don't see each other as one. if we see each other as one, anybody irrespective of his tribe should be able to contest in any place for the post of a governor without any uproar from the people. Or can an Igbo contest in Lagos without any uproar? Remember the "die in lagoon slogan? " Nigeria is a forced marriage where people see themselves not as Nigerian first but as a member of their tribe - Yoruba, Igbo, inter Alia. What will bring about integration is to give room for everyone by using Federal Character.

Neyoor:
it would be irrelevant only and when Educational institution is scrapped out the public offices institutions.

My brother this is about public office appointment and not universities admission.
You are trying to play on the emotions of the Judges.
This is off topic and not relevant to issues here.

Hot

emaculate99:
What is stopping him is not Federal character. Based on the analysis of employment posted by your colleague, you can see that northerners have free entry to the military because Federal Character was not made justiciable for it to matter in employment. if it is made justiciable, he would have gotten the job.

Can you kindly reminds me of when military offices were scrapped out of the federal character policy. by the virtue of the Nigerian Constitution. section 14, subsection 4. "The composition of the government of a state, local or any agencies (military sector inclusive) must be carry out in such away that it would reflects the diversity of the people within its area of authourity"

although, i'm not a law student like you but i don't mind tutoring you with what the nigerian constitution says.


if the federal character was effectively implemented, do you think a particular region will be dominant of a particular sector like the military agencies?

graciousolo:
Sir, your analogy may bring about temporary peace but, this will not lead to a better Nigeria.We want a progressive country and not one riddled with mediocre public office holders.


We pray for your dad. But we should hope your dad is surrounded by passionate soldiers and soldiers who got there based on merit and, Nigeria is old enough and ripe enough for progress or should I say a merit based system.

Federal Character will guaranty permanent peace and not temporary peace as it will make every region be at peace with each other by preventing them from being marginalised.

Meritocracy that you are advocating for will lead to marginalisation which will in turn lead to the fight for emancipation of such region- national insecurity. Meritocracy will only give a short time peace but Federal character will aid progress by giving a long time peace. There can be no development without peace. Think twice bro.

Neyoor:
Can you kindly reminds me of when military offices were scrapped out of the federal character policy. by the virtue of the Nigerian Constitution. section 14, subsection 4. "The composition of the government of a state, local or any agencies (military sector inclusive) must be carry out in such away that it would reflects the diversity of the people within its area of authourity"

although, i'm not a law student like you but i don't mind tutoring you with what the nigerian constitution says.


if the federal character was effectively implemented, do you think a particular region will be dominant of a particular sector like the military agencies?

Open to section 6(6C) of the 1999 constitution, you will see that it is made non-justiciable. The government cannot be sued if he fails to use it.

OAUTemitayo:
You are saying that the federal character is responsible for the poor socip economic policies of Nigeria? That is definitely not true.
What is responsible for that is the selfishness and shortsightedness of all politician holding public offices across the nation.
If Federal character is responsible for economic policy failures at the centre, is it also the reason why state governments cannot profer sound economic policies to diversify their economies away from the over reliance on oil revenue leading to majority of them not being able to pay salaries today because of oil glut?

What you see at the state levels are just ripple effects of what is happening at the top.

And, yes when you put people who are not passionate enough and, didn't merit such positions but have been placed there due to their region, they make policies without putting thoughts and time into it. In fact, some of them might no really understand their portfolios.

OAUTemitayo:
Politicians and civil servants are the one deliberately bypassing standards and benchmarks put in place to ensure the efficiency of the public service!
Can you explain why the same mediocrity and corruption pervades state and local government public services?

If merit is the yardstick coupled with the federal character policy. Why is there always the saying that it is not yet the time for a particular region to fill a particular post. Fashola might have contested for the post of the Nigerian president with his experience and achievement but he was sidelined because of this particular guage

mods! one of my replies was hidden. why?

emaculate99:
How does it preach inequalities?
For record, Nigerians don't see each other as one. if we see each other as one, anybody irrespective of his tribe should be able to contest in any place for the post of a governor without any uproar from the people. Or can an Igbo contest in Lagos without any uproar? Remember the "die in lagoon slogan? " Nigeria is a forced marriage where people see themselves not as Nigerian first but as a member of their tribe - Yoruba, Igbo, inter Alia. What will bring about integration is to give room for everyone by using Federal Character.

The federal character policy was introduced to unite the country which is an heterogeneous one but the federal character failed to unite us and that is why we always see eachother as different even after amalgamation

Neyoor:
Should Federal Character Matter In Public Offices Appointment?

There is no doubt that the major aim of most of the countries of the world is to fill their public offices with competent, vibrant and visionary people, so as to aid national development but it is highly egregious, sardonic and devastating that our country Nigeria, is still wallowing in sheer ignorance by placing more emphasis on ethnicity, religious diversity and geographical distribution in the appointments to public service institutions, through the adoption of a toxic and retrogressive policy called “Federal Character”

Imbibing the epigrammatic aphorism that, greeting is an ethic of a virtuous child, I salute the illustrious chief host of this intellectual discourse, the resplendent chairman and chairlady, the inexhaustible coordinators, the conscientious panel of judges, the peppy moderators, my resolute co-debaters and the scrumptious audience of Nairaland forum. I remain an entity that bears OyedejiOyeniyi (Neyoor), a passionate representative of the better by far University that is located in the ancient town of Ilorin. I want to seize this unwonted opportunity, to fervently oppose the motion that states “Should Federal Character Matter In Public Offices Appointments”

To say that Federal Character should matter in public offices appointment is disastrous to our nation’s prosperity is an understatement. It is not only inimical to our growth and development but also divides the country further along ethnic and religious lines. Therefore, there is a need to use other viable ways to make appointments to fill our delicate and imperative public offices. Without much ado, let me laconically buttress my assertion by unveiling the following concrete points of mine:

Although, federal character was enshrined into the Nigerian constitution in the year 1979, with the sole aim of ensuring that appointments to public service institutions reflect the ethnic, religious and tribal diversity in Nigeria, but so far the policy is nothing but a choke in the wheel of the country’s success, as it intolerably hinders merit and competency. As a country, we don’t have to keep sabotaging competency, integrity and experience of our people only to work in conformity with federal character policy. The quality of human resources in any organization determines the quality of what the organization will have in return. Adopting Federal Character in public offices appointment is like celebrating mediocrity. We’ve had many instances whereby some people were not appointed to some positions just because of this federal character policy, neglecting the fact that these people possesses the requisite knowledge, experience, integrity, competency and all it takes to perform exceedingly well in that position

Without nursing any form of ambiguity, I can say categorically that the federal character policy is a threat to the national unity. By the virtue of section 14 (3) and (4) of the Nigerian constitution “The composition of the government of the federation or any agencies and the conduct of its affairs shall be carried out in such a manner as to reflect the federal character of Nigeria and the need to promote national unity, and also command national loyalty, thereby ensuring that there shall be no predominance of persons from a few states or from a few ethnic or other sectional groups in that government or in any of its agencies.” The above section of the constitution preaches more of disunity than the unity it focuses on because if we are united and we see each other as one, there wouldn’t be need for appointments to reflect every tribe before it could be seen as upright. Divided we fall, united we stand. Unity is when ministers don’t necessarily have to be chosen from every state in Nigeria before they can be regarded as being complete. The last time I checked, The United States of America and some other civilised countries in the world do not select their cabinets, so as to reflect all the states and tribes they have, just because they are united and that is why they always end up with few but unique and outstanding cabinets. The same cannot be said of Nigeria, where more emphasis is laid on federal character, and at the end of the day, we churn out pitiable Federal Executive Council that uses our nation to nourish themselves, and leaving us in a penurious state.

Without mincing words, I will re-emphasize by saying that federal character shouldn’t matter in public offices appointment because it hinders egalitarianism. Apart from the fact that federal character promotes mediocrity, it still doesn’t give room for equality and that is why we keep hearing of catchment areas whenever admission is to be made into our educational institutions. For instance, some universities accept lesser scores from candidates within their regions compared to other regions. Why is the cut-off points released by the Ministry of Education for admission into the 104 unity schools in this country always trailed with agitations? Federal character is disrupting our educational sector and making some people more equal than the rest hence, the need for us to stop its adoption in not just the appointments to our public offices but in all spheres of our lives in Nigeria.

Conclusively, I will stress further that federal character shouldn’t matter in our public offices appointment because the policy is not only detrimental to our national growth but also archaic and old-fashioned. In the past 200 years, the U.S.A constitution has been amended 27 times and all these amendments were effected to correct the deficiencies in the constitution. The federal character policy in the Nigerian constitution needs serious adjustment. There is need for the adoption of merit-based system for the appointment into our public offices. We are one in Nigeria, we need to be united and give room for competency, integrity, excellence, brilliance and intelligence to neglect the harmful, obsolete and devastating policy called “Federal Character” that promotes tribal, religious and ethnic differences that further cause disunity and agitations from different quotas in the country.


Thanks!


Bibliographies

Reuben Abati, May, 2016. “Federal Character and Its Discontents”. Premium Times Newspaper. http://blogs.premiumtimesng.com/2016/01/31/federal-character-discontents-reuben-abati

Aliyu A, “The Federal Character Principle as a Necessary Evil”. http://www.gamji.com/article8000/NEWS8603.htm

Justcash, June, 2010. “Federal Character: A curse to Nigeria” https://www.nairaland.com/464612/federal-character-curse-nigeria

Tonye Barcanista, May, 2015. “The political of inequality in Nigeria” https://www.nairaland.com/2287684/political-inequality-nigeria

1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 2011 as amended.

My brother are you supporting or against this topic?
My brother using United states as a comparison here cannot stand the test of logic.
The United states does not have the heterogeneous nature of Nigeria.
If the people of Niger Delta are not guaranteed a certain representation in the government structure how can you convince them to see themselves and other tribes of being equal in the country considering the fact that they are the one laying the golden egg?

emaculate99:
mods! one of my replies was hidden. why?

None was hidden

The judges are watching. (Caracta, Ishilove, Obinoscopy)


15 mins more...



Neyoor
Graciousolo
OAUTemitayo
Emaculate99

OAUTemitayo:
Can you explain how the federal character has promoted mediocrity?
Is there any part of the federal character principle wherein it is stated that standards and benchmarks should be lowered because of any ethnic groups or state?

Is there any part in the federal character that says we should sabotage ethnic and religious diversity, even when we have someone who is more competent than the appointed person in the other region, that is not yet their turn to fill the post?


It remains a fact that federal character lay more emphasis on ethnic and religion diversity than merit.

[quote author=emaculate99 post=45438674][/quote]Sir, you are implying that we give up a merit based system. Because we want people to be temporarily happy.

It will be an insult and a slap in the face of Nigerians to say Nigeria is not yet ripe for meritocracy. Please tell us when Nigeria will be right for meritocracy bear in mind that we are over 50years.

Neyoor:
If merit is the yardstick coupled with the federal character policy. Why is there always the saying that it is not yet the time for a particular region to fill a particular post. Fashola might have contested for the post of the Nigerian president with his experience and achievement but he was sidelined because of this particular guage

Brother can you please tell me what stopped Fashola from contesting for the Presidency because he is from South West?
The last time I checked a female Professor from OAU, Professor Sonaiya contested the Presidency and she is from the south west?
The main reason why Fashola did not contest is because he understand the mindset of an average Nigerian who sees themselves as Hausas, Yorubas and Igbos first.
Federal character principle does not apply to the office of the Presidency or vice president nor governorship and deputy governor.

emaculate99:
Naturally, no sane person can work efficiently in an unfriendly environment. A
product of marginalisation is protest. Most times, protesters prevent workers
from going to their place of work thereby slowing down the productivity of
the workers which in turn affect the nation's economy negatively. There
might be a change of event, they might go violent by vandalising properties.
But will there be any development if workers are prevented from working or
properties are being vandalised? For the sake of the economy and
development, federal character should be considered..

I am not sure you wrote that without any influence of inebriation. Could you please tell me the correlation of that with Federal character? It's seem you are out of words or words are definitely out of you.