₦airaland Forum

iflywithbuhari:
Punch Editorial Board

CARRIED to power on a groundswell of goodwill and disgust at the thoroughly corrupt Goodluck Jonathan administration, Muhammadu Buhari appears bent on political self-immolation. While he received massive support from across the country to become President, he is by his appointments, presenting himself as a parochial, sectional leader. For the sake of the country’s corporate survival, he should rise above primordial instincts and become a father to all Nigerians.

In his inaugural speech just over a year ago, Buhari promised Nigerians that “having just a few minutes ago sworn on the Holy Book, I intend to keep my oath and serve as President to all Nigerians. I belong to everybody and I belong to nobody.” But too often, the pledge has been honoured in the breach. Buhari’s sectionalism is not only unprecedented, it could not have come at a worse time. The reality today is that Nigerians are deeply divided. Seventeen years of dashed hopes of progress under a democratic dispensation have reopened the deep fissures in the polity and polarised the populace into mutually suspicious camps. Sectarianism and ethnicity have been rearing their poisonous heads. The presidential election of 2015 was particularly divisive, with some major actors openly deploying base religious and regional sentiments. Add to this the terrible state of the economy that Buhari inherited, headlined by a collapse in global crude oil prices, our main export earner, and the rapacious emptying of the national treasury by previous governments, and you have a seething, discontented people.

It is a sad reality of the Nigerian experience that when crisis − political or economic − hits, segments of the populace retreat into ethnic and sectarian cocoons. It is in this combustible mix that Buhari stubbornly presses ahead with appointments that weigh heavily in favour of his northern regional base.



He struck again last month when he removed Ibe Kachikwu as head of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation to put a Northerner; named another, Hadiza Bala-Usman, as managing director of the Nigerian Ports Authority along with three executive directors, two of whom are also Northerners. Before then, he had ring-fenced himself with appointees from his northern constituency at the Presidency, thereby deepening the long-held fears of many Southerners that he has not overcome his well-known insularity.

But the 1999 Constitution explicitly stipulates in Chapter 14 subsection 3 that the “composition of the Government of the Federation or any of its agencies and the conduct of its affairs shall…reflect the federal character of Nigeria and the need to promote national unity, and also to 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…” Buhari is breaching this with impunity in his appointments. Apart from this, Nigeria’s plural setting demands that no group or ethnic nationality is seen as too domineering in critical areas of governance.

Among his first appointments, even while he dithered on assembling a cabinet: he recalled a retired officer to man the Department of State Services; a former army officer to head the Nigeria Customs Service; a personal acquaintance as Chief of Staff, and loaded the other security and law enforcement agencies heavily in favour of Northerners. While the DSS head is from his hometown, Daura, the others are also almost all Northerners and overwhelmingly Muslims. In spite of public opinion, he replaced the immediate past Inspector-General of Police, a Southerner, with a Northerner, an assistant inspector-general whose ascension induced the retirement in one fell swoop of 21 DIGs and AIGs who were senior to him. This is beyond absurdity.

We declare emphatically that this is corruption. It is wrong to view stealing of government funds as the only form of corruption. A former member of the House of Representatives, Junaid Muhammed, alleges that not only is Buhari sectional in his appointments, several appointees are actually his relatives. Nigerians did not vote against the Jonathan administration’s impunity for corruption, only to be assaulted with another pernicious impunity for cronyism.

Buhari should be told that sectionalism and nepotism are also acts of corruption. You do not wage war against financial corruption while indulging in sectional and sectarian favouritism. It is self-defeating; a veritable weak link that the formidable ranks of those fighting back furiously to preserve the existing corrupt order are already capitalising on. The President simply does not need this. Many are willing to concede that he is only demonstrating political naiveté; now, however, is the time to radically change tactics.

The country is in a bad shape, compelling that all efforts be made to rally all segments of the polity behind measures to reverse economic recession, defeat terrorism in the North-East, renewed militancy and sabotage in the South-South zone, Fulani herdsmen’s terrorism in the North-Central and general insecurity across the country. The government admitted that the country is technically in recession last week, while Bloomberg reported that foreign reserves fell to just over $26 billion in June; oil production also fell to about 1.6 million barrels per day, while over 4,440 megawatts of power were lost last week, both due to sabotage of crude and gas facilities by criminals in the Niger Delta region. Meanwhile, though seriously degraded, Boko Haram terrorists are recovering their ability to ambush and inflict casualties on Nigerian troops.

More importantly, the South-East and South-South zones voted massively against Buhari, who is deepening their alienation from his government by his lopsided appointments. But in truly democratic societies, elected leaders go all out to unite their people after elections. Apart from meeting the constitutional requirement that a minister be appointed from each of the 36 states, the two zones are sparsely represented in the Federal Government. If some past presidents indulged in primitive sectionalism, Buhari should not. Olusegun Obasanjo, alone among our last four presidents, significantly sought to rise above such primordial instincts. Buhari, also a former military head of state, and senior citizen, ought to do better, having tried and failed thrice before to win the Presidency exclusively with Northern votes. His party, the All Progressives Congress, the National Assembly and civil society groups should be more vigorous in resisting this trend.

It is time to put an end to this provincial inclination. Nigeria has over 250 ethnic nationalities and wide disparities in culture. If, as Buhari wrongly repeats that Nigeria’s unity is inviolable, why then does he alienate many Nigerians with appointments? Until we take the right, inevitable step of restructuring the country, the minimum expected of a Nigerian president is to ensure equity in federal appointments.

http://punchng.com/buharis-parochial-appointments/

iflywithbuhari:
http://punchng.com/buharis-parochial-appointments/

falcon01:
they should say what they like buhari doesnt listen

Adminisher:
This is the cowardly attitude of THIEVES when the punishment is impending they start bringing issues to confuse the process. Nepotism is actually permitted within bounds. There is Nepotism in the oil industry, PTF et.c. the entire Amnesty program is Nepotism. I get 20 CVs from young Nigerians looking for jobs and I will do all I can to fix them up. When I do it will appear to be Nepotism but I won't give a job to anyone if them not qualified.

This is different from large scale LOOTING as perpetrated under Jonathan. Stealing from future generations is not on the same level as helping a few from the current young generations.

iflywithbuhari:
http://punchng.com/buharis-parochial-appointments/

TheGoodJoe:
It is not about the sections of the country the appointments come from. What matters to us is, are they qualified for the job and will they succeed?

It is better the President works with those he trust than he hands over critical offices to this who he does not trust.

What matters is that the President believes and trust those he appointed.

dhantey324:
What do the igbo's want? Same people that cheered this statement are now complaining.

annnikky:
Then other ethnic region should be clapping for him right? I dnt think so cos Nigerian's r not fool to seat back n watch d so called president to surround himself with his family members, meaning that "Aso Rock" is a family business.

D appointment suppose to go round n not one sided n if he bent on making it one sided that seat will be too hot for him cos there won't be peace in Nigerian.

abdulkabirO:
I really like PMB,he doesn't really care about what anyone is saying,and its good to some extent,the punch,if u !like write news letters everyday,nothing changes,since u ppl don't want to understand anything, PMB pls appoint anyone u feel is capable,Hausa or no Hausa ,Igbo or no Igbo,Muslim or atheist and let's make this country great again,

TheGoodJoe:
It is not about the sections of the country the appointments come from. What matters to us is, are they qualified for the job and will they succeed?

It is better the President works with those he trust than he hands over critical offices to this who he does not trust.

What matters is that the President believes and trust those he appointed.

radiokilla:
Why are you flooding this thread with Unfounded hearsays, When did political appointment become a thing of loyalty? Or did you just come up with that because of your biase for Buhari? Be careful, because the kids are also reading these things, don't feed them with crap.

paulabdeel:
The President is in clear breach of the Nigerian constitution, an impeachable offence. As correctly cited in The Punch editorial. By the way, everyone seems to expect too much from this unrepentant nepotist. First time around, he appointed Tunde Idiagbon a fellow northerner and muslim, albeit a Yoruba as Chief of Staff Supreme Headquarters. His deputy. No other Nigerian Head of State has ever done that.

dtruth3:
Afonjas come and hear what Punch is saying ooooo





Come and hear what Punchnews paper is saying about your Lord and personal Saviour Bubu!

TheGoodJoe:
What we need is improved living conditions. Not appointments from every section of the country.

If the appointed people perform well, then the appointments were right.

paulabdeel:
Have they performed? If the foundation is bad everything following will be bad too.

annnikky:
N some r still hailing him n saying he did d right thing, i wonder where Nigeria is heading to.

No food, no light, no money. Honestly Nigerian's r really suffering n smilling at d same time.

Is only God that will saves us from all this calamity

DabuIIIT:
you got it,nothing seems to be working in this dispensation...i got to town to get some stuff after a long while and was shocked,to say the least,at the astronomical rate of the prices of foodstuff..can you believe #500 can only get you 2 cups of rice!? I was at the mart the other day to get some nivea and nutriC and was taken aback at the new so high price. NutriC that sold for #175 per pack was marked #450! Can you beat that?! Worse off,i was deceived by the sudden regular power supply and decided to well,reactivate my rested gotv @ a #1,900...and enjoyed view for a day or so and darkness took over...i later found out it was nepa's usual stunt for distributing and at the same time, collecting their nepa bill and money...my gotv subscription has been burning up for nothing...for nothing. Its that bad. Survival is just by God's grace.

TheGoodJoe:

People from other ethnic region can grumble or feel marginalized in the appointments. However, what will benefit the people is the success of the government and not appointments from their regions.

The Success of this government is more important than filling people's joys with Ethnic or Tribal appointments.

Standing5:
Nepotism promotes corruption and is corruption. It is more complex than corruption. Even corruption can't corrupt nepotism. Say NO to nepotism.

Adminisher:
This is the cowardly attitude of THIEVES when the punishment is impending they start bringing issues to confuse the process. Nepotism is actually permitted within bounds. There is Nepotism in the oil industry, PTF et.c. the entire Amnesty program is Nepotism. I get 20 CVs from young Nigerians looking for jobs and I will do all I can to fix them up. When I do it will appear to be Nepotism but I won't give a job to anyone if them not qualified.

This is different from large scale LOOTING as perpetrated under Jonathan. Stealing from future generations is not on the same level as helping a few from the current young generations.

TheGoodJoe:
It is not about the sections of the country the appointments come from. What matters to us is, are they qualified for the job and will they succeed?

It is better the President works with those he trust than he hands over critical offices to this who he does not trust.

What matters is that the President believes and trust those he appointed.

Adminisher:
This is the cowardly attitude of THIEVES when the punishment is impending they start bringing issues to confuse the process. Nepotism is actually permitted within bounds. There is Nepotism in the oil industry, PTF et.c. the entire Amnesty program is Nepotism. I get 20 CVs from young Nigerians looking for jobs and I will do all I can to fix them up. When I do it will appear to be Nepotism but I won't give a job to anyone if them not qualified.

This is different from large scale LOOTING as perpetrated under Jonathan. Stealing from future generations is not on the same level as helping a few from the current young generations.

TheGoodJoe:

Remember, this is a President who lost power because those who surrounded were not loyal to him. President Buhari lost power through a coup.

You do not expect him to make the same mistake and surround himself with people who are not loyal to him.

To you, his appointment's scream Nepotism. To him, His Appointments screams loyalty.

DabuIIIT:
you got it,nothing seems to be working in this dispensation...i got to town to get some stuff after a long while and was shocked,to say the least,at the astronomical rate of the prices of foodstuff..can you believe #500 can only get you 2 cups of rice!? I was at the mart the other day to get some nivea and nutriC and was taken aback at the new so high price. NutriC that sold for #175 per pack was marked #450! Can you beat that?! Worse off,i was deceived by the sudden regular power supply and decided to well,reactivate my rested gotv @ a #1,900...and enjoyed view for a day or so and darkness took over...i later found out it was nepa's usual stunt for distributing and at the same time, collecting their nepa bill and money...my gotv subscription has been burning up for nothing...for nothing. Its that bad. Survival is just by God's grace.

iflywithbuhari:
http://punchng.com/buharis-parochial-appointments/

whao:
There has been this talk about a cabal hijacking the Presidency, a charge the Presidency has denied. We will like your thoughts on this?

Let me say straight away that whether one calls it a cabal or a mafia or some kind of cult or whatever, there is a group of people who are wielding power within the Presidency under Buhari. Whatever you say it is; it is and a lot worse. First, the most influential person in the Presidency today is one Mamman Daura whom as you know, is a nephew of the President. His father was Buhari’s elder brother. In addition, Mamman Daura was the one who single handedly brought up Abba Kyari, the current Chief of Staff to the President. In fact, Abba Kyari knows Mamman Daura more than he knows his own father. Next, the Personal Assistant to Buhari himself is the son of Mamman Daura, next is what they call SCOP, State Chief of Protocol, and is also a son-in-law to Mamman Daura because he is married to Mamman Daura’s daughter. Next, the Minister they unilaterally chose, against the interest of the party and against the wishes of Sokoto people, happens to be the daughter of the younger sister of Mamman Daura’s wife. Both of them are daughters of Sultan Dasuki, who was sacked by General Abacha. We have the Aide De Camp to Buhari himself, Colonel Abubakar. He is married to the granddaughter of one of Buhari’s elder sisters. Next we have the woman who represents Kaduna in the Federal Executive Council, she is a cousin to Kaduna State governor, Nasir el-Rufai. It is well known that el-Rufai is one of the closest governors to Muhammadu Buhari. Next, we have the Minister for the Federal Capital Territory. The Minister of the FCT is the man called Musa Bello, who used to be the Managing Director of the Northern Nigeria Development Corporation, which used to be the biggest holding company that belonged to all the northern states. His only qualification to be FCT minister is the fact that his father has been Buhari’s friend over the years. Now, there is a young man called Sabiu Yusuf, nicknamed Tunde – probably because of late General Tunde Idiagbon. He is another PA to President Buhari. He is also a grandson of another sister of Buhari. This is enough to prove to you that this is shamelessly the worst form of nepotism in the history of government in Nigeria. In fact, in the history of Africa, let me make bold to assert that I have never seen any level of nepotism that has equalled or surpassed this in my entire life – I am now in my 67th year. Another thing I also want you to know is that, Amina Zakari, who was and still a national commissioner in the Independent National Electoral Commission representing the entire seven states in the North-West. It is being claimed that Buhari knows nothing about her appointment (before he became President), it is a lie. When President Goodluck Jonathan was re-organising the INEC and he was bringing in Prof. Attahiru Jega, he reached out to Buhari and asked Buhari to nominate somebody from the North-West so that that person would be a national commissioner. Of all the people in the North-West, Buhari decided to nominate his own niece, the daughter of his elder sister- Amina Zakari. She has been there; when Jega left, Buhari was determined to make her chairman, it was because of the massive backlash that he dropped the idea like hot potatoes. As we are talking today, that woman is a national commissioner which means she is one of the principal election umpires. Throughout my reading of history, political science and social sciences generally, I have never heard of any dictator or any tyrant under any system of government whether totalitarian or fascist, appointing his own niece to conduct elections in which he was either a party or going to be a party to; Buhari has done that. The immediate younger brother to Amina Zakari is currently the Minister for Water Resources representing Jigawa State in the same Buhari government. In addition, even though they are from Kazaure, Kazaure is contiguous to Daura. The eldest sister of both of them is now the Commissioner for Education in the All Progressives Congress government in Jigawa State. If this is not nepotism, then I don’t know what is nepotism and anybody who has the guts, the brutal arrogance to appoint these relations not bothering about public opinion, about the sense of justice, about competence, then you can see that he has a very serious question to answer.