Appointments: Uproar as Buhari favors Northerners

President Muhammadu Buhari

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Nigerians especially those from the Southern part of the country on Friday, expressed concern over the appointments made so far by President Muhammadu Buhari.

They said the appointments were lopsided and not in the best interest of the country.

President Buhari is from Katsina State, Senate President Bukola Saraki and House of Representatives Speaker, Yakubu Dogara, are from Kwara and Bauchi states respectively. The judiciary is led by Justice Mahmud Mohammed from Taraba State.

Of the nine appointments made by Buhari so far, eight are from the North, while one is from the South. The appointments are: Director-General of the State Services, Lawal Daura, Katsina State; Acting Chairman, the Independent National Electoral Commission, Mrs. Amina Bala Zakari, Jigawa State; Director, the Department of Petroleum Resources, Mr. Mordecai Danteni Baba Ladan; and the Accountant-General of the Federation, Alhaji Ahmed Idris, Kano State.

Others are the State Chief of Protocol, Mallam Lawal Abdullahi Kazaure; Aide De Camp, Lt.-Col. Muhammed Lawal Abubakar, Kano State; Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Mallam Garba Shehu; and Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Mr. Femi Adesina, South-West.

The appointments, however, drew the ire of Nigerians who asked Buhari to respect the country’s principle of federal character.

Already, the Internet, particularly the social media and blogs, are agog with reactions and counter-reactions on the matter.

A commentator named Daamazing, on Nairaland, Nigeria’s largest discussion forum, accused Buhari of appointing only Northerners into key positions announced so far.

The enraged citizen said in pidgin, “After all your mumu promises, one thing you’ve not achieved, na to dey appoint all the people for your family tree, dey do tourism up and down. (After all your promises, you’ve not achieved anything. All you have done is to appoint your kinsmen and travel all around the world).”

Another commentator identified simply as Augster, said, “Buhari, don’t let those who voted for you down because your appointment of only Northerners into top positions is baffling us.”

SenseiX, another Nairaland commentator, said it was wrong for Buhari to have brought Daura, the acting DSS DG, from retirement to head the agency when there were qualified persons from other regions of the country still in service.

He said, “He ignored the entire senior cadre of the agency- from Bassey Eteng to the least- simply because they are Southerners. Even if he wanted to pick a a Northerner, he should have picked from the service rather than a 62-year-old retiree, whose only qualification is being Buhari’s kinsman, who was in the DSS. When former President Goodluck Jonathan appointed Ekpenyong, he was already a Director of Operations, same for Gadzama, who was appointed by Umaru Yar’Adua.”

As of the time of filing this report, the story- Buhari sacks DG DSS, service chiefs may go- had been read by 30,722 Nigerians on the PUNCH website, some of who expressed anger over the development.

A reader named as Ify, said, “In as much as I do not subscribe to ethnic sentiments, I am sensitive to the malaise of ethnic distrust in the country. A wise leader would therefore, thread cautiously around this landmine. We must patiently navigate our way out of ethnic bias.

“Let me also point out that Nigeria’s strength is derived from her diversity, therefore, any government that wishes to succeed must draw from our diversity, and not limit itself to the talents from one region alone.”

Another reader, Omoyooba, said, “In a multi-ethnic and multi-religious Nigeria, it is insensitive of him to be making appointments made up of Northern Muslims. What of the Christians and the Southerners? President Muhammadu Buhari should know that former President Goodluck Jonathan started with greater goodwill than this in 2011 and he ran it aground in four years. Buhari should not make the same mistake. Nigeria belongs to everybody.”

On Facebook, Fidelis Anumole-Oparaku, who was apparently disappointed with the situation, said the President’s ministerial appointments would not be much better.

He said, “Because he lacks the power to do so with ministerial appointments, he will likely give key positions to Northern Muslims, then the soft ones will be given to Northern Christians and the South.”

Like the online community, prominent groups in the South-West – Afenifere, Yoruba Unity Forum and the Movement for Oodua Republic – said this kind of lopsided appointments had never happened in the political history of the country.

While describing the President’s actions as worrisome, the YUF Secretary-General, Senator Anthony Adefuye, warned that the earlier the situation was reversed, the better, adding that the YUF would not expect the North to marginalise the South.

He said, “The fact that the President, Senate President and the Speaker of the House of Representatives are from the North is worrisome. There is no way the North can take all the principal offices and leave the deputy to us. It has never happened before and the earlier it is reverted, the better.

“There is no way that can continue because the South is not subordinate to the North. The think tank committee of the YUF will meet soon to look at the issue and see how it affects the Yoruba people. However, the development is a wrong signal that must be corrected.”