Nigeria is on the edge. This view, a lot of people will agree on. From the glaring insecurity challenges and the secessionist agitations, to the complex but equally obvious corruption and general indiscipline across the country. These issues are as a result of or in relation to each other.
The governors and some people from southern Nigeria believe that the reason Nigeria is tilting towards disintegration is due to the absence of ‘justice, fairness, equity and oneness’. And complicit in this ‘injustice’ is the president/executive. This is why the communique issued after the governors met requested that there should be a review of appointments into federal government agencies to reflect the heterogeneous nature of the country. This also implies that they believe this government’s appointments are lopsided, and in favour of one region or group (the north), over the southern part of the country. This is even more interesting because seven among the 17 governors are members of the ruling APC. Of course, issues of national unity and security should transcend party lines. But is still goes without saying.
We do not have access to the data which shows all the appointments made by the Buhari federal government since 2015, to ascertain the veracity of their submission, neither do we have data to show whether the more ‘juicy’ appointments favour the north over the south.
I will assume, for the purpose of this discourse, that it is true that appointments by this government favour the northern part of the country. Needless to say, this assumption is presently the general perception among many Nigerians, especially down in the south. Why else would the southern governors bring it up in the first place?
I have tried to draw a correlation between appointments made and the economic prosperity, development, or any other indices in the appointees’ host regions, states, or communities. I still see none, and I doubt if any objective inquiry would be able to establish any positive correlation.
Has the appointment of the national security adviser and the former chief of army staff made Borno safer than say, Anambra State? Has the position of Godwin Emefiele of the Central Bank made Delta State more economically prosperous than Kaduna or Kano states?
Has the position of Adamu Adamu as education minister made Bauchi and the north more educationally developed than any southern state? Is there even a marginal improvement?
Even as Nigeria is touted as the poverty capital of the world, northern states still top the chart as the highest contributor to this indices. The ‘lopsided’ appointments have done nothing to arrest this tide, leaving the region in a limbo.
Let’s face it: the common man in the north is more a victim than any person in any other region of the country. While calling for the split of the country on the back of all of these sounds far-fetched, it is important that the government at the centre takes it serious this time. There has never been this much agitation since 1970. The perception of injustice is legitimate and goes beyond opposition, patriotism or enmity. Unity will always win. Injustice or the perception of it won’t.
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Aliyu Sulaiman, Sokoto.
