In Defence Of Buhari …Of Uproar Over Appointments

Babachir Lawal and Abba Kyari

Last week Friday, some leaders of the All Progressives Congress (APC) joined the grumbling voices of the South-East and South-South in protesting what belatedly dawned on them as a government, first for the North and then others later. For fear of any likely reprimand all of those who spoke to the media did so on conditions of anonymity.
What was the uproar about? That President Muhammadu Buhari made another set of appointments which they considered lopsided in favour of the North, especially a favoured few who in every election since 2003, had alone voted for him. If other zones had joined earlier, Buhari would have been president long ago.
In that spirit, Buhari last Thursday appointed, from Adamawa State, Babachir David Lawal as Secretary to the Government of the Federation; from Borno State, Mr Abba Kyari as Chief of Staff and Col. Hameed Ibrahim Ali as New Comptroller-General, Nigerian Customs Service, all from the Northern part of the country.
The others are Mr Kure Martins Abeshi Nasarawa State, Comptroller-General, Nigerian Immigration Service and Suleiman Kawu, Kano State, as Senior Special Assistant on National Assembly (NASS) Matters (House of Representatives) also of the Northern parts. The President then ‘balanced’ the ‘five to one’ sharing formula by appointing Senator Ita Enang as SSA, NASS Matters (Senate).
Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Mr Femi Adesina who announced the appointments last Thursday, said they would all take immediate effect,  ‘in line with Military fashion’ (Emphasis mine).
These would not be the first set of appointments the President would be making. In the initial appointment, eight were also from the North and only one Southerner to balance the initial ‘eight-to-one’ equation.
Northerners earlier appointed into key positions include: Director-General of the State Services, Lawal Daura, Acting Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Mrs Anuria Zakari, the Director, Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR), Mr. Mordecai Danteni Baba Ladan and the Accountant-General of the Federation, Alhaji Ahmed Idris.
Others were, the President’s Chief Security Officer (CSO), Abdulrahman Mani; Chief of Protocol, Mallam Abdullahi Kazure; Aide-De-Camp, Lt Col Muhammed Abubaka; and the Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Mallam Garba Shehu. In that case also, only Femi Adesina is of the Southern part of the country.
Quoting three APC leaders last Thursday, the Punch wrote: “Three top National Officers of the APC, who spoke with one of our correspondents on condition of anonymity shortly after the announcements were made, wondered why the President was appointing only Northerners to positions to the detriment of the Southerners”.
“Another APC leader said the party must devise a way of managing the backlash that would follow the appointments.
“He said, ‘Though the President did not get much votes from the South-East, we must not neglect the zone in key appointments”.
That’s the crux of the matter. President Buhari, in course of his US trip, did not mince words when he said attention to zones and states would be based purely on votes he enjoyed in the February 28, 2015 elections. He indeed wondered aloud, how, people who voted for him overwhelmingly would be treated equally with those who didn’t.
In a nutshell, Buhari made it very clear that primary attention would be beamed on the North, where, he got bulk of his votes, before all others in order of performance.
That meant, the South-South and the South-East Zones that voted enmasse for the President’s opponent, then incumbent Goodluck Ebele Jonathan might as well wait till the end of Buhari’s tenure for honorable postings or even development projects. When the lonely voices of these two zones lamented their fate, others within the same APC went ‘hey-wire’ in defence of the President.
Now, they are lamenting. Infact, the Punch quoted another APC leader as grumbling, “Even the South-West that supported and was the backbone of the party, what are we giving the zone in appreciation? We need to be careful before the party is destroyed.
A member of the State Executive of the APC in a South-West State”, according to the paper, said the appointments were lopsided against the South. He said: “When President Olugsegun Obasanjo took over, you saw balance in appointments as he reflected Federal Character, President Goodluck Jonathan too reflected a semblance of balance. Buhari is pursuing a northern agenda. This is the same agenda pursued by the late Sir Ahmadu Bello, when everything was pro-north…”
Haba! These are very strong words to be voiced by a state executive of the APC in the South-West. They should give Mr President some credit and allow him present the exact opposite of President Jonathan.
Critics, particularly those of the former President’s Zone, said he operated a policy of Charity beginning abroad.
It was in pursuit of that agenda, that nearly all development projects under his watch were sited in the North: Almajiri schools, New Universities, Federal roads and nearly all juicy appointments and contracts to the neglect of his people.
Now, Buhari says he cannot neglect his people. That rather than abroad, Charity ought to begin at home. And so, key appointments must first be made from the home before venturing abroad. How is this policy difficult to understand?
During the first of nine appointments, Buhari gave the South one, and the North eight. And now out of six he still considered the South worthy of a slot and five for the good old North. Why should anyone complain?
On sidelines of the Annual All Nigerian Editors’ Conference, in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, Friday, some politicians, and journalists expressed concern over the way things were going, according to them, either by accident or design, all three arms of government, the Executive, the legislative and Judiciary are firmly in the hands of Northerners. In the political front, the Senate President is from the North, just as the Speaker of the House of Representatives.
This means, President Buhari, Bukola Saraki and Rt Hon. Magari, all Northerners, can, if they so wish, still ensure the passage of the President’s Ministerial list, when ready, whether the appointments follow same lopsided fashion or not.
Truth is, Buhari is only human. If a man contests the Presidential elections three previous times, and unlike other politicians without integrity, did not cross-carpet to stay-alive and yet enjoyed the loyalty and friendship of a few, don’t such followers deserve the President’s trust? What is wrong in appointing such trusted followers into positions of trust, after his success in the fourth attempt? How many truly know what it takes a politician to stay out of the power source for 12 consecutive years, after three consecutive elections?.
From 2003, when he first contested the Presidential elections, to 2011, his third attempt, the bulk of his votes had come from the North. Infact, no President ever defeated Buhari in the North-East and North West Zones of the country. The problem he had was winning at least a few states in the South, to make him President.
That came true in 2015, after three failed attempts, and this time with the support of the South-West and North-Central while majority of those in the South-South and South-East voted for former President Jonathan.
Reading the President’s body language and public comments, he owes no one any apology for rewarding loyalty, true faith and dedication to a cause which many of his appointees demonstrated in his twelve years of political struggle.
At a time, when several would cross-carpet to the PDP, leave and return, after every victory, Buhari’s faithful remained loyal.
The appointments are indeed reward for true loyalty and integrity, which many Nigerian politicians lack.
My Agony is that either by accident or design, not only have 13 or 15 early appointments gone the way of the North, the two chambers of the National Assembly and indeed the three arms of Government: the Executive, the legislative and indeed the Judiciary are also led by Northerners.
So what number of ministers in re-compense can strike the needed balance?