BY EMMANUEL ONWUBIKO<\/p>\n
With mouths aghast, millions of Nigerians andfriends of Nigeria from
\naround the globe watched as President Muhammadu Buharigranted his first
\nmost important international media interview and made afrightening
\ndisclosure.<\/p>\n
This was barely weeks after he was inaugurated onmay 29th 2015 when he
\nhonored an invitation extended to him by the then UnitedStates’ president
\nMr. Barack Obama.<\/p>\n
Surrounded by his handpicked \u2018kitchen\u2019 cabinetmembers made up of largely
\nhis Fulani and Muslim ethno -religious cousins andnephews, the newly
\nminted Nigerian president who was once a military leaderhinted about what
\nhas emerged as his theory of marginalization of the Igbospeaking people of
\nNigeria.<\/p>\n
When asked by a broadcast journalist how he wouldpreside over the affairs
\nof the Nigerian state as the elected president, theunsmiling Buhari wasted
\nno time in stating that the South East of Nigeria willbe treated with the
\nshort end of the stick in terms of redistribution ofoffices and possibly
\nthe sharing of the proverbial national cake.<\/p>\n
This statement in itself is highly unconstitutionalbecause the
\nredistribution of national wealth and offices have been so wellarranged in
\nthe constitution for a seamless enforcement except the politicalleader
\ndecides to willfully violate these critical provisions.<\/p>\n
In that interview in Washington Dc, Muhammadu Buharirevealed that the
\nNorth and South West geopolitical entities which gave him 95percent votes
\nwill get more political benefits during his presidency than theSouth East
\nwhich only gave him 5 percent.<\/p>\n
The president has since made good his vows whichsubstantially violates
\nconstitutional norms but he proceeded without giving anythoughts to the
\nagitations for fundamental redress of these stark imbalances.<\/p>\n
We will return shortly to provide empirical evidenceto back up the
\naforementioned claims of systematic marginalization and
\nsystematicexclusion and deliberate alienation of the Igbo speaking section
\nof Nigeriaduring Buhari\u2019s administration.<\/p>\n
First, let us explore briefly certain keyconstitutional foundations which
\nmake it imperative that the Nigerian presidentmust be fair and just to all
\nconstituencies.<\/p>\n
Having said the above, the most coherent flow ofthis conversation will
\ncontinue from the fountain of legal knowledge of areputable constitutional
\nscholar in Nigeria by name Dr. Tunji Abayomi.<\/p>\n
Abayomi wrote a book titled \u201cConstitutional powersand duties of the
\npresident” \u00a0and in it he expressed the unambiguousview that whosoever is
\nelected a Nigerian president is the president for allconstituencies.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor the purpose of election to the office of thepresident, the entire
\nnation is the constituency for the election under section132(4).”<\/p>\n
This simple provision extends the source of theauthority of the president
\nbeyond regions, zones, states or local constituentareas to the entire
\nFederation, says Abayomi.<\/p>\n
The provision extends the executive authority of thepresident to total
\ndomestic affairs and domestic leadership within thegeographical territory
\nof Nigeria, including the coverage of his orders withinconstitutional
\ngrounds. Section 5(1) invests in the president the executive powers.But it
\nis section 132(4) …by emerging from the exercise of the votes of
\nanational constitutency, whether in favour or against, he becomes chief
\nnationalrepresentative of the people within the nation or any other
\ngovernment of thenation, as well as against other nations within foreign
\naffairs.”<\/p>\n
Importantly, the president upon assumption of officeis taken through the
\nritual of oath taking to pledge allegiance to theconstitution of the
\nFederal Republic of Nigeria.<\/p>\n
The wordings of this presidential oath goes to showthat the holder is
\nexpected to live above board and must handle the affairs ofstate as a
\nnationalist and not a regionalist or a religious bigot.<\/p>\n
The presidential oath as enshrined in the 1999constitution can be found in
\nthe seventh schedule in which the followingbinding pledges are made under
\na sacred<\/p>\n
It oath by the holder of the office of thepresident.goes thus:”…AS
\nPresident of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Iwill discharge my duties to
\nthe best of my ability, faithfully and inaccordance with the Constitution
\nof the Federal Republic of Nigeria and thelaw, and always in the interest
\nof the sovereignty, integrity, solidarity,well-being and prosperity of the
\nFederal Republic of Nigeria; that I willstrive to preserve the Fundamental
\nObjectives and Directive Principles of StatePolicy contained in the
\nConstitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria; that Iwill not allow my
\npersonal interest to influence my official conduct or myofficial
\ndecisions….”<\/p>\n
Knowing man to be very imperfect and quick toforget, the drafters of the
\nNigerian constitution also inserted a bindingprovision to take care of the
\nFederal character nature of the appointments tobe made by the president in
\norder to create balance and a sense of belonging.<\/p>\n
In section 14(3) the constitution provides that :\u201c(3) The composition of
\nthe Government of the Federation or any of its agenciesand the conduct of
\nits affairs shall be carried out in such a manner as toreflect the federal
\ncharacter of Nigeria and the need to promote nationalunity, and also to
\ncommand national loyalty, thereby ensuring that there shallbe no
\npredominance of persons from a few State or from a few ethnic or
\nothersectional groups in that Government or in any of its agencies.\u201d<\/p>\n
The current president has clearly violated hispresidential oath of office
\nand the Federal character principle because he hascompletely excluded the
\nIgbo speaking people from top Defence and politicalappointments with the
\nexception of the ministerial positions which is providedfor that he must
\nassign a minister per state of the Federation in section147(3) of the
\nconstitution.<\/p>\n
In other words, apart from the appointments ofministers which is clearly
\nstated, all other appointments made so far has violatedthe Federal
\ncharacter principle and has excluded the Igbo speaking people.<\/p>\n
Take for instance, the fact that Igbo speakingpeople by topography are
\nrestricted to only five states, but by demography Igbospeaking people
\nconstitute a significant majority and therefore must not beexcluded in
\nsuch strategic positions as are found or recognised in theConstitution to
\ngovern the Defence sector. Apart from exclusion of Igbo in theappointment
\nof military service chiefs, there is no single strategic nationalassets of
\nthe military located in the South East of Nigeria.<\/p>\n
Therefore, the attempt made yesterday in London bythe Kaduna state
\ngovernor to deny a clear case\u00a0 of marginalization of Igbobased on
\nnomination of ministers in president Buhari\u2019s cabinet did very littleto
\njustify this brazen illegality.<\/p>\n
There is no justification to say that a tribal groupthat constitute one of
\nthe very clear demographical majorities is singled outand excluded in the
\nformation of the key national military appointments. This iswrong and
\nunconstitutional.<\/p>\n
But the governor of Kaduna state tried to justifythe exclusion when he
\ndelivered a lecture at Chatham House on restructuringtitled \u2018Next
\nGeneration Nigeria: What Is Restructuring And Does Nigeria NeedIt?\u2019<\/p>\n
As reported by Daily trust, he explained that fourof the five states in
\nthe zone had senior ministers in federal cabinet despitethe fact that they
\ngave the APC government just about five per cent of votes inthe 2015
\npresidential election.<\/p>\n
“Some states including Kaduna, which gave theparty more than 90 per cent
\nof votes, only have junior ministers (ministers ofstate), “he said.<\/p>\n
To put a clear lie to any futile attempt to justifythe exclusion by Buhari
\nof Igbo people from strategic defence and politicalpositions, let us just
\nlook at the appointments made so far by thisadministration.<\/p>\n
An online newspaper had reported on August 28th\u00a02015that since the
\ninauguration of Muhammadu Buhari as the President of the FederalRepublic
\nof Nigeria, he has made 35 appointments.<\/p>\n
Here, according to Premium Times is a list of allBuhari\u2019s appointments
\ntill date:\u00a01. Aide de Camp to president: Lt. ColAbubakar Lawal, [Kano
\nState, North-West and husband to President Buhari\u2019sfoster daughter];\u00a02.
\nSpecial Adviser, Media and Publicity to thepresident: Femi Adesina, [Osun
\nState, South-West];\u00a0Senior SpecialAssistant, Media and Publicity: Garba
\nShehu, [Kano State, North-West].<\/p>\n
Others are; State Chief of Protocol\/SpecialAssistant (Presidential
\nMatters): Lawal Abdullahi Kazaure, [Jigawa State,North-West];\u00a0Accountant
\nGeneral of the Federation: Ahmed Idris [KanoState, North-West];National
\nSecurity Adviser: Babagana Monguno [Borno State,North-East];\u00a0Chief of
\nDefence Staff, Abayomi Olonishakin, [Ekiti State,South-West];\u00a0Chief of
\nArmy Staff: Tukur Buratai, [Borno State,North-East];\u00a0Chief of Naval Staff:
\nIbok-Ete Ekwe Ibas, [Cross Rivers,South-South];\u00a0Chief of Air Staff,
\nSadique Abubakar, [Bauchi State,North-East];\u00a0Chief of Defence
\nIntelligence:\u00a0Monday\u00a0Riku Morgan[Benue State, North-Central];\u00a0Director
\nGeneral, State Security Services,SSS: Lawal Daura, [Katsina State,
\nNorth-West].<\/p>\n
Othersare then Acting Chairperson, Independent National Electoral
\nCommission, INEC,Amina Zakari, [Jigawa State, North-West] who is related
\nbiologically to Buharibefore he also picked the Northerner as substantive
\nchairman in the personProfessor Mahmood Yakubu.<\/p>\n
Other appointments \u00a0as at when Premium Timesreported are; Managing
\nDirector, Nigerian Ports Authority, NPA: Habibu Abdulahi[Kano State,
\nNorth-West];\u00a0Special Adviser, Niger Delta Amnesty Office:Paul Boroh,
\n[Bayelsa State, South-South];\u00a0Acting Director General,Nigerian Maritime
\nAdministration, Safety and Security Agency, NIMASA: BabaHaruna Jauro [Yobe
\nState, North-East] before he allowed his Transportationminister to
\nnominate his political acolyte Dakuku Peterside as DG.<\/p>\n
Other key appointments are Executive Vice Chairman\/Chief Executive
\nOfficer, Nigerian Communications Commission: Umaru Dambatta[Kano State,
\nNorth-West];\u00a0Executive Chairman, Federal Inland RevenueService, FIRS:
\nBabatunde Fowler, [Lagos State, South-West];\u00a0DirectorGeneral, Budget
\nOffice of the Federation: Aliyu Gusau, [Zamfara State,North-West];\u00a0Group
\nManaging Director, Nigeria National PetroleumCorporation, NNPC, Emmanuel
\nKachikwu, [Delta State,South-South];\u00a0Secretary to Government of the
\nFederation, Babachir DavidLawal, [ Adamawa, North East];\u00a0Chief of Staff to
\nthe President: AbbaKyari, [Borno, North-East];\u00a0Comptroller-General,
\nNigerian Customs Service:Hameed Ibrahim Ali, [Kaduna State,
\nNorth-Central];\u00a0Comptroller-General,Nigerian Immigration Service: Kure
\nMartin Abeshi, [Nasarawa State,North-Central].<\/p>\n
Fromthat time till now, Buhari had made over 100 top level appointments
\nand theNorth have taken over 80% of these slots including nearly 90% of
\nall the top 30appointments into the Nigerian National Petroleum
\nCorporation(NNPC). ThePresident has left out the Igbo speaking population
\nof Nigeria in all of thesemajor appointments.<\/p>\n
Theexclusion of Igbo by Buhari reminds me of how the United States of
\nAmericamaltreated blacks when they suffered the natural disaster in New
\nOrleans.<\/p>\n
“InSeptember of 2005, a devastating \u201ccategory four\u201d hurricane hit the
\nGulf coastof the United States The levees that protected the city of New
\nOrleans, whichis below sea level, were breached, and massive flooding
\nfollowed, leaving 80percent of the city under water. In the days that
\nfollowed, the national pressfeatured images of masses of impoverished
\nAfrican Americans, residents of NewOrleans, huddled and waiting, and
\nsometimes screaming, for help”.<\/p>\n
“…Butthe population of the city was overwhelming black, and poor. The
\nmedian incomewas only 70 percent of the national average… the earnings
\nof some poorpeople, had been whittled away for several decades, and
\nespecially under thepresidency of George W. Bush. The schools were bad,
\nwith high dropout andsuspension rates, and the illiteracy rate of the city
\nhovered at about 40percent. Homicide rates were extraordinarily high,
\nroughly ten times those ofNew York City”.<\/p>\n
“Themarginalized were again ignored even as the storm approached and
\nevacuationorders were issued.”<\/p>\n
“Asevents unfolded, a contest of sorts emerged over how the public should
\nview thevictims. Right-wing bloggers and some of the press tried to
\ndemonize thevictims, portraying the crowds of evacuees as a riotous mob,
\nstressingincidents of violence, theft, and rape….”<\/p>\n
“Processesof marginalization in American society afford an extraordinarily
\nilluminatingwindow on American society as a whole, on its economy, its
\nculture, and itspolitics…”(marginalization and American politics by
\nFrancis Fox Piven).<\/p>\n
Thesenarratives of systematic marginalization of black Americans are
\nexactly thesame kind of maltreatment Igbo speaking nationality face under
\nBuhari.<\/p>\n
Takefor instance, armed Fulani herdsmen have been on rampage killing,
\nmaiming anddestroying farming communities and seizing these lands from the
\nowners butBuhari’s government has looked the other way as resisted calls
\nfrom diverseopinion leaders to declare these killers as terrorists and go
\nafter them butthis same government said these killers classified in World
\nranking as one ofthe most potent Global terror networks are mere
\ncriminals. But the Buhari’sgovernment hurriedly branded as terrorists the
\nmembers of the unarmed selfdetermination group known as Indigenous peoples
\nof Biafra (IPOB).<\/p>\n
Ifthese aren’t injustices what then is the definition of justice?<\/p>\n
*Emmanuel Onwubiko is head of the Human Rights Writers Association of
\nNigeria(HURIWA) and blogs
\n@www.emmanuelonwubiko.com;\u00a0www.huriwa@blogspot.com.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
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