Getting to write this piece is not the easiest thing for me, not because I worry about the silly labelling it would automatically attract from those who would rather not have the issue addressed, particularly the marginalisers themselves, but because there is a sense in which it raises possible contradiction to my advocacy for meritocracy and for regional emancipation that would surpass or render more meaningless the federal honey-pot.But the truth must be told, and unless and until Nigeria wakes up to redefining herself, wakes up to the urgency to drastically alter the structure of the polity and government, then our problem should not be compounded by brazen disregard for the rules of even the present arrangement.When I received an e-mail from a friend enumerating the absurdity, the first thing I asked myself before setting out to give exposure to what is clearly a systematic, if not systemic, denial of the Yoruba from virtually all critical areas of Federal Government is if my reaction would have been the same were some other ethnic groups the victims. I satisfied myself that I would have been so equally aghast to the measure of their population ratio within the polity. And I dont need to convince anyone else of that.I am going ahead to quote copiously from the report I received, which has also gone out to many a concerned compatriot.It took off asking: Is there a calculated marginalisation of the Yoruba in a democratic dispensation under the leadership of President Goodluck Jonathan' Or is it simply an oversight by the Executive, arising from an ineffective coordination of the machinery of government'To be honest, if the complaint were limited to what happens in Aso Rock or around the Presidency, I wouldnt bat an eyelid, for isnt that what the present (Presidential) structure enjoys, if not enjoins' Isnt that why every ethnic group struggles to have their man right up there'Of course the situation wasnt necessarily so in Obasanjos time, as I am reminded by the petitioner of Obasanjos out-of-the-way fairness such that his presidency embraced all ethnic groups, even with the Igbos in ascendancy; adding that whereas the South-West in the main voted for Jonathan in the April presidential election, Kano State did not vote for Obasanjo in 2003 but was better treated in terms of political appointment than any South-West state.Maybe, as another friend points out, its an ethnic thing and not just with Obasanjo. It seems its only the Yoruba that care particularly about fairness or balance in this contraption called Nigeria, reminding me of the story narrated by Gen. Oluwole Rotimi in this column last weekwhere, out of the seven names to be sent for the coveted Staff College training, Gen. Ironsi as GOC sent five Ibos, one Hausa and one Yoruba, leaving him (Rotimi) out even when he was senior to all the other non-Yoruba officers!But the relegation of the Yoruba is more pervasive than just around the presidency and runs into government agencies, parastatals, corporations, etc. The petitioner writes: A situation where the total appointments for the entire South-West fall short of those of certain individual states speaks of either a deliberate effort to ignite ethnic resentment or a glaring outcome of total collapse of coordination in the machinery and records of government.Personally, I cannot see Goodluck Jonathan having a directly anti-Yoruba agenda; after all, he is in power by the grace of his Yoruba godfather and didnt he appoint a Reuben Abati to replace his kinsman, Ima Niboro'If President Jonathan were liable, it would only be to the extent that, in his usual self, he looks the other way while those around him are having a field day executing their own insidious private or ethnic agenda: He looks the other way and the economy is in a shambles; he looks the other way and electricity remains hopeless; he looks the other way and armed robbery and insecurity are rife; he looks the other way and our oil is stolen and mismanaged blind; he looks the other way and the country totters in tatters!My friend raises the alarm that available data indicate that the Yoruba have lost more than half of their appointive positions since the demise of President YarAdua.And, as if mirroring my mind on the need for competence and merit above other considerations, he asserts:The current disproportionately reduced or non-appointment of Yoruba into vacant government positions is not due to lack of qualified and experienced men and women of integrity in their numbers and quality across all spheres of human endeavour in the South-West. Indeed, as if to aggravate matters for a nation in dire need of competent men and women of integrity, what the Yoruba have been made to lose in terms of numbers in appointive positions is made worse for the nation in the quality of some of the replacement appointments.And here are the samples of key national offices and the state of origin of their leadership as supplied by the petitioner:The Nigeria Top Six: President (South-South); Vice-President (North-West); Senate President (North-Central); Speaker (North-West); Chief Justice of Nigeria (North-West); Secretary to the Government of the Federation (South-East) (i.e. no Yoruba).The Legislature: President of the Senate (North-Central); Speaker of the House of Representatives (North-West); Deputy Senate President (South-East); Deputy Speaker (South-East) (i.e. No Yoruba).The Judiciary: No Yoruba in the CJN succession radar for the next 10 years.Top Bureaucracy: SGF (South-East); Head of the Civil Service of the Federation (North-East); Chief of Staff to the President (South-South); Chairman Federal Civil Service Commission (South-East); Chairman Police Service Commission (South-South); National Security Adviser (South-South) (i.e. no Yoruba).Federal Executive Bodies (Commissions): Federal Character Commission (North-Central); Federal Civil Service Commission (South-East); Federal Judicial Service Commission( ' ); INEC (North-West);National Population Commission( ' ); Police Service Commission(South-South); Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission(South-East); (i.e. No Yoruba among the entire 10 executive chairmen of the federal executive bodies listed in Section 153 of the Constitution.Top Corporations & Heavy Budget Agencies: NNPC (North-Central); PTDF (North West); PHCN/NERC (South-East); Tertiary Education Trust Fund (North-East); UBEC (North-East); National Health Insurance Scheme (North-East); NDDC (South-South); MDGs Office (South-South); NIMASA (South-South); FERMA ( ); National Identity Management Commission (South-East); FRSC (South-East) i.e. No Yoruba heading any of the top 12 agencies of government.Revenue Related (Generation & Management) Agencies/Offices: Chairman RMAFC (South-East); Chairman FIRS (South-South); Nigerian Customs Service (North-West); Accountant General of the Federation (South-West*); Auditor General of the Federation (North-Central);Education Regulatory/Funding/Representing Agencies: NUC (South-South); NBTE (North-West); NCCE (North-East); JAMB (South-West*); NECO (South-East); NERDC (South-East); National Mathematical Centre (North-Central); ETF (North-East); UBEC (North-East); UNESCO (North-East)Security &Anti-Corruption Agencies: Inspector General of Police (North-West); EFCC (North-Central until four weeks ago); ICPC (South-South); Code of Conduct Bureau (North-East).
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