Buhari’s appointments not anti-Christians –Group
August 13, 2016
A
group under the aegis of Forum for United Nigerians against Divisive
Elements (FUNADE) has defended the appointments made by President
Muhammadu Buhari.
The group said contrary to widespread views that
the appointments were tilted towards Muslims and people of Hausa/Fulani
extractions, that such was untrue.
FUNADE was responding to a
recent published declaration by a number of Christians groups in the
country condemning the president over the appointments. The statement
was signed by Chief Asemota (SAN).
Read FUNADE’s press statement below:
EXPOSED: PLOT TO CAUSE RELIGIOUS MISUNDERSTANDING USING MISLEADING CLAIMS
An
attempt to mislead Nigerians and spark religious misunderstanding on
the issue of federal government appointments under President Muhammadu
Buhari has been exposed by countermanding evidence and facts.
This
unholy plot packaged by a group named “Coalition of Christian Groups”
is believed to have been motivated by those who had attempted but failed
to demonize the President during the 2015 presidential campaigns on
religious lines. Sources said the promoters of the group were disowned
by the new leadership of the Christian Association of Nigeria, CAN, when
they sought to use CAN to issue a recent statement titled
“Discriminatory Appointments Against Non-Muslims in Nigeria.”
However,
determined to desperately advance their crafty course and canterkerous
motive, the group went on to issue the statement and purportedly got an
otherwise notable lawyer, Mr. Solomon Asemota to sign the statement now
circulating on different social media platforms.
In its deliberate act of mischief, the said statement ignored the following facts:
That President Buhari named:
*a Christian as the Secretary to the Government of the Federation
*a Christian as the Head of Service and maintained a Christian in the post of Chairperson of the Civil Service Commission.
These are key gatekeeping and powerful positions in the Nigerian public service.
The group also ignored the fact that
*a
Christian is the Minister of State for Petroleum, and is the Chairman
of the NNPC Board, after the same person-a Christian- held the
unprecedented honor of being the first and only person so far to hold
the position of NNPC MD and Minister at the same time.
*There are
more Christians than Moslems in President Buhari’s cabinet, and they
hold key posts like Finance, Foreign Affairs, Industry, Trade &
Investments, Health, Transportation, Labour, Budget & Planning,
Science & Technology among several others
*The President’s personal cook, driver, his ADC, Special Adviser-Media and others are all Christians
*The
CBN governor, PENCOM Chairman and an overwheling majority of the
positions in the country’s finance sector are held by southern
Christians, including those named by the President
*While there
are no Imams in the cabinet, the President after picking a Christian VP,
also has pastors holding cabinet and other top Aso Rock positions. In
fact, President Buhari has the highest number of Pastors in the federal
cabinet ever. No less than four-the VP, SGF, Industry Minister and Niger
Delta Minister. Two members of the three-member presidential
communication team are also pastors.
*After June, the President
has made appointments into the boards of the Niger Delta Development
Commission and the National Communications Commission with more
Christians that Moslems. In the instance of NCC, there was another
Pastor named to the Board!
*As at June 2016, a cursory look at all
the top CEOs and board appointments in the MDAs made by President
Buhari and the balance of the existing holders he did not remove shows
the following geo-political distribution:
NorthWest-53
NorthEast-33
NorthCentral-45
SouthEast-35
SouthWest-47
South-South-46
The
group also accused the President of being behind the retiring of
certain military officers saying majority of them were non-moslems. But
the group failed to ask the more important question ‘whether or not
those retired were considered corrupt or compromised?
They even
hold the president guilty of appointments that he did not make including
the Chief Justice of the Federation and other judicial positions.
Nigerians
at home and abroad must rise in unison to condemn these proponents of
negative, divisive and obnoxious agitations such as the Coalition of
Christian Groups (CCG), a group which can at best be described as
enemies of democracy and good governance.
It is pertinent to state
that this group which claims to be championing the interest of
non-Muslims or Christians has raised unreasonable and unjustifiable
arguments in the said statement titled “Discriminatory Appointments
Against Non-Muslims In Nigeria,” which is a most unfair, inaccurate and
distateful attack of the Buhari administration.
As a concerned
group of independent citizens without any political inclinations, we are
compelled to speak out against any group or individuals under any guise
who seek to employ negative, tribal, sectional or religious rhetorics
that portends grave danger for current efforts at addressing pressing
socio-economic challenges which Nigeria is presently facing today.
The
Coalition of Christian Groups (CCG) under the purported leadership of
senior lawyer, Solomon Asemota, SAN, insulted Nigerians when it labelled
a democratically elected President Muhammadu Buhari and his government
as an Islamist Jihadists government. This is indeed an insult to all
Nigerians across the 6 geo-political zones who made President Buhari
their choice at the 2015 Presidential polls.
Without any modicum
of truth, it posits that the government engages in “a brazen and
audacious imposition of Islamist Jihadists into key positions in the
country.”
To justify this claim, it only refers to 48 appointments
some of which are in professional capacities. In a deliberate effort to
mislead and demonize, the group simply refused to state the facts some
of which have been highlighted above.
Writing mainly about recent
appointments in the education sector where some of the appointments
include northerners, the group tried to suggest that the professionals
referred to are unqualified to serve their fatherland, because of their
tribal or religious background. This is undoubtedly myopic and shows the
fallacious tendencies of their logic.
Its claim that “most
functional Boards in the Civil Service are headed mostly by Muslims and
Fulanis which is becoming a threat and danger to the very foundation of
Nigeria” is rather unfortunate and absurd. Can the appointments of
eminently qualified educationists like Prof. Ishaq Oloyede in JAMB
threaten Nigeria’s foundation?
It is therefore pertinent to ask
why this group only focuses on one or on the education sector and not
check others like the financial and economic sectors that is presently
dominated by southerners. For instance, besides the Governor of Central
Bank of Nigeria, the Chairman of FIRS, the DG Budget Office of the
Federation and the DG, Debt Management Office, to mention a few are all
Christians and southerners.
It is also a known and verifiable fact
that key constitutional parastatals are headed by Christian
southerners. For instance, critical positions in the public service are
headed by Christians, for example, as stated above the Secretary to the
Government of the Federation (SGF), the Head of the Civil Service of the
Federation and the Chairman of the Federal Civil Service Commission and
also the Chairman of RMA&FC are all Christians.
If there are
more Northerners or even Moslems holding top positions in the security
sector, what about other sectors where the opposite is true? In a
federal system and a multi-ethnic and multi-religious society like us,
you win some and loss some, no one can get it all. You give and you
take!
For instance, our findings reveal that agencies in critical
sectors of the economy are populated by non-Muslims from the other “386
ethnic nationalities” in this country which the Asemota-Group claimed
are being marginalised. In the Power sector, 29 out of 38 heads of
parastatals/departments are from other tribes other than the Fulani
tribe that they try so hard to malign.
In the agriculture sector,
19 non-Muslims southerners superintend over government agencies, while
only 8 are from the north. Should our Moslem compatriots now also cry
out that there is an attempt to marginalize the country because of all
these?
It is equally important to emphasize that Nigeria under
President Muhammadu Buhari is committed to fighting corruption. We
wonder how otherwise respected elites like this group can put on the
cloak of ethnicity and religious bias and allow themselves to be
purveyors of sectional and divisive narratives which is what our great
Nigeria does not need at this material time in our history.
The
group adopting ridiculously inflammatory language casually referred to
well-meaning Nigerians serving their fatherland as Jihadists, a term
that has become a synonym for terrorists and insurgents. Is this how a
Christian group should speak? Is such an abusive tone and language right
for those who claim to be Christian? Did Elder Asemota actually signed
such a statement full of bigotry, hatred and venom?
We hope this
group is not fighting the cause of some corrupt elites who are
sabotaging every effort of the Buhari administration at repositioning
Nigeria for meaningful development. As the saying goes, this may be a
case of corruption fighting back.
Nigerians must therefore reject
the selfish agitations of groups such as CCG, who are enemies of
progress, democracy and good governance. We call on Mr. President and
other elected and duly appointed leaders to stay focussed on
transforming Nigeria especially at this critical period
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