If there is any President anywhere in the world who is under intense pressure and scrutiny, it is Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari. The man has come under a very heavy barrage of criticisms lately. And this has been the case since the past year or thereabout. Nigerians are not happy with his administration and they are not ready to conceal the fact. They are angry. They are bitter. While some are able to put a lid on their anger, others have not been able to show such restraint. They are asking questions and are spitting fire. They are demanding a change in the president’s style of governance. They want an end to bad governance. They want an end to the monster called insecurity in the country. They want the government to take away killer herdsmen from our farms and communities. They wanted the president to change his Security Chiefs and he finally heeded the request of Nigerians and announced the sacking of the nation’s Security Chiefs. But there is still a lot Nigerians want the president to do. They need him, for instance, to address the issue of nepotism.
The Buhari administration’s trend of appointments has been called into question several times. He has been accused of appointing only his kinsmen into positions of power and significance in his government. All the major heads of our security agencies and the economic sector are all Fulani. A few are Hausa while there are no Igbo, Yoruba, or other tribes for that matter. All of his former service chiefs were Fulani, and this new set is no different. Over eighty percent of the DGs of some of our major parastatals are Fulani, or at best, of the northern extraction. Prominent Nigerians, social commentators, and all have questioned time and time again. This brazen neglect of talents from other tribes by Mr. President and not once has he offered any logical explanation. And it does appear that he is the least perturbed by what the people think of his choice of appointments and the fact that they often always do have a Fulani coloration to them. Indeed, if anything, this only seems to have angered the president more as he appears more bent on appointing more and more of his people. He obviously does not have any intentions to stop, neither does he think he owes anybody any apologies for this either. Let us take a look at some of the top Fulani men who run the country with President Buhari:
Muhammadu Bello, Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Mohammadu Sarki Abba, Senior Special Assistant to the President, Ahmed Muhammadu Mayo, Special Assistant to the President, every single one of these men is Fulani. Now, let us check out 20 NNPC Directors who currently serve under President Muhammadu Buhari who also doubles as the Petroleum Minister:
Mele Kyari (GMD), Umar Ajiya (Chief Finance Officer/Finance and Accounts), Yusuf Usman (Chief Operating Officer), Farouk Garba Sa’id (Chief Operating Officer, Corporate Services), Mustapha Yakubu (Chief Operating Officer, Refining and Petrochemicals), Hadiza Coomassie (Corporate Secretary/Legal Adviser to the Corporation), Omar Ibrahim (Group General Manager, International Energy Relations), Kallamu Abdullahi (GGM Renewable Energy), Ibrahim Birma (GGM Governance Risk and Compliance), Bala Wunti (GGM NAPIMS), Inuwa Waya (MD NNPC Shipping), Musa Lawan (MD Pipelines And Product Marketing), Mansur Sambo (MD Nigeria Petroleum Development Company), Lawal Sade (MD Duke Oil/NNPC Trading Company), Malami Shehu (MD Port Harcourt Refining Company), Muhammed Abah (MD Warri Refining and Petrochemical Company), Abdulkadir Ahmed (MD Nigeria Gas Marketing Company), Salihu Jamari (MD Nigeria Gas and Power Investment Company Limited), Mohammed Zango (MD NNPC Medical Services), Sarki Auwalu (Director, Department of Petroleum
Though it must be said that many of the men listed above have been found to be sufficiently qualified for the positions they occupy, the grouse many have with the president is his total disregard of other bright and eminently qualified men from other in parts of the country. Everywhere you turn to, in the president’s government, you will find Fulani everywhere calling the shots. Even outside his government, the story is no better. All the Emirs are Fulani.
Sultan of Sokoto is Fulani, not Hausa, Emir of Kano is Fulani, Emir of Katsina is also Fulani. Same with Emir of Gwandu, Emir of Kebbi, Emir of Ilorin (Yoruba land] and Emir of Zauzzau. How about the Governors? Let’s take a look. Governor of Sokoto State is Fulani, not Hausa, Governor of Katsina state is Fulani not Hausa, Governor of Zamfara state is Fulani, not Hausa, Governor of Kaduna State, Fulani not Hausa, Governor of Kano state is Fulani, not Hausa. The Governor of Jigawa state is Fulani, not Hausa, Gombe state, Yobe State are all Fulani. Same with Governor of Taraba State, Governor of Nasarawa State, are all Fulani. Borno State is a Fulani origin not pure Kanuri, All major imams in all the Northern states are all Fulanis, not Hausa, All Emirs in all the core Northern states are ALL FULANIS, not HAUSA because the Fulani KILLED all Hausa Kings, high chiefs, and replaced all Hausa Kings with Fulani as Sultan and Emirs after the genocide in the core north by Fulani.
There are a lot more Fulani in the Buhari administration than has been listed above. Every major sector of the government is headed by one Fulani man or the other. They all hold powerful positions. They have unhindered access to the president and are closer to him than most governors from other parts of the country. Some of these men have been variously criticized as undeserving of some of the powerful and juicy positions they are holding, but the president is not troubled by these criticisms. He rarely loses sleep over uncomplimentary remarks made by critics of his government. He has placed implicit trust in these men and he has rarely been disappointed by any of them. At least, not to the knowledge of the public. But still, Nigerians would love to see Mr. President extend such implicit trust to other brilliant men from other parts of the country who are also just as qualified and deserving of these appointments just as anyone from the Fulani extraction. How soon the president would heed to wise counseling and begin to look in the direction of brilliant minds from other tribes remains to be seen.
–Wale Lawal
