By Anthony S. Aladekomo
A few days ago, the Special Adviser to President Muhammadu Buhari on Media and Publicity, Mr. Femi Adesina, pontificated on a programme on Channels Television that his principal’s appointment of four new service chiefs was not subject to the Nigerian federal character law. There had been unabated allegations of violations of federal character provisions and sectional and ethno-religious justice, equity and fairness in Buhari’s appointment of the heads of the security agencies (in particular) in the country since he came into office in 2015.
The television conversation was prompted by the recent appointment of the four new military service chiefs. To be specific, they were the Chief of Defence Staff, Chief of Army Staff, Chief of Naval Staff and the Chief of Air Staff. It is a notorious fact that about 80% of the heads of security or law enforcement agencies that have been appointed by President Buhari have been tilted in favour of Northern Muslims. This is what had provoked the unabated cries of Fulanisation and Islamisation by concerned Nigerians, including retired General/President Buhari’s fellow ex-servicemen like General Olusegun Obadanjo (rtd), Lt-General Theophilus Danjuma (rtd) and Colonel Abubakar Umar (rtd).
However, the aim of this article is not to delve into the details of those pre-2021 security appointments, or even into whether the recent appointments in 2021 comply with the Nigerian federal character law. The goal of this article is rather to briefly x-ray the claim of Mr. Adesina vis-à-vis the Nigeria law with the view of giving the lie or commendation to the claim. Was Mr. Adesina right to have gone out of his way to boldly declare that the appointment of military service chiefs by the Nigerian President does not need to have regard for the Nigerian federal character law?
Though section 8 of the Armed Forces Act vesting the powers to appoint service chiefs in the President and Commander-in-Chief of the Nigerian Armed Forces is silent on whether or not the President’s appointments must reflect federal character, other relevant laws, including the 1999 Nigerian Constitution, which is the grundnorm, do make it a duty of the President to reflect federal character not only in the appointment of military service chiefs but of other heads of security agencies. For the avoidance of doubt, section 217 (3) of the Constitution provides that “the composition of the officer corps and other ranks of the armed forces of the Federation shall reflect the federal character of Nigeria.” Section 218 (2) of the same Constitution confers the powers to appoint the four service chiefs on the President. Section 4 (1) (a) of Nigeria’s Federal Character Commission (Establishment, etc) Act 1995 also categorically provides that the Federal Character Commission shall “work out an equitable formula, subject to the approval of the President, for the distribution of all cadres of posts in the civil and public services of the Federation and of the States, the armed forces, the Nigeria Police Force and other security agencies, bodies corporate owned by the Federal … Government.”
Indeed, if there is any sector where federal character or regard for the sectional, ethnic and religious diversity of a nation like Nigeria should be respected, it is in the appointment of the heads of security agencies. This is because this will give all the sectional, ethnic and religious interest groups a sense of belonging and see the national project as a common aspiration. Rwanda has learnt this very well from its civil war history and the lesson is making the African country to work excellently today. Unfortunately, Nigeria seems to be oblivious of this till date. In fact, nations far less diverse such as the US and the UK not only now recruit Africans and Asians into their Armed Forces and police services but sometimes appoint them as security heads. It will be instructive to note that the so-called super-racist, immediate former President Donald Trump of the United States did appoint a Black military service chief. If these far less diverse nations are implementing the “diversity principle,” why do Nigerian government officials call the bluff of Nigerians who call for adherence to our federal character law? Are the many separatist movements, secessionist activists and self-determination groups in the country today not enough glaring reason for Nigerian political office holders to comply with the Nigerian federal character law without any pressure?
Even international human rights law frowns at operation of government in such a way that there is deliberate exclusion of racial or religious interest groups. In this regard, in November 1989, the Human Rights Committee of the UN adopted a General Comment which stated that, for the purpose of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, discrimination included “any … exclusion, restriction or preference which is based on any ground such as race, colour, sex, language, religion.”
It is submitted that Nigerian political office holders need to learn some lessons from the foregoing. Firstly, you do not have to throw caution, ethics and professionalism to the wind in order to defend your political godfather or appointor at all cost. Secondly, many a time, dignified silence or few words may pay better than pretence that one has all answers to all questions. Silence is golden. If you do not have the knowledge of or competence over any question thrown to you, do not pontificate. Better still, tell your interviewer to give you time to search the relevant facts or consult those competent in the field. I believe Mr. Adesina, a journalist, should not need anybody to lecture him on this. He could have done better if he had told Seun Okinbaloye, the Channels TV interviewer, that the Minister of Justice and Attorney-General of the Federation or some other Federal legal officer would be in a better position to answer that particular question. Thirdly, Nigerian official political advisers have got to learn that their primary loyalty should not be to any individual, including their paymaster, but to the nation and its Constitution.
God bless Nigeria!
Anthony S. Aladekomo, a lawyer, wrote from Lagos.
