YOU may have seen the copiously advertised job vacancies by the Police Service Commission (PSC) entitled: “Recruitment Into The Nigerian Police Force”. It was published over the past week in major national dailies. Going through the advert, you will not notice anything odd about it. Usually in Nigeria, the devil is not in what is openly said. It is in what is not disclosed. Privileged information available to me from the PSC indicates that unless urgent action is taken, some well-connected, unpatriotic elements are set to undermine the Federal Character principle which, the Constitution insists, must be followed in all federal recruitments.
For the avoidance of doubt, let us refer to what the Constitution and the enabling laws say about the meaning of the Federal Character principle, its intendments and how it should be applied to achieve its national objectives. Section 14 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (1999) states as follows: “The composition of the Government of the Federation or any of its agencies and the conduct of its affairs shall be carried out in such a manner as to reflect the Federal Character of Nigeria and the need to promote national unity, and also to command national loyalty, thereby ensuring that there shall be no predominance of persons from a few states or from a few ethnic or other sectional groups in that Government or any of its Agencies”. To demonstrate the seriousness of this imperative, the same Constitution created the Federal Character Commission (FCC). Its mandate is captured in paragraph 8(1) (a) and (b) of Section C Part 1, the Third Schedule of the Constitution of the Federation as follows: To: “work out an equitable formula, subject to the approval of the National Assembly , for the distribution of all cadres of posts in the Public Service of the Federation, and of the States, the Armed Forces of the Federation, the Nigerian Police and other government security Agencies, government-owned companies/parastatals of the States” , and to “promote, monitor and enforce compliance with the principle of proportional sharing of all bureaucratic, economic, media and political posts at all levels of government”. It is obvious to all that the unit of sharing of all federal government goodies is the states.
Even when the local governments are involved (as in the monthly Federal Allocation) it is still handed over to the states to administer. The local governments themselves are allocated to each state according to its landmass, population and other attributes. The states are the federal units. The feelers we get from the PSC insiders who are raising the alarm, is that the guideline handed over to members “from above” directs them to adopt the local governments as the basis for sharing the 10,000 Police jobs. For instance, there are 500 slots available for the Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP), 500 for Cadet Inspectors, 1,500 for Specialists (such as doctors, lawyers, nurses and other specialised tradesmen/women) as well as 7,500 Constables. If the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) share these positions in accordance with constitutional demands, there will be a situation of relative equity among the six geopolitical zones (though not ideal equity, because the North West will still get far more than other Zones, and the South East will, as usual, get the least).
The situation of absolute or ideal equity will arise when the six geopolitical zones are constitutionally adopted as the basis for the operation the Federal Character principle. That way, each geopolitical zone will be given equal number of allotments, and no section of the country will benefit at the expense of others. The current use of states as the basis of sharing marginalises the South East and gives the lion’s share to the North West, which is antithetical to the principle and genuine spirit of the Federal Character. Now, if the PSC is allowed to commit this rape on the Constitution, states with fewer local governments will get far less than those with more local councils. For instance, Kano State with 44 local governments will grab the alpha lion’s share and Bayelsa, with eight local councils will look like a poor relation at a funeral, despite the fact that the Bayelsa is one of the oil-rich federating units where the money for the sustenance of the Federation is derived. Using the local councils as the basis of sharing the 10,000 police jobs will worsen the already existing sectional lopsidedness in the Police, rather than address it as the Constitution demands.
The evil of sectional lopsidedness, especially in the Police is evident in the situation that exists in Agatu, Benue State today, where armed Fulani herdsmen move about freely with banned, sophisticated machine guns with which they invade communities and turn their indigenes into refugees in their land. Because the Police is dominated by Northerners, it loses its willingness to bring the hoodlums to justice. It is this same evil that has made it possible for Christian girls to be abducted from all parts of Nigeria and hidden in the palaces of emirs and Muslim clerics, and the Police is unwilling to visit them with the full wrath of the law. This brazen, serial rape of the Federal Character principle, which has taken on a frenzied bearing since the past one year, is rapidly turning some Nigerians into second class citizens and slaves in their own country. It is eroding the confidence of many Nigerians in their own country and creating conclaves of alienation. Why are Nigerians bursting pipelines and making it impossible for gas and generated electricity to flow? Why are Nigerians agitating for separation and calling Nigeria “the Zoo”? Why is the country not working? The answer is simple. More and more Nigerians are losing hope in their beloved country because of the ballooning alienation caused by sectional domination, which the non-stop rape of the Federal Character principle generates. Luckily, the evil about to be perpetrated in the PSC can be stopped, by you and I!
VANGUARD
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