THE Internet-based Premium Times was winging on March 6, 2013 about top appointments denied its sponsors of the Northern establishment. It mentioned four portfolios held down by Ndigbo and concluded that Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, the Coordinating Minister of the Economy and Finance Minister, was “Biafranising” Federal positions.

According to the prejudicial write-up by one Yushau Shuaibu, Dr. Okonjo-Iweala’s justification for ceding the appointments to her people is their vaunted qualification. If the piece were not aimed at promoting opprobrium against the government by portraying the Finance Minister as less than patriotic, the article would have lent credence to its insinuation of bad faith by discrediting the claimed qualifications of the relevant appointees. It did nothing of the sort.

The positions headed by Ndigbo which the ghostwriters of the Premium Times find intolerable are the headships of the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON), the Sovereign Wealth Fund (SWF), the Nigeria Communication Commission (NCC) and the National Pension Commission (PENCOM). Now, the Igbo lady currently at the PENCOM is there only in acting capacity, just as Ben Dikki from Kebbi State is the acting DG of the Bureau for Public Enterprises (BPE). If Dikki’s place at the BPE, which is responsible for privatisation, is accepted as normal, why should the world be turned upside down simply because an Igbo lady is the acting head of PENCOM? Again, PENCOM is not under the Ministry of Finance.

In what capacity can the Finance Minister have railroaded PENCOM’s acting head into office? Further, Dr. Okonjo-Iweala joined President Jonathan’s administration in August 2011. The Igbo heads of AMCON and NCC had been in their respective offices long before that date! Was Yushua Shuaibu suggesting in his inflammatory article that the Finance Minister was dictating her kinsfolk into Federal offices even before she was sworn in as Minister?

This campaign of injustice against Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala has gone completely out of hand. I do not know this woman personally. I have never met her. As a matter of fact, meeting her is not my strongest desire. She is not even from my home state. But fair should be fair. Detractors should stop impugning her hard-earned integrity. They should stop pillorying a patriot delivering honest service to the fatherland. How could she have been at the World Bank and at the same time “Biafranised” Federal appointments?

Now this is the true position. Premium Times, in their true spirit, have laid patently false charges against the Finance Minister, accused her unwarrantedly of nepotism, in order to attain their deep-seated intention of demonising the administration of President Goodluck Jonathan.

All those accused of being unjustifiably appointed are, on the contrary, more than qualified for the positions they hold, positions handed them in the fulfillment of due diligence, proper competitive interviews and consensual agreement by the relevant appointment boards.

Why is it so wrong and objectionable that four seasoned and excelling Igbo technocrats are holding down positions earned after due appointment processes? Of course, there is nothing novel in the Premium Times traducing President Jonathan’s government for appointments of functionaries other than from the “almighty” North.

It was the same false and incompetent arguments that were proffered against General J. T. U. Aguiyi-Ironsi in the promotion of Army Officers in 1966. It was the same false and lame arguments that were recently laid at the doorstep of General Azubuike Ihejirika in the promotion of Army officers. In both the Ironsi and Ihejirika accusations, it turned out that they had been wrongly and dishonestly accused, simply to defame them, to cause disaffection against them and to destabilise the entity.

WITHOUT doubt, the whole and sole purpose of the disreputable tirades by Premium Times that have been going on since the inception of the Jonathan administration is to bring the government down. The simple reason Premium Times wants the Jonathan administration to fail is that it is not headed by someone from the “almighty” North – a people anointed to govern in perpetuity while others must remain as non-citizens or half citizens, without the right or the privilege to ever mount the saddle of leadership. There can only be peace in Nigeria when the North is in charge.

Otherwise, everything must be left in pieces; hell and high waters must envelope the people. Those labouring day and night to make the country better must be forever castigated and covered with effluvium. All aspects of the superstructure must be bombed to smithereens. Unless a Northerner is in charge! Well, we have news for the proponents of this schema of injustice. The warped policy of Northern Supremacy will come to naught, which is where it belongs. Nigeria belongs to all of its citizens none of whom may be classified as second class or underclass.

Let us now take a closer look at the facts of Federal appointments. The hatchet writers of the Premium Times were griping over four competent Ndigbo that were duly appointed into Federal offices. What about the scores of Northerners  holding down Federal appointments without anyone batting an eyelid? Examine the facts, please, starting from six of the top most posts  in the Federal establishment:

* The Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Alhaji Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, is  from the North.

* The Controller-General of the Customs, Alhaji Abdallah Dikko  is from the North.

* The Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, Mr. Andrew Yakubu, is from the North.

* The Executive Chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), Alhaji Kabiru Mashi, is from the North.

* The Managing Director of the Nigerian Ports Authority, Alhaji Habib Abdullahi, is from the North.

*The Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Attahiru Jega, is from the North.

No one is complaining about these pivotal positions residing with Northerners. Is this because the bosses in question each have multiple heads upon their shoulders? Is it because, based strictly on education and qualification, there are no Southerners  to  mann the  posts? Is it not because Northern manipulators of ethnic politics can never be satisfied unless ALL positions, including the presidency of Nigeria, are in the hands of Northerners?

Apart from the six super positions listed above there are countless others. Let’s demonstrate some of them. Dr. Sambo Abdulrahman heads the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS). Dr. Aminu Ladan Shaharu heads the National Teachers Institute (NTI). Alhaji Mohammed Umar Nadada heads the Small & Medium Enterprises Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN). Dr. Ado Ibrahim heads the National Primary Health Care.

Mr. Terva Gemade heads the Federal Housing Authority (FHA). Alhaji Ahmed Aminu heads the National Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA). Alhaji Ahmed Giade heads the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA). Alhaji Aliyu Yelwa heads the Fiscal Responsibility Commission. Hadiza Kangiwa heads National Refugee Commission.

There are others of them: Gr. Ghali Bello heads the Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission. Mr. Yusuf Nuhu heads the Federal Radio Corporation. Alhaji Kabir Kabo Usman heads the Centre for Management Development. Alhaji Bello Mahmud heads the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC). Malam Abubakar Jijiwa heads the Voice of Nigeria (VON). Prof B. B. Shehu heads the National Hospital, Abuja. Dr. Masa’udu Adamu Kazaure heads the National Board for Technical Education.

Rear Admiral Bala Mohammed Mshielia is chairman of the Military Pensions Board (MPB). Alhaji Habib Jato is the DG of the National Library. Prof. Junaid Mohammed is the Executive Secretary of the National Commission for Colleges of Education. Dr. Ahmed Rufai is the DG of the Nigerian Communication Satellite (NICOMSAT). Alhaji Sani Sidi is the DG of the National Emergency Management Centre (NEMA). Dr. M. S. Haruna heads the National Agency for Science and Engineering Infrastructure. (NASENI).

It bears reiteration to state that all the names mentioned above are of Northern functionaries in the top echelons of Federal appointments. There are many others not mentioned here. Yet, no one is complaining. But President Jonathan and his Finance Minister must be crucified because four qualified Igbo technocrats are holding down Federal appointments! What injustice! What insincerity! What insensitivity! And, most importantly, what a shame!

In the light of the statistics provided above, what justification has the Premium Times in counseling that “Dr. Okonjo-Iweala should also note that blatant disregard to the sensitivities and sensibilities of others while arrogantly promoting only people from her tribe may expose them to hatred with potentially explosive consequences such as those experienced in the 1960s when most federal positions were occupied by a particular tribal group”?

Was the leadership of Nigeria in Igbo hands in the First Republic? Apart from the six months of January to July 1966 that General Aguiyi-Ironsi was in power before he was brutally murdered in a northern counter-coup, no Igbo man or woman has ever been at the head of any Nigerian government? Yet, the Premium Times  is threatening that Ndigbo are liable to suffer a repeat of the pogrom perpetrated against them in 1966. In the light of the hate wave being fanned by the Premium Times and their ilk, is it a surprise that churches are choice targets for suicide bombings?

The kind of hate embers being fanned today is the same that led to the anti-Igbo pogrom of 1966. The rest of the country was turned against Ndigbo at the time. But it since became obvious that Nigeria’s problem is not Ndigbo. Nigeria’s problem is to be found in those who insist that peace is impossible in Nigeria unless they maintain an unchallenged control of the country’s superstructure and substructure.

Mr.   NNAEMEKA OKIGBO, a commentator on national issues, wrote from Lagos.