SECTION 14 of
the Nigerian Constitution provides that 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. It also prescribes that the composition of the government of a state,
a local government council or any of the agencies of such government or council
and the conduct of the affairs of the government or council or such agencies
shall be carried out in such manner as to recognise the diversity of the people
within its area of authority and the need to promote a sense of belonging and
loyalty among all the peoples of the federation.
The federal character policy has now been
extended to wider areas of civic administration to include entry into federal
and state secondary schools to the background. Appointments in the public
service as well as promotions are determined on the criteria of geographical
representation rather than competence. Candidates are admitted into the
universities and unity schools on quota basis and not on the scores they
achieved at the university matriculation (JAMB) or entrance examinations.
To ensure the effective implementation of
the quota systems, a Federal Character Commission has been established to work
out an equitable formula for the distribution of all cadres of posts in the
public service of the federation and of the states, the armed forces, the
Nigeria Police and other government agencies, government owned companies and
parastatals. The Commission is authorised to promote, monitor and enforce
compliance with the principles of proportional sharing of bureaucratic,
economic, media and political posts at all levels of government. Chief
executives of any ministry or department who fail to comply with the federal
character of geographical representation in the states according to the
prescribed formula are to be prosecuted.
The most prominent example of the
application of the federal character policy is visible in the composition of the
federal executive council which comprises ministers from all parts of the
federation. The states adopt similar method in the appointment of commissioners.
Political patronage follows he same pattern in the choice of advisers,
assistance, liaison and protocol officers. Consequently, Nigeria has the most
bloated constellation of political office holders, parasites and stooges in the
world. Even the very rich and powerful United States of America has less than 20
members in its ministerial cabinet. In the endeavour to select various manpower,
Nigerian institutions suffer from a motley assembly of incompatibles. Not only
is mediocrity encouraged, many organisations in the country are bedevilled by
deplorable inefficiency and low morale arising from imposing ineffective heads
as directors, managing directors and chief executives. The worst affected in
this respect are parastatals, government-owned companies and agencies. Their
general low performance is attributable to the raw applications of the federal
character principle and the reflection of geographical representation by all
means.
Section 217 of the Nigerian 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.
Citizens of the South-Eastern and South-South regions of the country have
persistently complained that they are not equitably represented in the officer
cadre of the Nigerian army. There are also protests that the composition of the
Nigeria Police does not fairly represent the various segments of the Nigerian
population. In the circumstance, the Federal Character Commission should conduct
proper investigation to allay the fears, especially those of the minority ethnic
groups.
Speaking recently while receiving the five
year report of the Federal Character Commission at State House Abuja on July 26,
2004, President Olusegun Obasanjo said: "The late Head of State General Murtala
Muhammed and I accepted the principle of federal character in the belief that a
country of the complexity and diversity like Nigeria needs a special way of
ensuring that all component parts feel involved in the affairs without
necessarily sacrificing merit. The principle merit, competence and track
record." The principle of federal character and meritocracy are mutually
exclusive. They are strange bedfellows and incompatible. Therefore, they can
never go together whatever management approaches are adopted.
The frustration engendered by the
application of the federal character has caused the brain drain overseas and the
departure of high fliers from the public service. During his address to chairmen
of public service commissions all over the federation on Monday, August 2, 2004,
President Olusegun Obasanjo criticised the public service for delaying and in
fact frustrating the development programmes of government. The obvious reason
for this laccuna is the quota system which over the years has emasculated the
efficiency and effectiveness of administrative machinery by deploying square
pegs in round holes to satisfy the federal character syndrome.
A school of thought among management
theorists question the non-application of the federal character policy to the
organised private sector. Why for instance, does the federal character principle
not apply to the very lucrative mineral oil sector which is dominated by the
citizens of Northern and Western origins? What is sauce for the goose is also
sauce for the gander. It is apparent that the federal character policy runs
counter to Section 17 of the Nigerian Constitution which states that the ideals
of equality and justice in the social order require that every citizen shall
have equality of rights, obligations and opportunities before the law.
Our best approach towards fairness in
manpower disposition in the country is to spread education at all levels evenly
so that there will not be any disadvantaged states or ethnic groups. More
primary, secondary and tertiary institutions should be established all over the
country. The federal government should implement the charter incorporated in
Section 18 of the constitution by providing free, compulsory and universal
primary education, free secondary education, free university education as well
as free adult literacy education. Funds now being wasted in wheeling and dealing
by greedy politicians should be invested in public education. The billions being
spent by the executive in bribing members of the National Assembly and state
legislators should be diverted to the educational project.
Another viable alternative approach is to
apply the Indian national equalisation scheme by which federal character policy
is only applied at the level of education and training. Lower Indian casts have
special quota in education, training and manpower development to prepare them
for public sector careers. Appointment and promotions in the Indian public
service are however based on merit for all castes, regions and tribes.
•Mr. Ifedi is a retired director, personnel, Nigerian
Railway Corporation.
� 2004 @ Champion Newspapers Limited (All Right Reserved).
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