Thread by @thecableng

OPINION BY SIMON KOLAWOLE: To keep Nigeria one | TheCable bit.ly/2MDqqGK

.@simonkolawole: How time flies. When Major Abubakar Umar was appointed military governor of Kaduna state by Gen Ibrahim Babangida in 1985, he was just approaching his 36th birthday.

He was fresh-faced and handsome, with the trademark well-arranged moustache — the trend at the time. Beyond his looks, Umar came across as a progressive, one who cared about the ordinary people, one who viewed society with a pair of liberal eyes despite having royal blood.

He voluntarily resigned from the army as a colonel in 1993 after being detained without trial for allegedly seeking to undo the June 12 annulment. Now 70, he is in a good place more than many of us to comment on national affairs. bit.ly/2YawVpO via @thecableng

In an open letter last week, Umar warned President Muhammadu Buhari on the dangers of lopsided appointments and took him on a historical excursion into how Nigeria’s delicate ethnic and religious balance has been managed in times past. bit.ly/2YawVpO via @thecableng

He referred to the choice of the army chief in 1965 and how an Igbo officer, Gen JTU Aguiyi-Ironsi, was appointed on the basis of seniority even when some northerners were rooting for Gen Zakariya Maimalari, who was equally qualified.

The Northern People’s Congress (NPC), led by Sir Ahmadu Bello with Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa as the prime minister, could have chosen Maimalari and damned the consequence, Umar said. bit.ly/2YawVpO via @thecableng

In 1976, according to Umar, Gen TY Danjuma, a northern Christian, willingly gave up being second-in-command to Gen Olusegun Obasanjo, a southern Christian, for national harmony. bit.ly/2YawVpO via @thecableng

Lt Col Shehu Musa Yar’Adua, a Fulani Muslim and Danjuma’s junior, had to be given double promotion and made second-in-command to balance the equation. Umar said two northern Christians, Chief Sunday Awoniyi and Dr Ishaya Audu, served as close aides to Ahmadu Bello.

The immediate trigger for Umar’s letter was apparently the ongoing drama on the choice of the president of the Court of Appeal. Despite being nominated by the National Judicial Council (NJC), Justice Monica Dongban-Mensem...

,...a northern Christian, has continued to occupy the position in an acting capacity as Buhari has not sent her name to the senate for confirmation. What we are hearing is that Justice Mohammed Lawal Garba, a Muslim from Kano state, is being preferred to Dongban-Mensem.

.@simonkolawole: Where do I stand on Umar’s letter? Let me make preliminary comments first before I go into the substantive issue. Anybody who knows me very well or has followed my writings over the years will remember one line of argument I always make:...bit.ly/2YawVpO

...that in any multi-ethnic, multi-religious society, you can never achieve harmony and integration when any part genuinely feels marginalised or excluded. Those who developed the federal character principle are not idiots, no matter what they tell you on Twitter.

.@simonkolawole: The principle behind federal character, to my understanding, is to make sure Nigeria’s ethnic, regional and religious make-up is reflected in federal appointments. bit.ly/2YawVpO via @thecableng

Even when we look at the complaints about @MBuhari’s appointments, I have not seen anyone provide evidence that the northern appointees do not have the qualification and experience and are, thus, incompetent; at least on paper. bit.ly/2YawVpO via @thecableng

The Justice Lawal that is being pushed to become the president of the Court of Appeal is as qualified as Justice Dongban-Mensem, so the question is not about the CV. The question is about what is right and what is fair. bit.ly/2YawVpO via @thecableng

.@simonkolawole: Why bypass the most senior judge, who is eminently qualified and who has been screened and recommended by the NJC, and pick someone else? That, to me, should be the question in this case — not the religion, not the ethnic origin. bit.ly/2YawVpO

Those who oppose federal character often tend to argue that it is the opposite of merit. Again, I disagree completely. There is no region, religion or ethnic group in Nigeria today that does not have competent and qualified people. bit.ly/2YawVpO via @thecableng

.@simonkolawole: I challenge anybody to name just one ethnic group or state that does not have competent engineers, accountants, lawyers, doctors, communication specialists, educationists, quantity surveyors, architects, and such like. bit.ly/2YawVpO via @thecableng

The troubling issue is: do we nominate our best even in the application of federal character? It is untrue to suggest that all the competent people in Nigeria are from one region, or that one ethnic group has monopoly of merit. bit.ly/2YawVpO via @thecableng