Former Emir of Kano, Muhammadu Sanusi II, has asked Nigerians to respect merit and competence over the tradition of federal character.
Sanusi advised that Nigerian should respect merit and performance rather than the doctrine of the federal character. He added that the doctrine has made things worst for the country.
Sanusi said this on Thursday at The Platform, an annual conference organized by the Covenant Christian Centre in Lagos in commemoration of the 60th Independence Anniversary of Nigeria.
The former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria disclosed that Nigeria would grow if the politics of regionalism and ethnicism are put behind.
He questioned, “We should have federal character but why do we have a minister that can deliver but another that cannot deliver. Why is federal character always pursued at the expense of merit and competence?
“What are our national values? Are we a country that respects merit? Are we a country that rewards performance? Are we a country that places the people at the heart?”
He noted that the culture of federal character has not solve the problem of marginalization which has been a subject strong debate in the country.
He said, “If you ask people why they are being marginalized, they would look at the composition of political offices. When you go down to the masses and find out who the poorest people are.
“Where do you have the highest number of out of school children? Where do you have the highest level of malnutrition? Where do you have the highest level of underemployment? Those are what affect the vast majority of Nigerians.
“Then you begin to know who the truly marginalised people are. And you would be surprised to know those who have been – quote and unquote, marginalising others politically. If you look at political officers, they actually come from areas where people are most marginalised when you look at real economic indicators.
“So, if there is any proof that being from one part of the country in government does not necessarily translate to better effort, that country is Nigeria.
“So, until we get out of this almost juvenile obsession of where is this person from, what religion does he have and actually begin to ask those who wants to be president, ministers and governors – what are your credentials? What do you bring to the table? What do you have to offer the people?”
He added that the country needed to focus on building human capacity, saying more than half of the 200 million population of Nigeria are below the age of 20.
The former CBN Governor warned that Nigeria would have bigger problems in 20 years times if its working population lacks the skills needed to build an economy.
