Change2015:
Now let's complain about how the quota system has been violated to favour the south East and south south, under Jonathan.
https://www.nairaland.com/2078102/illiteracy-tribalism-south-east-south-south-hijack

Facts have emerged that the Federal Government under the leadership of President Ebele Goodluck has grossly violated the federal character principle by appointing large chunk of citizens of the Southeast(SE) and South-south(SS) zones as heads of agencies and parastatals responsible for the financial and economic fate of Nigeria.

This is coming just as the Federal Character Commission(FCC) admitted its incapacity to stop the tide due to logistic constraints.

Documents obtained by Peoples Daily Weekend reveal that at the head of the pack is the Minister of Finance and Economy, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, an Ibo from Delta state.

Corollary to her position runs a long list of appointees to parastatals and agencies dominated by South-East and South-south zones to the huge detriment of other zones.

For instance, in a list marked “Strategic Public Sector Finance/Economy Leaders, March 2014” numbering 26 appointees, 14 heads of strategic agencies all hail from the Ibo-speaking South-East zone, three from South-south, three from South-west(SW), three from North-central(NC), two from North-west (NW)and one from the North-east(NE).

Besides Prof. Nwanze Okidegbe, the chief economic adviser to the President, heads of the Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority, Nigeria Stock Exchange, Securities and Exchange Commission, Assets Management Company of Nigeria, Investment and Securities Tribunal, National Pension Commission(PENCOM),Bureau of Public Procurement, Debt Management Office, Fiscal Responsibility Commission, Revenue Mobilisation and Fiscal Commission; National Salaries, Income and Wages Commission and Nigeria Export Processing Zones Authority are all indigenes of the SE.

The SS heads the Budget Office, Bank of Industry while the third, Mr Godwin Emefiele is already a Central Bank of Nigeria Governor- designate following the suspension of current holder, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi. The SW hold offices of the National Insurance Commission, Accountant-General and Infrastructure Bank. The NC has the Auditor-General, Nigerian Export/Import Bank and Bank of Agricuture; the NW with Nigeria Customs Service and the Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation while the NE has only the Federal Mortgage Bank. In the list, the headship of the Federal Inland Revenue Service is yet to be appointed probably due to the concern raised by the Senate over balance in appointments (see lists on page 9 for details).

Another expanded list of 65 names including non-finance and economic slots, summarises the dominance of the SE particularly by about 50 percent followed by the SS, a not too significant percentage for the SW while the entire North is grudgingly left with the rest.

Peoples Daily Weekend also observes that the moment a position is left by a Northerner through retirement, death or any other cause, most replacement nominees sent to the National Assembly would immediately come from the President’s zone or the SE.

Senators also raised this point recently when the list of new CBN non-executive Board members was released.

Senators were sharply divided along geo-political lines in a June 27,2013 plenary over the lack of observance of the federal character principle in federal appointments by President Goodluck Jonathan.

Many senators argued that President Jonathan’s nominations did not adhere to the principles of federal character as enshrined in Section 14 (3) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended).

Senators expressed reservations about the president’s nominations during confirmation of board appointments into the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Judicial Service Commission (JSC).

Senate President David Mark equally expressed reservations about the matter. Although he described the reservations of his colleagues as ‘healthy’, Mark said the day of reckoning would soon come.

Mark warned, however, that federal character could not be the ‘end of it all’ at the expense of merit in appointment of Nigerians into government ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs).

He cautioned that the issue of federal character should not be overstretched.

Senators were sharply divided over the confirmation of the appointment of four non-executive members of the board of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

They are Muhammad Musa Kafarati (North-East), Collons Chike Chikeluba (South-East), Adaba Anthony Adeiza (North-Central) and Ayuli Jemide (South-South).

Although they were eventually confirmed, senators insisted that the federal character principle, as enshrined in the constitution, must be followed in all appointments.

Senate Minority Whip, Ganiyu Solomon observed that since the South-West was not represented in the list of those nominated for appointments, the remaining slot should be reserved for the zone in the interest of equity and fair play..…

meccuno:
this your argument doesn't hold water at all.........why no make the cut off mark for the south to be 10 and the North to be 250 let's see how well we would enjoy the quota system.....

meccuno:
well.....going by what you posted as fact,I believe what you mean is that the only time their is fairness in federal appointment is when all the FG parastatal are dominated by the North.......that's when it is equitable??.....how can a few ministerial positions be compared to the thousands of post being held by the North in the NASS,army,navy,air force,police,customs...... federal character,quota system......methods used to frustrate the speed of development in the south.......how can we as a people encourage mediocrity? The truth is,if Nigeria decides to restructure and do the right thing by throwing the federal character none sense in the trash,we all know who it would affect........

Rawani:


Is the North no longer educationally disadvantaged? Is that not how you tease them? Why turn around to complain that it is being reflected in national policy?

PvtParts:


And whose fault is it that the north remains or rather chose to be ignorant?

The only way to revamp the education sector in the north is by removing the subsidy that rewards mediocrity which is the quota system!

Rawani:


The North as a result of the influence of religion, emphasised Koranic education as opposed to western education, which is why it is quite difficult to find a northern muslim child without Koranic education. This is a major reason why it is not at par educationally with other regions, which were also influenced by a different religion that promoted a different kind of education (missionaries that established western schools).

If that system was not balanced, the south would have dominated the north due to that imbalance in educational penetration.

PvtParts:


At the detriment of thousands of southerners aspiring through education and hardwork.

The north wants to eat their cake and have it.

PvtParts:


The quota makes it difficult for the average southerner to make it into the civil service and military while the north can easily get a slot based on very low academic requirement placed on them.

You are here defending rubish on the Internet while your mates from the north are being positioned to be leaders tomorrow.


I bet most of you here served in the north as teachers in remote areas which you could not wait to leave but your northern counterparts were placed in corporate headquarters in the south were after completion they were retained while you roamed the streets looking for jobs after completion of your service.

Keep deciding yourselves. The change you want is to return Nigeria to a mediocre level

Rawani:


It's not to the South's detriment as it does not affect your allocated quota.

Change2015:
Logic fail. If there is a quota system did any region not get their share? You understand the meaning of quota, ko?

PvtParts:


As long as a skewed quota system that relegates academic excellence then the north has an advantage.

Let me give you an example how this skewed system works

There was a scientific organization that needed 50 graduates to fill vacancies due to retirement of long serving staff.

Owing to quota system requirement, the director general wrote to all the state governors requesting they submit list of candidates.

The northern governors could not meet the least minimum requirement in the relevant field being a scientific field but owing to quota system the vacancies for the north had to be changed to accommodate their qualification and as such the agency recruited admin staff alongside that of the required scientists. The north supplied admin staff.

The consequences of this is that the agency did not get the required number of scientist but got bugged down with more support staff.

This same agency if merit was the guiding principle would have employed more scientists to fill their vacum!

Rawani:


Unfortunately that's a weak analogy as the North has never lacked skilled personnel regardless of discipline. There are hundreds of thousands of Northern professionals including doctors, engineers, accountants, architects etc. (including I, my dad and sisters) working within and outside the country.

When educational disadvantage is spoken about regarding the North, it is in respect to the proportion of educated northerners compared to the uneducated ones, not that there are no educated or skilled northerners.

It is therefore clear why your analogy doesn't hold water. Keep in mind also that the fact that the North has an advantage under the quota system does not automatically translate to the south being disadvantaged.

IGBOSON1:


^^^So if as you claim, all Regions, states, ethnicities have the educated/trained manpower to fill any and all positions asked of them......if you're implying we all can compete on a level playing field, why then are the retrogressive policies of quota-system and federal character still retained!?

Rawani:


It is therefore clear why your analogy doesn't hold water. Keep in mind also that the fact that the North has an advantage under the quota system does not automatically translate to the south being disadvantaged.

Rawani:


While it might be premature to suggest the system had outlived its usefulness, the results of the system can be seen in our ministries, faculties and hospitals. The probable reason is because there is still a fair proportion of the population that has some catching up to do.

PvtParts:


At least you agreed that the north has an advantage over other regions with respect to the quota system!

Rawani:


I never disputed that. The point is the quotas allocated are mutually exclusive, so it doesn't translate to the south being disadvantaged.

IGBOSON1:


^^^The bolded has always been part of our problem in the south! We think we're smart.....but we're too smart for our own good!

I bet the fool is shouting 'change' and 'one Nigeria' the loudest!!

Rawani:


The North as a result of the influence of religion, emphasised Koranic education as opposed to western education, which is why it is quite difficult to find a northern muslim child without Koranic education. This is a major reason why it is not at par educationally with other regions, which were also influenced by a different religion that promoted a different kind of education (missionaries that established western schools).

If that system was not balanced, the south would have dominated the north due to that imbalance in educational penetration.

T9ksy:



The bolded above is the sole reason why the ibos were all for One Nigeria prior to independence and the same reason why the moment they (ibos) were opportuned to be in charge of our national affairs, they quickly foisted unitary system of govt. of us.

Ojukwu didn't help matters with his usual orangutan chest-beating postures at the announcement of Decree 34 by Ironsi

adconline:

You should be mocking at your illogical fail. Someone from Anambra scores 135 is not accepted at any unity school in Naiija while someone from Kebbi who scores 37 is accepted, then goes on to the university, and his godfather is politically powerful and promotes him without merit. We have Penalized the most intelligent and rewarded the most lazy and unserious...

PvtParts:


At least you agreed that the north has an advantage over other regions with respect to the quota system!

Rawani:


The North as a result of the influence of religion, emphasised Koranic education as opposed to western education, which is why it is quite difficult to find a northern muslim child without Koranic education. This is a major reason why it is not at par educationally with other regions, which were also influenced by a different religion that promoted a different kind of education (missionaries that established western schools).

If that system was not balanced, the south would have dominated the north due to that imbalance in educational penetration.

Change2015:


The North has a numerical advantage because it has more States, and supposedly, a larger population. The quota system reflects that proportionality. Getting rid of the quota system will be difficult, until Nigerians learn to curb their prejudices, which obviously isn't going to happen anytime soon.

anonimi:


So you agree that Kano state is more populated than Lagos state as per the 2006 census that puts Lagos at less than 10 million

How much lower do we go in selling this daft old soldier to our fellow citizens?

Change2015:


The North has a numerical advantage because it has more States, and supposedly, a larger population. The quota system reflects that proportionality. Getting rid of the quota system will be difficult, until Nigerians learn to curb their prejudices, which obviously isn't going to happen anytime soon.

noblezone:
The only way to wake up the North from sleep so they can see their predicament is to
SPLIT Nigeria.

Denying them quota system will increase the strength of Boko Haram.
The North would rather invest in:
Arabic studies than science.
mosques than schools
pilgrimage to Mecca, than technology.

We can do the needful now or continue to flog a dead horse.