Colonel Hamid Ibrahim Ali (Rtd), |
The criminologist and
poultry farmer was also the Secretary of Arewa
Consultative Forum (ACF) in
which capacity he represented the Arewa Consultative Forum at the Oputa Panel and was its
presenter-in-chief when the Ohanaeze Ndigbo made its case against the Nigerian
Civil War. Col. Ali’s appointment as Comptroller-General of Customs was greeted
with controversy. It was about the first time a non-career officer is heading
the Customs Service. Of greater concern is his approach to issues, which led to
the mass resignation of all the Deputy Comptrollers General (DCGs) in one day.
This, too, was as unprecedented as it was controversial.
The appointments and
promotions he made following the said mass resignation are controversial,
prompting many to ask if his mission to the Customs Service is to see the South
East officers out of the Service; as the slots traditionally reserved for the
South East zone were shared out to other zones – a critical social injustice.
There is an exclusion and marginalisation of the South East in the 2015
Nigeria Customs Service appointments/promotions for the management cadre.
Unlike what obtained in the past, each zone gets, on the average, four slots
for Assistant Comptroller General (ACG) cadre and one DCG.
In the present
promotions/appointments, while the other five zones in the country retained
their number of slots or got more, South East got nothing save one DCG, whereas
the zone got four ACGs in the 2014 appointments/promotions and something
similar in the previous ones. The distribution of the 2014
appointments/promotions reflected the tradition and adherence to Federal
Character at Customs but now thrown overboard.
The distribution in the
Comptrollers’ cadre is pathetic, as the South East was nearly completely left
out also. North West alone got 25 slots as against four by the South East.
Other zones also got relatively the lion’s share compared to the South East.
Question is: on what basis were these promotions done and what is the
justification for the bizarre disparity between the other zones and South East,
to the point where a zone would get 25 Comptrollers and South East only
four? For the avoidance of doubt, here it is: SE 4, SS 11, SW
10, NC 18, NE 26 and NW 25.
Nigeria Customs Service is
vital to revenue generation in Nigeria. And in this era where the revenue of
the country is fast dwindling, it is only necessary that the service be allowed
to enjoy the requisite peace and cooperation. A situation where one zone is
feeling that they are being deliberately excluded from the management cadre can
only breed angst and frustration.
Injustice to one is an
injustice to all. Social justice has to be given its due premium in Nigeria if
the country will gain the needed unity and make progress at development. Social
psychological researches on work and wellbeing of workers have clearly shown
that the surest way to destroying any organisation is to have different sets of
rules/rewards for the different workers in the same organisation. The
arbitrariness obtainable in the military era hardly suffices in a democratic
dispensation. If the strange policy of exclusion introduced in the Customs is
allowed to stand, Customs officers of South East extraction are being told in
no uncertain terms that they cannot aspire to certain ranks or become the
Comptroller General of that Service. This is wrong.
The President needs to get
the Customs boss to respect and restore the rights of the excluded South East
zone and work for greater harmony with the officers and men of the Service,
whose confidence he needs in order to succeed. President Muhammadu Buhari has
himself demonstrated great commitment to rule of law and constitutionalism, and
against his wishes and beliefs, extended cabinet ranks to all the 37 ministers.
Buhari, too, is a retired military officer and could have insisted on having
ministers without portfolios and reap the acrimony it would generate. Col. Ali
needs to emulate President Buhari. In the realm of psychology, perception is
everything. The nation has to manage the growing feeling of alienation both in
the North and South Nigeria. Deliberate efforts must be made to address the
sources of such alienations and not stoking them, as is now happening in the
Customs. And only inclusive policies can promote amity and progress of Nigeria,
not exclusionism. (guardian)
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