Over the last couple of days the cries of Buhari’s Northern agenda have gotten louder and louder. More and more Nigerians now believe that the President favours people from the North for huge positions and the recent removal of Ibe Kachikwu as head honcho at NNPC has not helped the President’s case especially when Kachikwu was replaced by a Northerner.
Adding to the voices of dissent is none other that Bola Tinubu who in an article published in The Nation which is his paper, title ‘Kachikwu’s fate’ noted that the President seemed to be empowering the North while not paying attention to other regions.
The article disclosed; “The president appointed a new board for the NNPC… That decision defrocks Ibe Kachikwu of that position, which leaves him as the Minister of State for Petroleum.
“First, Baru’s replacement of Kachikwu, implies that Kachikwu would not only run the NNPC behemoth, but will now only act on the behest of the President, who doubles as Petroleum Minister’’.
It was added; ’What worried the Nigerian society more, was the skewed nature of the board. Of the six names on the board, only one is regarded as belonging to the oil-producing area of the Niger Delta. That name is Dr. Thomas John. The others are either from the southwest or the north. In fact, if we add the managing director, it is a northern affair.
‘’Since the days of Adako Boro, the region has not muted its outcry for its residents to enjoy the oil that comes from the bowel of their earth. Granted that the governments of the region, whether state or local governments, or even interventions like the Niger Delta Development Commission, have also sharply fallen short of local expectations, the Federal Government ought not to compound it”.
Finally the article opined “The region suffers, for most part, from collusion between oil firms and the political elites in Abuj,a to determine the fates of their citizens. It is in that context that this new raft of NNPC appointees is viewed. It is also curious that the President could appoint Abba Kyari, his Chief of Staff, as a member of the board.
“The nation needs to know why. Kyari’s job as the President’s closest staff, should not only be enough for one man, but compels him to look at all departments of government with even judgment.”