If a national security meeting held today (12th October 2021), in attendance would be:
- Muhammadu Buhari.
- Yemi Osinbajo.
- Lucky Irabor.
- Boss Mustapha.
- Ibrahim Gambari.
- Babagana Monguno.
- Abubakar Malami.
- Bashir Salihu Magashi.
- Ibrahim Attahiru.
- Awwal Zubairu.
- Usman Alkali Baba.
- Yusuf Magaji Bichi.
- Ahmed Rufai Abubakar.
None of the thirteen (13) of them from the South-East and ten (10) of the 13 attendees Muslims! And, of course, the meeting would be chaired by a Muslim deemed to be an Islamic bigot.
The shock is that Nigerians have lived with this outrage for over 6 years; yet, the same Nigerians are perplexed by acute insecurity in Nigeria.
The starting point of unraveling and solving the consuming security challenges in Nigeria, which will get much worse in 2022/2023, is to properly constitute any national security meeting for equity and balance.
Proper composition of that meeting must be two persons from each of the six geopolitical zones, with each of the two main religions – Christianity and Islam – being represented by 6 members. Even if President Buhari would chair the meeting, he should not vote on any major issue being deliberated upon…unless there was a tie.
Unless the national security meeting is properly constituted, such a meeting cannot be trusted on security; in fact, it should be suspected of being behind insecurity challenges that have bedevilled Nigeria since 2015.
National Assembly members, you cannot continue to ignore flagrant disregard of provisions of the Constitution – including provisions regarding Federal Character. May I remind you that any breach of the Constitution by anyone who has sworn to uphold same is an impeachable offence.
And you media practitioners, if you keep quiet over this wickedness because you are a Muslim or because you hate the South-East, you will sooner or later become a victim of exclusion/discrimination and insecurity yourself. Karma never fails.
Dr. Chinedu Jideofo-Ogbuagu,
National Coordinator,
South-East APC Presidency Project 2023.
09052910866, 08023163451.
Community reporters 