…May never produce an IGP in decades
By Edward T. Dibiana
Minister of Labour and Productivity, Senator Chris Ngige, has said that the Igbos, rather than any other interests, marginalised themselves in the Nigeria Police.
Ngige decried the almost non-existence of the Igbo in the high echelon of the Police, a situation he said would make the South east to continue to be excluded from consideration for the position of Inspector General of Police (IGP), for a very long time.
Senator Ngige, who spoke during a radio programme monitored by 365Daily on Purity FM 102.5 Awka, Anambra State, over the weekend, disclosed that at the moment, the South east had only six Commissioners of Police, while the South west has over 60 and North central, 30.
He said, “Whereas they say promotion of CPs to AIG is by seniority, there’s no Igbo in that seniority line. How come? And I saw this myself. I was privileged to see the staff list. The Igbos on that list are down, down the line. So, out of the over 30 AIGs in the Nigeria Police today, no single Igbo man, but you go and blame Buhari.”
The Minister attributed this anomaly to what he referred to as “lack of succession plans by the Igbo” who have held leadership positions in the police in the past. But people, according to him, turn round to blame President Muhammadu Buhari, for excluding the Igbo in his appointments.
According to him, “One of our brothers, Onyemuche Nnamani, the new Commissioner representating the South east in the Police Service Commission, came to my office lamenting the sordid situation of things in the PSC as it concerns the South east.
“I then went to see the Inspector General of Police and requested to see the list of Officers. He obliged me and what I saw in reality was that the South east had six Commissioners of Police only. The South west has over 60, and the North central, over 30 and so on.
“Now, the question is, is it not the same Police that an Igbo son held the position of IGP? Why didn’t he put in place a succession plan for his kith and kin? Why?
“Or, is it not the same Police that we had my good friend, Ochendo (Simeon) Okeke as Chairman, Police Service Commission? What was the succession plan they put in place there? What happened to those Igbos in the Police that hindered their rise?
“So, it is something we have to keep interrogating. Is it when you appoint someone to a position and he or she gets there and begins to look after their own welfare? He or she won’t open his mouth to ask the right questions. What is therefore the benefits that such a person is holding that particular office?”
Ngige said that rather than blame the President for marginalisation, “Igbo people should be asking questions. The people you sent to Abuja, what have they been able to do? You keep mouthing marginalisation, marginalisation. You have marginalised yourselves. We have marginalised ourselves, yet we turn around and blame President Buhari.”
The Minister argued that successive governments, rather than Buhari, should be blamed for any unfair treatment of the Igbo in the Police or any other establishment, as he queried further: “Was Buhari president at the time? Was he president at the time they ought to have put in place a succession plan for people to come from CPs and promoted to AIG? He’s not the one, your Igbo brothers were there.
“Your then president, Ebele Jonathan, ‘this is our own’ was there. So it’s like the fowl exenorating the knife that slaughtered it and turns around to blame the pot for cooking it.
“So, our people who represented us earlier in the cabinet, our people who represented us in the National Assembly, didn’t pay attention.
“In the 7th Senate, we fought this injustice. I was a member of the Committee on Police, and we engaged in a battle and got our people promoted at the time.
“But now, what they are after is what will enter individual pockets, how they will go for the next election, how to get back to the House of Representatives or Senate or how he or she will be governor. They don’t pay attention. We had a deputy Senate President for eight years.
“They should stop blaming President Buhari. They should stop. He is not the cause of our predicament. Those who represented us before had the wherewithal to, but they didn’t do anything. We that are there now, whatever infrastructure is being shared, we fight for it.
“The Army is not as bad, because the man called Ihejirika (former Chief of Army Staff), had a succession plan. So, there’s no time you promote officers to Major General or Brigadier General you won’t see Igbos there. So, he’s a true Igbo son who had his eyes on the ground. Our share didn’t get missing there because he put people in line in every course. But when you get to the Police, what I saw there is frightening. But that is a discussion for another day.”