September 25, (THEWILL) – A former Lagos State Governorship Aspirant, Lawyer and Chartered Accountant, Chief Owolabi Salis, has tasked President Bola Tinubu on the need to ensure fairness and equity in his appointments.
Salis made this admonition in a statement he issued from his United States of America base, against the backdrop of criticisms trailing the choice made by the President into key positions.
According to him, appointments ordinarily should be an avenue to engineering national unity and cohesion.
Salis, who is also an expert in diversity management, noted that division was not an option for the new administration in view of current challenges facing the nation.
He stressed that fostering unity is essential considering the division which polarised the country along religious and ethnic lines during the last general elections.
Salis said, “As a diversity expert and somebody with a deep knowledge of Nigerian politics, one would have expected that anything that could further divide our people would have been avoided from day one.
“For a character like Tinubu and his party, the APC, they could have done better, going by the repertoire of experiences.
“Moreover, Yorubas are for equity. Yorubas are known to harmonise diverse interests and bring everyone together, that’s Yoruba spirituality.
“The truth is that despite our differences, we are one and the same as far as the Nigerian project is concerned.
“Appointments into offices, therefore, should reflect our diversity, as it remains a potent tool that can either make or mar our journey towards nationhood.
“This is why I am particularly concerned about issues so far raised against appointments into offices, especially our financial architecture under the current administration.
“Former President Obasanjo did excellently well in this regard with appointments of Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Prof. Charles Soludo, Nuhu Ribadu, Nasir El-Rufai, Nenadi Usman, Dr Kpakol across the country.
“The truth is that good diversity management engenders national unity and luckily Nigeria parades quality people from every geo-political zone of the country, hence any good leader should be able to harness such for national development.
“Thankfully, opportunity still beckons to right the perceived wrongs as President Tinubu can still redeem his image before his critics, who are no doubt right by insisting that the right thing be done.
“No doubt, one of the things that worked for him in the last elections is his perceived pan-Nigeria posture, it is therefore incumbent upon him to prove his critics wrong and show that he is President of all Nigerians and not of any ethnic stock.”
About the Author
AYO ESAN, has been actively reporting and analyzing political events for different newspapers for over 18 years. He has also successfully covered national and state elections in Nigeria since the inception of this democracy in 1999.
