December 12, 2024
By Ayinde Adeleke
Nigerian Lawyer and activist, Mike Ozekhome, has asserted that former President Muhammadu Buhari’s seeming ‘Fulanisation’ of his g
Government should be blamed for the preference by his successor, Bola Tinubu, to appoint persons from his Yoruba ethnic bloc into key positions of Government.
Ozekhome stated, “Today, I hear the Northerners complain that Tinubu has Yorubanised Nigeria, having so many Yoruba in the highest places in Nigeria. It is true, they are making a point. But where were they when Buhari, for eight years, literally Northernised every position in Nigeria?”
He noted that Tinubu’s trajectory was not surprising, since it was tolerated by gullible Nigerians when Buhari was at the helm.
Ozekhome added, “I cried and I wrote tonnes of articles. One of the 50 books I presented on my 67th birthday was entitled ‘How Buhari mismanaged Nigeria’.”
Ozekhome also threw his weight behind the proposed tax reforms, saying “it is in the best interest of the country, including the North”.
He argued that the opposition to the tax reforms by Nigerians of northern extraction is uncalled for, given the agricultural and vast mineral resources spread across the 19 states in the northern part of the country.
“The Value-Added Tax (VAT) debate is on. Most of the opponents are Northerners. I have just written an article entitled: ‘Voting VAT’,” Ozekhome said.
“The question you ask yourself is, what is this VAT? It is the tax that you pay for consumption of goods. Is it really right that you should share money based on the headquarters of a company?”
Ozekhome urged those angry about the bills to read the provisions carefully.
He faulted the federal character principle entrenched in the constitution, arguing that it would not only dampen the morale of hardworking Nigerians but also encourage inefficiency and mediocrity in the polity.
At the event with the theme ‘Unity in Diversity: Embracing Freedom, Equality and Dignity for All’, Ozekhome warned those in positions of authority against sacrificing the unity of Nigeria on the altar of tribalism and sectionalism.
He described the 1999 constitution as flawed, stressing the need for a new constitution with inputs from Nigerians irrespective of their ethnic and religious differences on the way forward for the country.
