Appoint Credible, Competent People, Group tells Jonathan
Goodluck Jonathan
As political interest groups jostle for appointive positions, a group, Society for Good Governance (SGG), has called on President Goodluck Jonathan to only consider people to appointive positions based on merit and competence.
The group, which spoke through its spokesman, Okwudili Onyeke, in Abuja, also called on him to take the nation out of the doldrums by avoiding over-recycled persons whose tenure in office did not in any way improve on the well being of the citizenry.
It called on the president to consolidate on the internationally acclaimed freest and fairest elections conducted by his government to also appoint credible people into his cabinet and parastatals.
“There are so many competent and credible persons in Nigeria today who have contributed immensely in developing certain strategic structures in this country. Others have done it abroad for so many years helping to build British and American democracies.
“These competent men are not always considered because they are not politically connected which is the reason why this country has stagnated over the years. What happened to the Reuben Abatis, Professor Pat Utomi, Dr Jhalil Tafawa Balewa, Professor Femi Ojekunle, Femi Falana, Olisa Agbakoba and others, people who have shown leadership in their various professional callings”it said.
According to the group “there are medical/legal practitioners, engineers, nuclear chemists and physicists who are most suited to run our ministries and parastatals but we end up with people who have been ministers three times over without anything to show for it”.
“We think Mr President should look beyond party politics and pick people that would move this nation forward. That is the only way to consolidate on the credible elections that have been applauded globally”, he said.
The group further stated that the time has come for President Jonathan to rid the nation of the evils of the past administrations by steering the ship of state to fruition.