The North-west zone of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) has expressed displeasure over the total exclusion of Christians from the Governing Board of the North West Development Commission(NWDC).
CAN was prompted to cry out after discovering that no Christian was named in the nine-member board announced by President Bola Tinubu on September 28, 2024, seeking for the approval of the Senate.
Tinubu appointed only Muslims into the NWDC board hence the North-west zonal Chairman of CAN, Elder Sunday Oibe issued a statement on Saturday October 5, asking Mr. President if they are no indigenous Christians in all the seven states in the zone.
The board nominees waiting for Senate confirmation are Haruna Ginsau (Jigawa), Chairman, and Prof. Abdullahi Shehu Ma’aji (Kano), Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer.
Other members include Dr. Yahaya Namahe (Sokoto), Aminu Suleiman (Kebbi), Tijani Kaura (Zamfara), Abdulkadir Usman (Kaduna), Muhammad Wudil (Kano), Shamsu Sule (Katsina), and Nasidi Ali (Jigawa).
“We are deeply concerned about the recent appointments,” CAN said, describing it as “unfortunate that the appointments did not reflect the diversity in the region”.
CAN pointed out that the appointments did not recognise or show respect to the diversity of the zone, given that indigenous Hausa/Fulani stock constitutes a large proportion of the North-west population.
The Christian body utterly condemned the composition of thd NWDC board, because of its non-representation of indigenous people in North-west that profess the Christian faith.
Oibe reminded Tinubu, in case he has forgotten, that indigenous Hausa/Fulani Christians exist in all the component states of the North-west geopoligical zone – Jigawa, Kaduna, Kano, Katsina, Kebbi, Sokoto and Zamfara.
“It should not be assumed that the entire population in the North-west are Muslims,” he said, addihg that “lopsided appointments, to say the least, is unbecoming of the Tinubu administration and we are disenchanted by this action”.
He noted that by excluding Christians from the board appointment, President Tinubu has started manifesting the contentious muslim-muslim ticket he promoted during the 2023 presidential election.
Oibe called for inclusivity and fair representation of Christians in the board of the NWDC and urged Mr. President to review the appointments and make necessary adjustments to ensure balance in representation.
The North-west CAN leader warned that “leaving these appointments unchanged will have negative consequences for the Commission’s success and encourages religious divisions in the region and Nigeria as a whole”.
“We call on Tinubu to prioritise unity and inclusivity in his decision-making, especially when it comes to issues of balancing the two (major) religious bodies,” Oibe said.