The Federal Government has selected 30 Nigerians to pitch their ideas during the Aso Villa Demo Day through the office of the Special Adviser to Vice President Yemi Osinbajo on Job Creation.
Sadly, only two Northerners were selected! Even at that, the 2 northerners are listed together as one (16- Abubakar Garba & Abdul Samad Gorbin****) thereby making the southerners to be 29 out of the 30 selected participants!
They were selected out of the hundreds of people who pitched their ideas at three different locations: Lagos, Abuja and Port-Harcourt in June. The events were held in Lagos – June 23rd, Abuja – June 25th and Port-Harcourt – June 29th.
The 30 selected Nigerians will be hosted top level at the Presidency, Aso Rock on a date to be announced soon to pitch their winning ideas.
Announcing the finalists in a statement, Laolu Akande, spokesman of Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo, said they will be hosted in Aso Rock on a date yet to be announced.
Akande said the federal government created AVDD “to promote entrepreneurship, innovation and foster job creation and economic growth through the use of now and emerging technologies”.
“During the pitch events, participating Nigerians presented ideas and solutions for Technology, Agriculture, Communications, Power, Fashion and Entertainment which revealed talents, skills and critical thinking,” he said in a statement.
“In the selection process, some criteria were used:
1- Can this idea make money?
2- Has a revenue model been defined and is it realistic?
3- What is the value proposition to customers (Demographic and location etc…)
4 Is there a functional product?
5- Does it deliver a compelling and captivating user experience?
6- How resource- intensive is the idea? ”
Looking at the above criteria for selection, number three categorically stated that “demographic and location” form the bases for selection. But alas this was vehemently shunned and impunity take the order of the day!
THE FULL LIST
1- Chika Uwaze – Talent Base
2- Obidipe Oluwaseun – Mocapro
3- Tele Ogundipe – Egusi Soupe
4- Amaka Osita – Fuel Vouch
5- Tolu Adeyanju – Red Bank
6- Ifedayo Oladapo – Grit Systems
7- Nkem Okocha – Mama Moni Limited
8- Ebuka Nwora – Etyres
9- Dami Olokesusi – Shuttlers NG
10- Amarachi Nwanamodo – Amagzy Global Ventures
11- Oladimeji Sofowora, Wole Ralph, Laolu Ojeniyi – One Medical
12- Mogbeyiteran Tosan – Blackswan
13- Angela Adelaja – Fresh Direct
14- Ahmed Sodiq – Micro Scale embedded
15- Dimgba Kalu – Projaro
16- Abubakar Garba & Abdul Samad Gorbin****
17- Emmanuel Okena – Tracology
18- Lois Auta – Cedar’s seed
19- Kamaludeen Sabiu – Seamless system’
20- Peter Agada – Tiller Cyrus
21- Desmond Okoye – Doctor’s office
22- Uzuq Tim – Tembe.com.ng
23- Alifa Nicholas – Ajaoku.com
24- Roland Reagan & Edmond Adoku – Meditech
25- Akinola Solomon – Africa on the rise tech community
26- Alison Ukonu – Recycle points
27- Uche Ariolu – Foodstantly
28- Benson Godwin – Tuteria
29- Mina Ogbanga – Ascent GP
30- Odior Yole – GO CV
From the above list, you must agree that the composition is skewed in favour of the South while the North is intentionally excluded in contradiction to the federal character principle. This is unacceptable!
We are realistic enough to understand that we will have to take baby steps, careful steps, towards that Nigeria of the future. That Nigeria where quota shall be a thing of the past; where all 36 Ministers can come from one state and it wouldn’t matter, so long as they are competent and meritorious.
“But our leader must understand that the building blocks towards that Nigeria involve a great deal of national healing, of national trust building, of national confidence building, of atonement, of appeasement, of addressing unaddressed grievances and silenced tragedies of our past. These things need to be done methodically and painstakingly so that everybody will come to have a patriotic stake in Project Nigeria. This non negotiable!
“The enabling psychological atmosphere of confidence in Nigeria – built on a system which the majority of our people see, feel, and agree is just and fair – must be put in place first.
“For now, you must do things, bearing in mind the fact that:
“There is no ethnic nationality, no geopolitical region without competent and meritorious persons. As multi diverse nation, an effort must be made to create a sense of fairness, justice, balance and equity by looking at the composition beyond a particular region. There is no conceivable excuse!”
The Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo breached section 5 of the 1999 constitution and the oath of office he took to preserve, protect, defend and uphold the constitution of the country.
The Northern Youth Democrats, laments that they have been subjected to discrimination, marginalization, humiliation, domination, suppression and inequality in the composition, contrary to sections 13, 14, 42, 217 and 218 of the 1999 constitution.
But the 1999 Constitution explicitly stipulates in Chapter 14 subsection 3 that the “composition of the Government of the Federation or any of its agencies and the conduct of its affairs shall…reflect the federal character of Nigeria and the need to promote national unity, and also to command national loyalty, thereby ensuring that there shall be no predominance of persons from a few states or from a few ethnic or other sectional groups…”
This is a breach with impunity as far as this composition is highly important milestone in making Nigeria great again. Apart from this, Nigeria’s plural setting demands that no group or ethnic nationality is seen as too domineering in critical areas of governance. More importantly, Apart from meeting the constitutional requirement that a minister be appointed from each of the 36 states, the two zones are sparsely represented in the Federal Government. The National Assembly and civil society groups should be more vigorous in resisting this trend.
We hereby call on the President of Nigeria, the National Assembly, and the Federal Character Commission of Nigeria to wade in as the matter of urgency review or reverse the selection in order to reflect the Federal Character of Nigeria in line with provision of the constitution.
We declare emphatically that this is corruption. It is wrong to view stealing of government funds as the only form of corruption. This has been going on in last dispensation, that was why we massively kicked out the ass of the last administration but only to be assaulted with another pernicious impunity for cronyism.
We are further compelling the Federal Character Commission to carry out its constitutional duties of working out equitable formula for the distribution along
Besides, we are also the urging the National Assembly to carry out its constitutional duties of giving effect to sections 217 and 218 of the 1999 constitution by ensuring that the composition reflects the Federal Character of Nigeria.
It is time to put an end to this provincial inclination. Nigeria has over 250 ethnic nationalities and wide disparities in culture. Until we take the right, inevitable step of restructuring the country, the minimum expected of a leader is to ensure equity in among at all levels.
. AbuAmmar-Abdullahi Saleh is the National Coordinator of the Good Governance Monitoring Initiative. He can be reached on +234 806 973 3075 and email: abuammar_as@yahoo.com.
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