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No 14C Kobi Street G.R.A Bauchi 22nd November 2007 The Editor, Gamji Website
Dear Sir,
USAID DISCRIMINATES AGAINST NORTHERN MUSLIMS Permit us a space in your esteemed and widely read website to register our grievance with the callous way and manner the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) is treating Northerners especially Muslims.
The Agency, which is an independent United States Federal Agency, receives overall foreign policy guidance from the Secretary of State and is charged with the responsibility of providing aids to foreign countries. It has been working in Nigeria for quite sometime, providing aids in mostly health and education sectors across various states. However, in all its years of existence in Nigeria, the agency has a deliberate and well-sustained policy of not employing northerners particularly Muslims.
Just like in all their projects, a good example of this flagrant discrimination is in one of their project called Community Participation for Action in the Social Sector (COMPASS) whose focus is primary health care, basic education and polio eradication. It operates in Kano, Bauchi, Nasarawa, FCT and Lagos with headquarters' in Abuja. In addition, it has field offices in Jigawa, Katsina, Kebbi, Sokoto, Kaduna and Zamfara for polio eradication.
In spite of the fact that over 95% of the project's area of operation is in the North, staff composition of the project is totally southern and Christian in nature. From the inception of the project in 2004 to date, no single northerner was ever appointed to serve in its management committee. In fact, even recently when some key expatriates personnel left the project in what is known as exit strategy, which means that they are going because they have served their mandatory time on the project for which they are expected to have trained local staff to take-over. Only staff from Lagos Office were promoted and posted to Abuja to take over half of the openings while the remaining half of the Directors & Senior Advisors positions was given to southerners from Abuja office. Not a single northerner from any of its northern offices or Abuja Central office was considered.
In addition, when the Head of the project – an American left. They recruited a southerner to take over from her. What is amazing is that he has never been to the north nor does he have any inkling as to the culture, tradition or values of majority of the population he is expected to serve. He was recruited simply because he is a southerner and a Christian.
Another pathetic case is that of its Bauchi Office, where from the State Team Leader down to the cleaners and security men, there is only a lone Muslim working there. Its not that there are no qualified Muslims in Bauchi but it is only because the system is designed to block them from being recruited.
The question is what kind of flawed policy would allow for only staff from a particular faith or geo-political zone and one state out of several others to be elevated. Why are equally qualified staff of Northern origin from the Central office not worthy for promotion.
It is on record that you can never find a northern Muslim working in any of their projects in the south despite their orchestrated slogan of being an "equal opportunity employer". However, it is alarming and a source of great concern that all their projects in the north are staffed wholly with southerners.
Except if it has other ulterior motives or if those projects are only smokescreens, otherwise, If USAID is genuinely concerned about our plight in the north and is interested in helping us out of it, they should be concerned in the same measure about building our capacity such that we can be able to stand on our own and continue even when they are not there. Sadly, the present system is only engineered towards our perpetual subservience to them and to those people who they are recruiting to work for us. The logic is 'why teach other persons to catch fish for us when you can train us too'. Besides, if the agency is saying that its projects are build for the purposes of sustainability, then the easiest way to facilitate sustenance is for manpower to be localized.
We agree that their money belongs to them and they have the right to decide whom to work with, but they should know that if they truly want to work for us; they must work with us. Moreover, since all their projects are in form of collaborative and cooperative agreements with Federal and State governments, they should respect and abide by the principle of federal character that is enshrined in our constitution, which makes provision for catchment areas and even distribution of positions. In essence, they should appreciate our socio-cultural, religious and political sensitivities.
The Agency's present disposition can only be perceived as an extension of the much talked about United States global war on Islam. Therefore, it is important to call on northerners and particularly the sultan of Sokoto, who was recently referred to by the Agency as 'the Modern Sultan' in their March 2007 newsletter, to always look beyond the surface of issues. His Eminence and others should know that no matter what, this people are not our friends.
Yours faithfully,
Ibrahim Isyaku Mante Secretary, Congress for Northern Youth
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