TDEverything is not politics, and we must be careful not to destroy people’s careers simply because we want to catch cruise or make political points in this era where ethnic narratives are too easily deployed to advance arguments.
Professional issues should remain professional. When we turn every development into an ethnic contest, we risk injustice and unintended consequences.
I say this out of genuine concern.
A few years ago, a police officer who served in my community approached me for assistance.
He needed to effect corrections in his records at the Force Headquarters and requested my intervention to reach Frank Mbah.
I had come to know Mbah during my time as Federal Commissioner in charge of the Public Complaints Commission in the FCT. The officer informed me that he and Frank Mbah were course mates.
Today, that officer is still in service and is not yet even a full Commissioner of Police, while his course mate has risen to the rank of Deputy Inspector General of Police.
I do not claim to understand fully the intricacies of seniority and promotion within the Nigeria Police Force.
However, the wide disparity between Frank Mbah and some of his course mates suggests that he may have benefited from preferential or concessional promotions at certain stages of his career.
That observation alone should caution us against turning professional matters into ethnic controversies. If anything, such narratives could unintentionally create problems for Mr. Mbah while people attempt to score cheap political points.
We must shun ethnic sentiments when discussing professional and institutional issues. Ethnicizing every public decision weakens national institutions and deepens divisions that do not help our collective future.
For the avoidance of doubt, I am fully opposed to the policies and direction of the current Bola Ahmed Tinubu–led APC Federal Government.
However, opposition should not blind us to fairness and objectivity. We must be able to criticize government actions without reducing every issue to ethnicity.
Meanwhile, I welcome those who have suddenly realized that there is absolutely nothing “southern” about the current APC-led Federal Government. That realization is long overdue.
Still, we must resist the temptation to interpret every decision through an ethnic lens.
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, whether we agree with him or not, is constitutionally at liberty to make the appointment he has made. But as citizens, we must insist on fairness while also maintaining responsibility in our public commentary.
Not everything is ethnicity. Not everything is politics.
Obunike Ohaegbu, A Village Boy Writes from His Village in Anambra State.
