I think the national confab has been very positive in the debate and discussions. It started with a lot of skepticism about whether the confab was going to go ahead, the legitimacy and all of that but so far, the confab has overcome a lot of those prejudices and skepticism and we see a lot of positive recommendations being made for the future and betterment of Nigeria. What was the agenda of Nigerians in the Diaspora at the point of invitation to the conference? It was a very big laundry list of needs because Nigerians who live abroad are generally concerned about the way the political affairs, governance in Nigeria and economy are being run. A lot of the concerns were that we are benchmarking ourselves not against the best in the world but making gradual and steady progress. In order to mobilize the population, we need to set extremely high goals for ourselves and begin to dream to achieve the impossible, that way all hands will be on deck. If the milestones are on a gradual basis, then you are looking at the resources and capabilities that are immediately within our means but most of the countries that have made significant advancements set impossible goals for themselves. America set the goal of going to the moon when they didn’t have a space shuttle. South Korea set the goal of building ships when they didn’t have heavy duty industries and so, the goal that Nigerians in the Disapora set for the National conference in terms of their agenda for the delegate was a very long one. However, in our discussions at the committee level at the Foreign Affairs Committee where the issues were discussed extensively, we narrowed down the agenda to four key issues: Diaspora Voting, Disapora Commission, Citizen diplomacy and a reform of the political system to allow greater representation for Nigerians in the Diaspora. These four items were later narrowed down to three. We pursued the right of vote because the Nigerian constitution guarantees all Nigerians the right to vote and living abroad doesn’t mean we should be disenfranchised. There is this belief that the conference has no business with some core infrastructural, administrative issues such as power, agric and the likes; that its mandate is purely to develope political road map for Nigeria’s peaceful co-existence… You cannot talk about political development without talking about the holistic basis of our collective existence as a nation. It is very much like in a family; when things are not going the way they are supposed to, then you say the family should not discuss all the issues that concern them because you don’t know why the family is not functioning very well. (Click to read more)
Posted on: Sat, 28 Jun 2014 09:01:46 +0000