In this era of Epistolatocracy , apologies to Bishop Matthew Hassan Kukah , I will not elect to be the odd man standing. Mine is an open letter to all delegates of the national conference. Dear Delegates, On behalf of the good people of Nigeria, I wish to congratulate you all for your well deserved nominations as delegates to this all important National Conference. Nigerians wish you all well as you deliberate in a bid to chart a course that will uplift us as a people. Going by events in recent times in our country, I found it imperative to transmit a letter of this nature to our very esteemed delegates. To say as a nation we are enjoying the very best of time aptly translates into being economical with the truth. There is no gain saying the fact that the ugly state of affairs of the nation at the moment has its root in an ugly ‘’tripod’’ which are: religious zealousness, corruption and lack of true federalism. If we so decide to remain one united country, these issues should be given adequate considerations in all your deliberations. Firstly, I will love to push forward the issue of secularity of the Nigerian state. This is one area I will sincerely plead with you to discuss extensively and with open mind in your deliberations. The constitution that will be drawn up upon the conclusion of the conference should capture in CLEAR terms that Nigeria is a secular state as it has always been. There should be cases for the removal of all forms of religious inscription from all our Naira notes, Government buildings and every other thing that the government controls. The issue of government sponsoring pilgrimages for any religious group should be made an illegality. Delegates should be bold enough to make this case at the conference. Sorry to say, religion has become a cloak under which people hide for the commission of heinous crimes. Obviously, corruption is widespread in virtually all institutions across the country. It will do us a whole lot of good if we made up our minds to call a spade a spade with regards to deliberations on this canker worm. Our plea is for delegates to ensure that more stringent measures are fine tuned to deal with offenders. We can borrow a leaf from other climes where they have succeeded in taming this ferocious monster. In as much as I do not want to sound too harsh I would not like to subscribe to anything less than life imprisonment for corrupt public office holders. This (corruption) has been our bane from time immemorial. Thirdly, the case for true federalism should be given the attention it truly merits. The drawing up of a constitution that will guarantee true federalism will automatically translates Nigeria into a strong and peaceful entity. What formula are we adopting for sharing our revenue? How do we address the issue of resources ownership and control ? Where do we locate certain strategic institutions and projects? How do we compensate the goose that lays the golden egg? These questions, inter alia, need to be given prominence in your deliberations. A situation where a region that is responsible for over 80% of the foreign exchange that the state is being run with, is callously neglected - is most unfortunate. A scenario where certain regions or areas still live in the illusion that a heritage exists for them to continually occupy certain plum offices needs to be tackled head on. One issue I will crave the indulgence of the house to also give prominence to is the issue of the PRESIDENCY. The case for rotational presidency should be discussed extensively. There is good reason and every need to stop the idea where a particular group lays absolute and singular right to the presidency. I think rotating the Presidency among the six geo-political zones will promote stability and unity. Each region should have a shot at the Presidency I strongly belief your deliberations will result in a brand new constitution that will give birth to the New Nigeria of our collective dreams and aspirations. Long live the Federal Republic of Nigeria!!!
Posted on: Mon, 24 Mar 2014 14:02:10 +0000
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