THE NATIONAL CONFERENCE; AN IDEAL CALL AT THE RIGHT TIME. The recent pronouncement by Mr President in his Independence Day speech, on the constitution of a committee to set the modalities for the convocation of a national conference is very timely and appropriate. According to the President, the aim of the national conference is to resolve issues causing friction in the polity. In my view this conference has come at a most ideal Historical moment in the evolution of the nation state of Nigeria. We can no longer pretend that all is well with our nation. From the criminal looting of our national treasury from independence till date, the militant insurgence of the Niger Delta, the kidnapping extravaganza of the South East and South- South, to the Islamist insurgents of the North East, the timing could not have come better. In 2002 the Legal Luminary Chief Gani Fawehinmi, had this to say about the need for a Sovereign National Conference:” The primary duty of the Sovereign National Conference is to address and find solutions to the key problems afflicting Nigeria since 1914 to date. The concern is to remove all obstacles which have prevented the country from establishing political justice, economic justice, social justice, cultural justice, religious justice and to construct a new constitutional frame-work in terms of the system of government-structurally, politically, economically, socially, culturally and religiously”. In the light of the manipulation of ethnic and religious sentiments in the struggle for political power and economic advantage by our politicians since pre independence times, the time is just right as we approach one hundred years of our existence as a political entity, to address many divisive political and economic issues and to emphasize cultural, historical, economic and social advantages of remaining one indivisible nation. There are many questions we need to answer to help us establish a harmonious and prosperous existence as a nation. Some of these questions are; 1.Should leadership recruitment be by ethnicity, zoning, quota system or by merit and qualification? 2. Should we embrace autonomy and resource control by federating units? 3. Should the unity of Nigeria be non-negotiable? 4. Should a Yoruba or an Igbo, who was born and bred in the North, be denied political and economic rights, because of the contradiction between indigeneship and residency? The ‘sovereignty’ question in the convocation of the national conference is understandable but needs to be resolved for the conference to have the legitimacy it deserves to help us out of our many National questions. However, this does not justify the skepticism expressed in some quarters about the intentions of the recent call for the conference or dialogue by the President of the Federal republic of Nigeria. Yes, it is the right time for the conference. As a popular saying goes, ‘’it is better late than never”. The late legal icon, Chief Rotimi Williams had pointed out to Nigerian politicians in 1999, that the 1999 Constitution lied to itself, in the sense that, it was not the outcome of the peoples’ vision and aspiration for true federalism. Now, thanks to Dr Goodluck Jonathan, we have an opportunity to talk about the conditions of our continued existence, we must grab the chance and make the best of it for the common good of our future as a nation state. There is no need for any form of primitive expressions in the form of mass murder of innocent people. If we decide we want to go our separate ways, it can be done peacefully. There is no guarantee that the centrifugal forces that have led us to break up point will not rear their ugly heads in the various nation states that will emerge from the carcass of the splitting Nigeria. Therefore, it is important that we give the people their ‘VOICE’ for once in our emergence as a nation and give our Constitution its true meaning. All those interests who see anything Jonathan as taboo should wake up and get on board else the train will leave them sleeping in their dreams. We the “PEOPLE”, we want to talk. Let no man come and tell you that you cannot achieve your dreams because of zoning, quota system, religion and other forms of diverse doctrines of discrimination. Let no man steal our common wealth and walk rough-shod with impunity in our father land .In the midst of our rich national endowment there is still so much poverty in the land. Let there be a grand amnesty of sorts, all these stolen public funds and wealth must be returned to the state. We must talk about these things and the national conference will give us that opportunity. The timing could never be better. Let the people talk. MICHAEL OMO EGIETHUA SOCIAL OBSERVER.
Posted on: Sun, 20 Oct 2013 01:02:55 +0000
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