Todays Plenary started at about 10.05am. Below are the highlights before the lunch break: The Session started with the delegates reading and correcting votes and proceedings of the last meeting. The Chairman Kutigi said those who were absent when the Presidents speech was being discussed would be given the chance to speak when the opportunity presents itself. Olusola Obada moved the motion for the adoption of the votes and proceedings of 3rd April. Ezenwanne Nwangwu seconded the motion. Bello Mohammed informed delegates that the son of Chief Edwin Clark who was abducted last week, had been released safe and sound. “It was a very good news, this house should send a message of facilitation to Chief Clark. Government should take stern action to stem this episodes of kidnapping and other crimes”. He also said 120 people were massacred in some villages in Zamfara state. He appealed to the govt and security agents to address these loss of lives which he said have became persistent. Senator Adefemi Kila seconded the motion moved by Mr. Mohammed. He said he is happy that “the son of Chief Edwin Clark has been released without paying a dime”. Professor Junaidu Sambo spoke on the president’s speech and said it was a speech full of sincerity and he aligned himself with what most delegates said during their comments. He added that for any country to develop, it must have unity of purpose, unity of faith and unity of language. He said there should a committee of judges to visit prisons nationwide and see those who were imprisoned unjustly should be formed so that Justice and equity should prevail. He concluded his speech with Salam alaikumu…but quickly apologised and handed over the microphone. A delegate said there is the need to allow full autonomy for Local Governments in Nigeria. He said “at the moment, they are being held by the jugular”. And development should start from there. He also advised the chairman that “in appointing chairmen of committee please look out for extremist and don’t appoint them please” A delegate said there is the need to allow full autonomy for Local Governments in Nigeria. He said “at the moment, they are being held by the jugular”. And development should start from there. He also advised the chairman that “in appointing chairmen of committee please look out for extremists and don’t appoint them please” TUC president Bobboi Kaigama urged delegates to apologies to all Nigerians below 18 because “everybody share in the blame”. “If the youth claim they are to be exonerated, we have over 80 million youth, if the youth had their votes together they would have made a significant statement”. He said Trade unions and civil societies should be given their right places. Kaigama said “trade unions and civil society are like buttocks, which if not needed for sitting down, must be needed for shit” Adefemi Kila: said the president’s speech deserves a national award. Time has come for all the Senior Advocates of Nigeria at the conference to queue up behind the SAN to defend the conference at the courts. He said Nigeria is sick “This country is seriously sick, not from malaria or diarrhea but abject poverty. Leaders are sick from the mind, spiritually sick”. “If all Nigerians are removed to Germany, that country would become a third world power.” “Nigeria is not a poor country. If you want to see a poor country, go to Somalia, or Ethiopia. The conference came about as a result of pain. Parents have neglected children. Mother and father all go to work and there is no one to take care of the children. Leaders must stop being greedy”. Mohammed Kumalia: “it is good that conference is not a result of election otherwise some important delegates present now would not have been here”. “This is a country where people buy brand new jets after leaving office after 8 years. People steal and flout it to our faces. I support the restructuring of this country to make it impossible to flaunt stolen wealth”. Nasir Kura said that the president’s speech was lacking in transparent and credible election, the crisis of unemployment and exclusion which led to insecurity in our country. In his words; “Overwhelming military engagement is not the solution to insecurity, but political solution. Government must find a political to insecurity”. On corruption and education, he said that something is wrong with our education system. “Almajiri system is not good enough, it should be integrated into our educational curriculum” he concludes. Saidu Kumo said: Delegates at first came with biases thinking that the conference is a war zone. It is gladdening to note that perceptions keep changing by the day. Let us shame those who think that this conference will not achieve anything. Prof. Sambo Jinadu calls on the government to implement all the decisions arrived at by the delegates. Kure said: “There have been attack on former governors by Kumalia, Ishaq in their presentations. My prayer is that May Allah one day make them governors so that may be in the next 20 years we can gather here again and assess them. The president’s speech shows someone who was pained. He rose through the political ranks. Hope that the outcome of the conference will bring about peace in Nigeria. We should restructure the polity and devolve power”. Lawal Kareto said that only God gives power to whom he likes and take power whenever he likes. He said: “We should be praying for our leaders, not just accusing them. Leaders are a mirror of the society. Elsewhere, people keep praying for their leaders and they keep progressing. UK anthem starts with “God bless the queen. There can only be one president out of 170 million people at anytime. Duty of conference is to come out with a strong strategy that will unify Nigeria”. Major General Zamani Lekwot said : This Conference has a duty has a duty to revisit the need to create new states and local governments. Advocates for complete independence for local governments and also asked for the creation of state police or in the interim create local police along local government lines. On insecurity, he called for a strong frontier force to man the borders. Moribund ID cards projects should also be resuscitated. Educational curriculum should be fine tuned to prepare children for self employment since it is obvious the government cannot create enough jobs. Nurudeen Lemu of NSCIA said: As NSCIA we condemn the murder of all Christians or Muslims not because of their religion, but because they are human beings. There is no compulsion in religion. The rule of law is the defender of all oppressed minorities. We are all settlers. I pray that after this conference we will all grow in our humanity He concluded his comments to a thunderous applause from the delegates. And the chairmanship comments was ” beautiful”. A delegate from Adamawa state just said he comes from one of the 80 ethnic minorities from the state and that he remains a Nigerian, without the intention of moving away from the country. He also said he cannot contemplate walking away from the conference. He also said conducting elections have become a problem in Nigeria “when 36 governors cannot conduct a simple election, then we are in serious trouble”. UN should be invited to conduct census and register voters. “The president said we should think outside the box We should adopt a government of national unity for the next two years”. Professor Aishatu Madawaki said:Nigeria have had excellent speeches and reports in the past which were never implemented. According to her,”I hope that confab report will be implemented”. “Issues on ground have been around since the assumption of office of president Goodluck Jonathan. The state of schools is alarming. It’s nothing to write home about. We know that Cuba is a poor country and have been under US economic blockade for many years. It’s asset is its political will. The primary role of government is to provide security. Conflicts exist because of how resources are distributed in Nigeria. Northern region is poorer and least developed in all indices. In the south we have NDDC, A Ministry and amnesty program Good governance is leadership by example in words and deeds. We have done enough talking, let us do the walking” Daniel Maddo, president of Tangale ethnic nationalities observed that ethnic nationalities are becoming an endangered specie in Nigeria. He said they are being discriminated by virtue of ethnicity, and or religion, as well as in lopsided appointments into public offices and resource allocation. He added that God has a purpose for the current crisis and Nigeria will come out stronger. The president should send an executive bill to the National Assembly to allow for a referendum after the national conference. Ihechuckwu Madubuike said: “We need to reconstruct Nigeria by restructuring it along the lines of social inclusion. We should not confuse unity with uniformity. Nigeria is one of the incompleteness projects of the 21st century”. Ali Madugu : “Nigeria cannot develop without the real development of the manufacturing sector. Lack of power, high interest rate, lack of infrastructure, insecurity and high tax rates are some of the factors that lead to high cost of business in Nigeria. With all these, Nigeria, cannot compete with countries in Africa, not to talk of Malaysia, Singapore at captured by the president”. Isa Mafindi said that the president must be commended for convening the confab. “There is no basis for poverty in Nigeria, if Agriculture is given the right attention. Many farmers do not benefit from the by-product of their produce. We have one of the worst form of meat processing in Nigeria which is responsible for some of the diseases afflicting the people”. “Without Nigeria, we would not have the regions we fight over”. Past leaders made mistakes, buts it’s left to Nigerians today to correct them. If Nigeria must move forward, all must be involved”. Bilkisu Magoro Musial Elayo said: “Before this conference, there are other several reports of conferences lying waste. We should go back to previous reports on sectors and implement them”. Yerima Abdullahi said “we are all proud of Nigeria, but hardly trust each other. Nobody can come from anywhere to develop Nigeria. We have to do it by ourselves. We cannot leave in peace if we don’t invite and work for peace”. Anthony Adefuye outlined Nigeria’s problems as corruption, religion and the Nigeria police. We are all very very correct. In his words, ”Someone was saying ex Governors have jet, but even religious leaders have jet, bought from the sweat of the poor who has no shoes. The police is used to saying ‘happy weekend sir’ even when it is not weekend to motorists. What type of policing is this? Deputy chairman Akinyemi jokingly said all those who said we are all corrupt will be denied lunch for the next three days”
Posted on: Mon, 07 Apr 2014 14:09:52 +0000
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