Confab: NOA Urges Delegates To Promote National Interest

The National Orienta
tion Agency (NOA) has urged delegates to the proposed national conference to promote national interest and shun personal or ethnic interests.
The Chief Orientation and Mobilisation Officer of the agency, Mr Mathew Odonor, made the call in an interview with newsmen in Abakaliki.
Odonor commended the political will and sagacity of President Goodluck Jonathan for convoking the conference.
According to him, dialogue remained the best option for tackling myriad of political, religious, economic and social problems retarding the country’s development and progress.
“When you talk and I talk; then we can reach a compromise on how to move forward.
“There is no gain saying that dialogue remains the most veritable tool available in solving man’s multifaceted problem”.
Also the nation adopts dialogue to provide solutions to political and other forms of social problems that confront them.
“It is always better to jaw-jaw than to war-war and Mr President has just provided a platform for dialogue,’’ Odonor said.
“The best for us to do now as a nation is to imbibe the spirit of patriotism and look at ourselves as Nigerians and not from our ethnic leanings.
“Therefore, I urge delegates at the conference to put aside parochial political and ethnic sentiments, and dialogue on the bases of what will deepen to our national consciousness,’’ he emphasised.
He said that the agency had started mobilising Nigerians through sensitisation campaigns to support the proposed conference and ensure its success.
The official said that representation at the conference based on ethnic nationalities as canvassed by some segments of the country might not serve the best of national interest.
He rather called for equal representation of delegates to be chosen from the 36 states of the federation and the Federal Capital Territory.
“I think this agitation that delegates at the conference should be chosen based on ethnic consideration is clannish and will undermine the essence of the dialogue.
“Instead, representation should be based on equal representation from the federating states and FCT,’’ he said.