Examining The Issues In National Confab

Ever since President
Goodluck Jonathan inaugurated the National Conference Advisory Committee, there have been a lot of controversies about the permissible and “no-go’’ areas of the conference.
Besides, issues bordering on equitable representation have particularly elicited lots of disagreement, ahead of the dialogue.
In its report, the Sen. Femi Okunronmu-led committee recommended that the conference, which will commence in March and last for three months, would discuss any subject matter “except the indivisibility and indissolubility of Nigeria as a nation.’’
While many Nigerians acquiesce to the committee’s stance that Nigeria’s unity is non-negotiable, some are of the view that Nigerians should be allowed to deliberate on their continued co-existence so as to enable the conference to be a true dialogue.
The committee recommended, among other things, that President Jonathan should nominate114 delegates, out of the 492 delegates proposed for the conference.
States are expected to nominate three persons each; while political parties that have representation in the National Assembly, PDP, APC, APGA, Accord Party and Labour Party, are to nominate two delegates each.
Religious and professional bodies, women groups, socio-political or ethnic groups, national academies, ex-political office holders, the Association of Local Governments of Nigeria, ALGON, traditional rulers, retired military and security personnel will also have representation.
The delegates will also include retired civil servants, representatives of labour unions, organised private sector, civil society organisations, Nigerians in the Diaspora and persons living with disabilities.
The Newspapers Proprietors Association of Nigeria (NPAN), the Nigerian Guild of Editors (NGE), the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) and the Broadcasting Organisation of Nigeria (BON) will also nominate delegates to the conference.
Leaders of the Igbo ethnic group, under the aegis of Concerned Igbo Leaders, however, expressed their disapproval of the report.
According the group, the recommendations of the committee do not reflect the true aspirations of Nigerians.
The Prof. Ben Nwabueze-led group rejected the committee’s notion that selection of delegates to the conference should be based on the number of federal constituencies that were represented in the House of Representatives.
The Igbo leaders also insisted that Nigeria needed a brand-new constitution and that representation at the conference should be based on ethnic nationalities.
Another pan-Igbo group, OhanaezeNdigbo, said that the six geo-political zones of the country should be represented by the same number of delegates.
The group also said that the priority agenda of the conference should how to restructure the country’s federation along the lines of the six geo-political zones only and not by states – the current structure.
Chief Garry Igarawey, the President General of OhanaezeNdigbo, said that the national conference should resolve the perceptible imbalances in the country.
“The present six geopolitical zones should be recognised as the federating units. OhanaezeNdigbo will be absolutely involved in the conference,’’ he said.
On its part, a group of ethnic minorities, Movement for New Nigeria (MNN), which comprises Itsekiris, Ijaws, Tivs, Jukun and Idoma, among others, expressed the hope that the coming conference would correct the errors of the past.
A MNN leader, Mr Timi Ogoriba, said that the movement believed that the national conference would be able to provide a panacea to the multifarious problems plaguing Nigeria.
“However, the ethnic nationalities will reject any suggestion of using the current imposed structures.
“We believe that sovereignty belongs to the people and that the constituent power to make or enact constitution exclusively rests on the people,’’ he said.
Nevertheless, Mr Victor Anyanwu, a public affairs analyst, argued that the entities which constituted Nigeria were not consulted before the nation came into existence.
“Nigerians who are campaigning for no-go areas in the forthcoming conference ought to be reminded of how a union is formed.
“The various tribes and nationalities that constituted the defunct Lagos Colony, Southern and Northern Protectorates, before they were amalgamated in 1906 and 1914 respectively, were never consulted before they were jumbled together,’’ he said.
However, Mr Abeni Muhammed (SAN), an Ilorin-based lawyer, said that such arrangements were not extraordinary in nation-building processes across the world.
He, nonetheless, expressed the hope that the coming national conference would solve the political and economic problems bedevilling the country.
Muhammed suggested that the resolutions of the forthcoming conference should be used as the basis of creating new constitution for the country.
He said that the conference should also aim at compelling the various states of the federation to harness their economic potential to generate revenue, instead of solely depending on monthly allocations from the Federation Account.
Sharing similar sentiments, Dr Kalu Idika Kalu, a former Minister of Finance, said that the national conference should have the capacity to address all the observable imbalances in the country.
He said that President Jonathan had taken the right step in ensuring that the citizens came together, with a view to addressing some of the challenges facing the country.
He called on all ethnic nationalities as well as politicians, irrespective of their party affiliation, to embrace the national dialogue, which “is in the best interest of the nation.
“Whether as governors, senators, president or members of the house, let us take a new look at the structure that is going to give Nigeria maximum growth and development.
“We can delay the elections a little bit to enable us to restructure and bring about a system that will promote growth. That is more important than rushing to another election.
“Nigerians need to sit down and talk because we are having problems all over the place. So, let’s sit down and talk about the framework that will make Nigeria work,” he said.
Kalu said that the country would be more viable if the framework for restructuring the country was based on the local government system.
On its part, a pan-Yoruba group, Afenifere Renewal Group, said that the conference was crucial for the survival of the country.
Chief Reuben Fasoranti, a leader of the group, regretted that some forces had benefited from the imbalance and inequity in the country over decades.
“Afenifere considers the national conference as the soul of a new Nigeria and as such, it is much more important than anything in the polity, the 2015 election inclusive.
“That is why we are strongly advising that the conference should be concluded early so that the 2015 elections can be conducted on the basis of the new constitution,’’ Fasoranti said.
Meanwhile, the All Progressives Congress (APC) has said that it would boycott the conference, describing it as “diversionary’’.
“What we really have to do is a constitutional amendment and not a national conference; we shall not be a party to the national conference.”
The party said that it might participate in the national conference because of its reservations as to the desirability of the talks.
All the same, the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) rejected a suggestion of OhanaezeNdigbo that representation of the six geopolitical groups in the forthcoming national conference should be equal
Mr Anthony Sani, ACF’s Publicity Secretary, argued that there was no justification for such calls, as the proposal was purely against justice and fairness.
“One wonders the justification in making the representations by Igbos and Idoma of Benue State to be guided by the principle of equality or that the representations of southeast and northwest zones should be on an equal basis.
“Those making such submissions are trying to reinvent the wheel or redefine democracy to mean minority prevails.
“It is too early to forget the fact that the progenitor of the unitary system, introduced by the country’s first military head of state, Gen. Aguiyi-Ironsi, was our revered Zik (Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe),’’ he said.
All in all, the general consensus of opinion is that Nigeria stands to benefit a lot from remaining a single, united entity; instead of allowing the federating units to go their separate ways.
Political analysts insist that the upcoming conference should serve as a veritable platform to define pragmatic terms for strengthening the corporate and peaceful existence of the country.

Nwoko writes for News Agency of Nigeria (NAN)

President Goodluck Jonathan (left), discussing with Secretary, Presidential Advisory Committee on National Dialogue, Dr Akilu Indabawa (middle) and the Chairman, Senator Femi Okurounmu, in Abuja.

Ifeanyi Nwoko