Rivers NUJ Pledges Support For National Confab

Rivers State Council of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) has urged the citizenry to support the national conference billed to kick-off today in Abuja.
The call was made by the Chairman of the council, Mr Okpaka Dokubo while speaking at a media interactive forum organized by Silverbird Communications at the weekend in Port Harcourt.
Dokubo said “we must continue to dialogue, until we get to our destination”, and urged Nigerians to have an open mind on the outcome of the talk shop.
He said that propagation of diverse views was salutary for democracy, and dismissed opinion that the conference was a distraction.
Commenting on the way delegates were chosen, the Rivers NUJ chairman argued that experience of delegates was key for effective deliberation and debate.
Also speaking, Chief Albert Horsfall, a former director of State Security Service (SSS) and delegate to the conference ruled out politicalizing the conference.
According to Horsfall, the essence of the talk shop was to discuss issues affecting the country such as resource control, and urged that since every part of the country has a natural resource, the issue of resource control has to be discussed.
He stated that fiscal federalism would address Nigeria’s fundamental problem, noting that “resource control is not 100 per cent, so the people should share proportionately as a result of the environmental and human problems, they suffer”.
The former head of the defunct Oil Minerals Producing Areas Development Commission (OMPADEC) disagreed that the outcome of the conference would be futile, noting that time has come for Nigerians to seek better society.
“Nigeria is just half the age of America, so we need to get stronger and more united,” he added.
On Boko Haram sect, Horsfall observed “if I am the president, I would invite Boko Haram to say their mind. But I think it’s purely a security issue”.
He further observed that the conference was more representative than that of 2005, assuring that the outcome of the dialogue would form the new Constitution.