Around the world, parliamentary procedure for decision making in a conference has always been two-thirds voting rule, but in Nigeria, there are now two views being hotly contested, and over which the national conference has stalemated during this week. These are whether decisions should be reached by a three-quarters majority (75%) as proposed by President Jonathan and supported by the Gambari; or by two-thirds (67%) as is being canvassed by a majority of delegates, particularly by the Yoruba, Ijaw and Middle-Belt delegates. A compromise of 70% may be reached by the select committee now saddled with the responsibility of finding a way out of the impasse; and this may be agreed by the entire conference in plenary early next week. I don’t see how the national conference would be able to resolve our fundamental problems if we cannot adhere to simple international best practice. What is becoming clearer at the national conference is that there is a broad range of social forces that are crystalising broadly into two emergent alliances engaged in a struggle over the present and future of Nigeria, and over the relationship between ethnic nationalities. One of the broad category is clearly engaged in a battle to conserve and preserve the status quo (North-West, North-East and South-East); while the other broad formation is engaged in a battle to transform, transcend and change, if not overcome the current status quo (South-West, South-South and the Middle-Belt). The first category –Hausa/Fulani, Kanuri and the Igbo want to preserve the Presidential System, Centralized Nigerian Armed Forces and States as Federating Units. The second category –Yoruba, Ijaw/Niger Delta and Middle-Belt want to transform Presidential System into Parliamentary System; Centralized Nigerian Armed Forces into Regional Regimental Armed Forces and Ethnic Regions into Federating Units. This category believes that if Nigeria is a federation, then Ijaw ethnic nationality as a whole should be a Federating Unit, the Yoruba ethnic nationality, the Igbo ethnic nationality, the Hausa/Fulani ethnic nationality, the Kanuri ethnic nationality should all be Federating Units because a federation does not create its federating units like Bayelsa, Rivers, Delta states etc. On our path as Yoruba Youths, we reserve the right to have autonomous Yoruba Federation to be able to control our wealth and resources. This conference’s potential is worth exploring, worth activating, worth realizing; and through a robust but critical, inside-outside, and during-after engagement with the issues and content of the conference as a process, we can have a Yoruba Federation that speaks with her own voice and makes her own unique contribution to the world. But whatever the choice the Hausa/Fulani, Kanuri and the Igbo make individually and or as allies, anything short of #TheYorubaAgenda for the 2014 National Conference is a declaration of the #OoduaRepublic.
Posted on: Sat, 29 Mar 2014 22:29:44 +0000