NATIONAL CONFABBBBBBBBBB.............. Delegates to the ongoing national conference in Abuja have said that they are ready to make sacrifices in order to make the programme successful. Though some of them complained about inadequate facilities at the National Judicial Institute, Abuja, venue of the conference, they however said that would not affect their attendance and contributions during debates and committee work. A delegate from Delta State, Mr. Paul Enebeli, told our correspondent that there were challenges of accommodation, but pointed out that since majority of the delegates were not coming to Abuja for the first time, they should be able to settle that on their own. He also said it was good that the participants were not housed in one hotel, an action he said could put too much pressure on them due to unnecessary lobby and visitations. Enebeli, who was a former President of the Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria, also appealed to delegates not to insist that government must pay their personal aides. He said, “I think it is not proper for us to insist that government must pay our personal aides such as drivers and assistants. We need to make sacrifices because we have no other country than this.” Another delegate, Prof. Isaac Albert, said that with the present arrangement where each delegates would be expected to arrange his or her own accommodation, they would have time for serious work. He, however, noted that majority of the delegates were facing transportation problems. Albert said, “Transportation is a problem to many of us. I came without a car and the security people almost stopped me from gaining entrance to the venue of the conference. “For the three months the event would hold, I’m ready to take taxi to the gate and take a walk inside the venue. We need to make sacrifices.” Concerning the facilities inside the conference, he said he was satisfied with the explanation given by the Conference Secretary, Dr. Valerie Azinge, that there was no other better venue the government could provide for the conference. He said though the best thing was for each delegate to have a microphone on his or her table, he said in the absence of that, he and his colleagues would make do with any other arrangement put in place by the organisers. Another delegate from Ogun State, Mr. Adebisi Adegbuyi, corroborated his colleagues, but added that in spite of this, delegates would see their appointment as a privilege. “Whatever shortcomings that we must have seen, we hope to make do with what is on the grounds because it is a privilege for the delegates to have been chosen among 170 million Nigerians,” Adegbuyi added. In her response, the President of the Campaign for Democracy, who is also a delegate to the conference, Mrs. Joe Okei-Odumakin said, “So far everybody has been responsible for their accommodation and transportation with a promise of monetisation by the conference secretariat. “As for the facilities at the secretariat, they are good except for the absence of fixed microphones and internet facilities within the complex.” In an interview with one of our correspondents, the President of Public Interest Lawyers League, Mr. Abdul Mahmud, also criticised the venue of the conference. He narrated that some of the delegates had been having challenges settling down. Mahmud said, “Well for me as President of Public Interest Lawyers League, I run an effective organisation so research and documentation is not a problem for me. But I sympathise with some of the delegates who have been taken from their zones of comfort. “Some are coming to Abuja for the first time. For some,this is their first experience in a conference of this nature. Obviously there would be challenges. “I know a delegate who is staying in a friend’s house and I know of another staying in Transcorp Hotel; all fingers are not equal. As we speak, no delegate has been paid so we have been attending the conference at our own cost
Posted on: Thu, 20 Mar 2014 08:42:08 +0000
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