THE need for a national conference to address all the nagging issues and the attendant problems or challenges confronting this nation in order to avert the collapse of the country seems clear to all now. While many see the conference as an opportunity to correct the ethnic imbalance threatening our existence as a nation, many others see it as an opportunity to redraft our legal basis to continue as a nation. The variety of clamours for changes in the delegates and representatives at the conference from too many quarters, confirm that it cannot all be just for the good of the people they claim to be fighting for. Some simply want to line their pockets with Naira from the Confab, and why not? Who would not want to pick up about N4.0million with all the honour and dignity of being a representative of the people at such an epoch-making gathering. However, the super-importance of this conference underscores the reason why the FG must painstakingly address the complaints and cries for justice and fairness in the representation formula at the conference, bearing in mind that some may want to come to the conference just to stall it! This conference must therefore succeed, unlike the past two that failed because of the motive of their conveners at that time. While General Sani Abacha’s conference was essentially to achieve his perpetuation in power, that of OBJ was aimed at his third term ambition, hence the two crashed. With the expiration of the Lord Lugard’s 1914 Amalgamation Treaty last year, GEJ must do everything in his power to ensure the success of this national conference in order to give the North and the South of Nigeria, the basis to continue to exist in a peaceful and prosperous nation. Why did I say a prosperous nation with all our woes? Yes, because to exist for over 43 years without a war in a country like this is prosperous for those of us who saw and lived in Biafra as children. Many of our leaders who beat the drums of war and try to intimidate us at every corner, and whenever they feel they are not getting what they want, do so because they never really saw or experienced the pains war inflict on the vulnerable like women and children. Any man from Umuahia to Borno, and from Sokoto to Abakaliki, who sees war, bloodshed, insurgency as a means of power negotiation is an enemy of the Nigerian people. The Conference should help us to address the issue of national security from the standpoint of the state police, to ensure the use of home grown security arrangement, apparatus and systems. Nigerians must be assured of the safety of their property and investments in all parts of this country, especially in the North of Nigeria, with acceptable and adequate compensations for victims of communal and religious crisis. The conference must produce an arrangement that will engender free and fair elections by curbing all variants of rigging in order to make them things of the past in no distant future. To curb corruption, all leaders and government agencies must be held accountable to the people. The annual audit of every government department must be published for all to see. We surely need this conference.
Posted on: Sat, 15 Mar 2014 07:26:59 +0000
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