President Buhari
There is no contemporary/topical issue to discuss apart from addressing the major cause of the larger problems facing the most populous black nation....
Most importantly at this trying time of the nation when all hope seem lost as a result of Economic hardship, Unemployment, high rate of Inflation, Insurgency in the North-Eastern part, Niger-Delta Avengers and other militant groups in South-South, Biafra in the South-eastern part while high rate of Kidnapping is the order of the day in the Western part of the country.
I've read several times about the diversification of the economy of the nation as the major solution to the economic hardship, but can this "diversification" solve the problems that the nation is experiencing presently?.
Diversification is good, no doubt about that, it will provide alternative sources of income to the nation, reduce the rate of unemployment, and also increase the production capacity of the country.
Having mentioned some of the relevance of diversification above, the next issue is "How do we share the proceeds?"
How do we share the profits of economic diversification to attain the level of Economic Development we deserved in Nigeria? (i.e "Sharing Formulae" of nation's wealth) Irrespective of the level of our economic diversification, if "Mr. A" is not getting what is due to him from the proceeds of the diversification, then we should expect "Mr. A" to respond with reactions to "Mr. B" who is getting more than what is due to him. Simple!
Historically, the amalgamation of the Northern and Southern Protectorate as far back as 1914 is the major "faulty foundation" of the contemporary Nigeria. This amalgamation was considered as a necessity by the British government not for the purpose of peaceful coexistence of all the ethnic groups in Nigeria, but to reduce the administrative expenses of maintaining the two protectorate and other selfish interests that are best known to them.
One of the major causes of the Nigerian Civil war (6 July 1967 – 15 January 1970), was as a result of power sharing inequality, unless we want to shy away from the bitter truth. Gowon who was a junior military officer to Ojukwu was announced as the new Head of State based on the backdrop of minority issue.
This problem of inequality contributed immensely to every political and economic crisis we've experienced in this country.
The best and the lasting solution to this problem of inequality as propounded by the late legal luminary Chief Gani Fawehinmi is for us to converge and discuss about how we want to be govern with respect to the "Sharing Formular" of the national wealth and other pressing issues.
According to the late legal luminary speech delivered at a Press Conference in Lagos on March 22, 2000. Titled "A Call For Genuine Sovereign National Conference, An Alternative to Chaos, Catastrophe and Disintegration" by Chief Gani Fawehinmi, Chairman, National Conscience Party (NCP).
Late Chief Gani Fawehinmi said, "The root cause of our national tragedies is the fundamental defects that have always afflicted the process of determining every constitutional frame-work of the polity. Our constitutional arrangements since 1914 to date (2000) have never truly reflected the political, economic, social, cultural and religious realities of th country".
"Above all, the people of the country have never had the opportunity to make inputs into, accept or reject any constitutional frame-work through a referendum. Consequently, the masses of our people have always been treated as aliens in all constitutional processes from 1914 to 1999 as all constitutional frame-works have always been imposed on them whether or not they like them, principled policies of governments, loss of moral sensitivity".
The immediate past administration of Goodluck Jonathan was able to take a bold step by organising a "National Confab.", in order to create an avenue for Nigerians to discuss about how they want to be ruled.
Looking at the propriety or impropriety of the intentions of former President Goodluck Jonathan as regards the National Confab., we shouldn't allow the report of the National Confab to be thrown into the dust-bin just like a used tissue paper.
If the 1999 Constitution prepared and handed over to us by then Military President Abdulsalam Abubakar is still our "National holy book", why did our political class remain silent on the "first national holy book" to be proposed/prepared by all and sundry?
The report of the National Confab submitted to the National Assembly has gotten zero attention by the members of the 2 Harlow Chambers (i.e Senate & Rep.).
Now that the coast of the leadership tussle in Red Chamber is becoming clearer, it will be advisable for all Senators to look into National Confab Report submitted to the 7th Senate ably led by Distinguish Senator David Mark.
The expression used above about the coast of the leadership tussle that I said is becoming clearer might sound somehow ambiguous to some Nigerians but "Its truism!". Because people that are following the Senate President Bukola Saraki's case at the CCT will agree with me that the case is about to be settled with APC mechanisms, not until another legal action from the office of AGF against Sen. Bukola Saraki and his deputy over the alleged forgery of 8th Senate Standing Order that handed the leadership baton of 8th Senate to Saraki and his Deputy.
It is now clear that the 8th Senate under the leadership of Senator Bukola Saraki will not be free from intra-party crisis, Executive and Legislative Arm battle for supremacy, and so many more.....
Irrespective of the outcome of the CCT and alleged forgery of the 8th Senate Standing Order case judgement, the 8th Senate/National Assembly should make sure that they complement the courage summoned by the Former President Goodluck Jonathan to bow to the agitation of Nigerians for a Sovereign National Conference that some feared might break the most populous black nation by working on the Report of the Sovereign National Conference as the bedrock of their legislation.
Though the present administration might not have any trust in the report but the fact is that this is the first time Nigerians have come together to disagree and agree on the way they want to be ruled. So, organising a new National Confab., will definitely be too expensive to package as a result of the financial incapacity of the Federal government. Over N7 billion was spent on the conference which had 492 delegates from all walks of life and across all the 36 states of the federation.
Prof Akin Oyebode, the chairman of the Office of International Relations, Partnerships and Prospects, University of Lagos, has earlier dismissed the suggestion that the conference conducted by Goodluck Jonathan was a PDP affair when he said "Mind you, the APC people that said they won’t participate sent their representatives. Not directly but through the state representatives. I represented Ekiti North. I’m not an APC member but I’m from Ikole- Ekiti.’’ "The governor of the state at that point in time, Kayode Fayemi nominated me so you won’t say the APC was completely absent. You had Bisi Adegbuyi from Ogun state, a prominent APC member. Lagos state had its delegation too. People like Sasore, former Attorney- General of Lagos.”
Otunba Gani Adams is the National Coordinator of the Oodua Peoples Congress (OPC). A delegate to the 2014 National Conference, added his voice in support of Nigerians faith in the report of the National Conference and he said, "Take the recommendations for example; the recommendations were divided in three parts- One for the executive arm of government, one for the legislative arm and the third for the judiciary. The Federal Executive Council approved that of the executive part of the recommendations".
"When Jonathan was voted out, he gave the documents to Buhari, telling him that it is the most important document among every other thing he is handing over. So, he has played his part and I don’t believe those who said he deliberately failed to implement it before leaving office".
"Look at someone like John Odigie- Oyegun; he was a prominent chieftain of NADECO. Now that he is the national chairman of APC he came out to say that he does not believe in true federalism, which was one of the main agitations of NADECO then. What has changed between then and now for Oyegun to come out and say ‘Restructuring Nigeria is not APC’s priority for now?’. Oyegun should realise that he is getting old". "He should be concerned about what posterity will say about him. He is not the only one; even some of our senators are toeing the same path because of party affiliation. There is a difference between party affairs and ideology. Look at someone like Shehu Sani, he is an APC Senator, yet he still follows his ideology. He is still very consistent with his beliefs.
"So, for a president on his one year anniversary in office to come out and say that the outcome will be kept in the archives is worrisome". "Within the period of five months, we reached consensus on 99 percent issues at that conference. The only issue that almost caused crisis was the issue of resource control. To solve that, we gave a blank cheque to President Jonathan to establish a technical committee that will advise the presidency on it".
While the Secretary General of the Federation (SGF), Engineer Babachir Lawal on behalf of the Federal Government has described the Conference as "Job for the boys".
According to him, "I understand that some Nigerians want it implemented but the government has been too busy with key areas of governance to talk about an exercise that we thought was essentially diversionary and a sort of, maybe, a ‘job for the boys’, because if you remember, it was reported that almost everybody in the committee got N7 million, and we consider it essentially as job for the boys.
"They probably produced a document that is good and commendable but I mean, this government is too busy with very more vital areas of governance, and we are not intending to spend our time reading reports"
Reacting to the statements of the Secretary General of the Federation (SGF), Engineer Babachir Lawal, there are some fundamental questions that needed to be asked, these questions are:
If the essence of the conference is to solve problems of Nigerians, Is there any "very more vital areas of governance" apart from solving the problems of Nigerians?
Who are the "boys" he referred to with the expression "job for the boys"?.
When will Nigerians be ruled by the rules and regulations they set by themselves?
If Nigerians have been calling for a Sovereign National Conference for some decades, and there comes Goodluck Jonathan who summoned the courage to convoke it, who, where, and when will the Messiah that will implement the reports come?
Though Professor Bolaji Akinyemi, has stated that members of the confab didn’t get N7million each, contrary to the position of the Secretary General of the Federation (SGF), Engineer Babachir Lawal.
This will be the second time that I'll be writing on this issue, I titled the first piece "the justification of National Confab". The first piece appeared on the Political Desk of "De-Edifiers Class Magazine-Year Book", a publication of the 2013 graduating set of Faculty of Education, Olabisi Onabanjo University, Ago-Iwoye.
I'll end this piece with the statement of an erudite scholar, Professor Bolaji Akinyemi when he said, “Frankly, I will not plead for the report of the conference to be considered by your (Buhari) government. Governments come and governments go. The problems will remain. We will all be judged by whether we were part of the solution or part of the problems”.
#The_Journey_To_Greatness_Must_Continue
#The_Journey_To_Greatness_Must_Continue
Adedoyin Olasile Babatunde
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