President Goodluck Jonathan’s acceptance to
conduct a national dialogue on issues
affecting the country took many unawares,
especially after many protagonists have
shouted themselves hoarse to no avail and
rested their case. He has since been receiving
kudos and knocks and also generating a fresh
controversy over what it should be: dialogue
or national conference? But that shouldn’t be
an issue.
Indeed, the people of Nigeria have never had
the opportunity to make inputs into, accept or
reject any constitutional frame-work through a
referendum. Consequently, the masses have
always been treated as aliens in all
constitutional processes since 1914 as all
constitutional frame-works have always been
imposed on them whether or not they like
them.
This issue has taken the centre stage in our
newspapers recently with many
recommendations coming in. Everybody who
counted himself somebody wanted to be heard
but there were those who think Jonathan has
succeeded in creating another political
distraction so that issues arising from PDP
and nPDP crises will die a natural death.
The late Chief Gani Fawehinmi believed that
the primary duty of a National Conference is
to address and find solutions to the key
problems afflicting Nigeria since 1914. The
concern, according to him, is to remove all
obstacles which have prevented the country
from establishing political justice, economic
justice, social justice, cultural justice, religious
justice and to construct a new constitutional
frame-work in terms of the system of
government-structurally, politically,
economically, socially, culturally and
religiously.
National Conference, he believed will give
ethnic nationalities an opportunity to examine
the questions that have made Nigeria such a
disaster and come up with some answers such
as the right of every nationality to have
greater control over their resources.
Fawehinmi acknowledged that 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, according to him, have never truly
reflected the political, economic, social,
cultural and religious realities of the country.
National conference at this time is very
crucial. The polity is on fire and there is need
for stakeholders to come together and discuss
the way forward for our nation.
Unfortunately, there are many who see it as a
conference of ‘come-and-chop’ for pseudo
elected “ethnic” representatives; giving a
boost to the on-going greed and inordinate
desire by our leaders to wittingly blast
Nigeria into smithereens. That shouldn’t be.
It should be an avenue for the regions to
speak their minds and resolve issues at once;
an opportunity to review approaches to our
mutual co-existence. It should be a forum to
choose for ourselves whether to continue with
the marriage of administrative convenience
foisted on us by the British colonialist or to
dissolve it; a forum for us to decide whether
the Yoruba should go with the Ports; whether
the Niger Delta should go with their oil; the
Igbo with their erosions and Hausa with their
desert.
At present, History, as a subject, has been
abolished in schools and our children are
being deprived the knowledge of hindsight. But
for the benefit of those who should know, long
before 1914 when Nigeria was amalgamated,
the present space called Nigeria was not a
void . People, empires and modes of
production existed. The far North was ruled by
Hausa Habes which was the home of many
tribes, Hausa Magajiya, Abyssinian or of
coptic stock until 900 to 1500 AD when the
Hausaland was besieged by political forces
from Bornu, the Berbes, Tuyaregs and Arabs.
The most formidable being the Jihad in 1804
which swept the Habeland, imposed an
oligarchy, seized the people and the land until
the advent of British rule.
The Yorubaland had the Oyo empire which
triumphed until about 200 years ago.
There were also the Igbo, Bachama, Birom,
Angas, Tiv, Kaje, Nupe, Ijaw and numerous
others.
British rule was not forged on negotiations
with Nigerians, but negotiations with ethnic
nationalities. So, there was no “Nigerian
position,” but ethnic nationality positions.
The 1960 independence, was preceded by a
curious finding conducted by Henry Willink
supported by Gordon Hardow, Philip Mason,
and JB Shearer which compiled a report on
July 30 1958 known as the Willink
Commission of Enquiry. It is of note that every
nationality in the space called Nigeria had a
position and there was not and will never be a
‘Nigerian position’ except that imposed by the
few people in power.
Those who think Nigeria does not need a
national conference are missing the point.
These people believe that each time the
National Assembly meets, a National
Conference is going on; that the Assembly has
all the elements of a National conference.
This school of thought opines we cannot have
a National Assembly and also have another
National Conference going on.
There are still others who think national
conference will bring to the fore the problems
of the people and break up Nigeria faster than
we think.
But how many ethnic nationalities do you
have in the National Assembly? There’s also
the possibilty that if we go ahead with
Jonathan’s proposal, we may discover to our
pleasant surprise that we have more ties that
bind us and Nigeria will not break up as these
people think.
And what if we break up? Do we have to stay
together in misery? If the national conference
or dialogue or whatever name it is called was
the only tool to employ to break up this
country, and Nigeria was not meant to be,
delaying the conference is just delaying the
Evil-Day.
So, let the conference roll on. Let Jonathan’s
Committee go to work. It is only a fool that
joins a union that doesn’t profit him.
One hopes, though, that this will not be
another endless circus show because, in the
days of General Abacha, there was a national
confab to discuss the corporate existence of
Nigeria.What was the outcome of the confab?
Nothing. Obasanjo’s administration also
hosted a national confab. What was the
outcome?
Jonathan Administration should not engage in
a fruitless exercise that will not change the
status quo. This should not be an agenda
borne out of insincerity to perpetuate himself
in power.He should accept the outcome of the
confab if one of the decisions is for him to
step down for a restructuring of the whole
system to take place! He should be ready to
demonstrate true statesmanship and that
hanging to power at all cost is not the only
way to move Nigeria forward.
Nigeria will surely be greater if we can put our
acts together and do what is right.
By Chioma Obi a
VANGUARD
No comments:
Post a Comment