by Michael Orodare
This Conference is another avenue for us to correct the errors of the past and tackle other critical and salient issues militating against the progress of this nation.
I have for long heard of the agitation for a Sovereign National Conference since I was kid and now that President Goodluck Jonathan has declared the readiness of his administration to convene one, though without sovereignty, this decision is a commendable development. Worthy of note is the fact that Nigeria’s centenary celebration is just around the corner, and preparations are already in top gear to celebrate 100th anniversary of the amalgamation of the Northern and Southern protectorates by Lord Frederick Lugard. If truth must be told, the conjugal has been a fiasco from inception and many say that it has not worked well for us. There is also no gainsaying that none of the enclaves which inhabits this country can say it has enjoyed this 100-year-old union, and one keeps wondering why some set of people have said they are not interested in the talk, after so many years of endurance.
Many, particularly leaders of APC, the major opposition party, have condemned the President for removing the Sovereignty in the Conference, saying it is a ‘Greek gift,’. But if truth must be told, the sitting President, if he was an APC President, would never convene a Sovereign National Conference, as no sitting President would dare it. A sitting President declaring a Sovereign National Conference could be likened to someone planning his own impeachment from the day the conference commences, so one wouldn’t blame President Jonathan for removing the sovereignty and giving us a national conference as he is only playing safe.
Criticisms are necessary, but rather than pooh-pooh the idea of a national conference,it should be seen as a welcome development and a good step towards resolving the many woes of this nation. Convening a Sovereign National Conference in this fragile democracy of ours will only lead to threats and counter threats of secession and which might climax with another civil war. At the convocation of a Sovereign conference, it is so sure that anything is bound to happen, which does not exclude the abdication of the sitting President.
This Conference is another avenue for us to correct the errors of the past and tackle other critical and salient issues militating against the progress of this nation. We cannot continue to pretend and endure as if all is well after about 100 years marred by continuous domination by the majority and fear of secession by the minority, numerous religious, political and ethnic crisis across the country, where thousands have been killed, and many still being killed in the name of God by some unscrupulous elements who have little or no value for human life, in their quest to enforce the policies of their tiny minority on the entire populace.
But a note of caution to the various ethnic groups before going into the conference is that this conference should not be seen as an avenue to champion secession course. Secession is definitely not a topic to be discussed at the conference, if we need to be to be sincere with ourselves. We cannot afford to go to the drawing board again with insincerity at this perilous time, like some of our leaders did at independence, when they had no collective vision of what type of Nigeria they were going to build, but only how to better the lots of their regions and followers.
This conference should be used by all Patriots as an avenue to start seeing ourselves and talk as Nigerians again, and not as a Yoruba, Igbo and Hausa man. This is the more reason why delegates to the conference must be those who believe in a united Nigeria, and not ethnic and religious bigots.
Talks about secession, which is one of the greatest threat regions have employed against the country at the slightest provocation, should be barred from the conference. Rather, more attention should be focused on religion and ethnicity, the two major barriers militating against the development of this nation and how to make political offices less attractive through cutting of the jumbo pays, which is a legalised way of siphoning the nation’s resources.
Two cannot walk together except they agree, says the Holy Bible, but in this case where we have a nation with diverse ethic groups, there is need for talks and agreement on how to continue to live together.
If we don’t talk now, when will our generation ever have another opportunity to talk again. Ironically, many of those calling for the boycott of the confab are close to their graves and boycotting it is just like creating another big problem for generations yet unborn, like those before them did, which we are still paying dearly for today.
An American Playwright, Woody Allen says: “More than any other time in history, mankind faces a crossroads. One path leads to despair and utter hopelessness. The other to total extinction. Let us pray we have the wisdom to choose correctly.”
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Michael Olanrewaju Orodare has worked in the Office of the Chief Press Secretary to the Ondo State Governor as a Media Assistant. He has garnered experience writing in the The Nation Newspaper working with the paper’s Sunday Desk. He leans towards the Labour Party. He blogs at www.michaelorodare.blogspot.com and tweets from @MichaelOrodare
Op-ed pieces and contributions are the opinions of the writers only and do not represent the opinions of Y!/YNaija.
