Opinion: National dialogue is belated but sensible

by Nze Peter Uche

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There are critical and serious concerns of citizens that have dissuaded them from showing any interest, commitment or allegiance in anything Nigeria. There are many issues which have inhibited citizens from being patriotic,  caring less about anything happening in Nigeria.

But, he fell short of calling for a sovereign national conference which is being advocated by many Nigerians as the panacea for resolving the myriad of problems plaguing our existence as a nation since independence.

This is a call that has taken many years to receive any positive response from the presidency and this belated response will probably mark the greatest achievement of the present administration if the proposal is genuine and not a diversionary ploy to divert attention from the present challenges facing the administration and the country.

After 100 years since amalgamation in 1914 and 53 years since independence in 1960, the citizens have been yearning for the evolution of a truly great nation which we can be proud of. Any avenue that can lead to the realization of this dream will be most welcome. The need to re-appraise and re-assess our amalgamation and togetherness as a nation cannot be over-emphasized.

There are so many things that separate and divide the various ethnic groups and citizens in Nigeria which can be emphasized, deemphasized or explored for mutual benefits which our past and present leaders have paid only lip service to. They also exploited such differences for their own selfish interest, thereby creating more tension and divisions in the nation. There is therefore no reason whatsoever at this point in time to be afraid of discussing any issues bordering on the modalities for our accepting to belong to one nation if there is sincerity of purpose on all our parts.

Dialogue or conference with no holes barred will highlight all the nagging issues that have plagued us as a nation and point to those benefits which are derivable from our unity in diversity. Many people have described our nation as a mere geographical expression while some don’t even believe in the country and so there is not much to lose if we agree to bring all affecting the nation on the front burner and then probably we can proffer some solutions or agree on the best way to resolve such issues and avoid unnecessary drawbacks which have continued to create mistrust amongst the various ethnic groups and nationalities that make up the Nigeria nation.

There are critical and serious concerns of citizens that have dissuaded them from showing any interest, commitment or allegiance in anything Nigeria. There are many issues which have inhibited citizens from being patriotic,  caring less about anything happening in Nigeria. There are issues such as militancy, terrorism, insecurity, nepotism, favoritism, graft, embezzlement, injustice, tribalism, separatist tendencies and so on which have not augured well for all of us. These issues need to be discussed, diagnosed and answers proffered, and then the probable solutions to them can be sincerely addressed or tackled.

We need to reexamine our togetherness to find out if the amalgamation of 1914 served our mutual interest or the interest of our former colonial masters and then marshal out our own suitable modalities that will address these issues and serve the overall best interest of the nation for present and future generations. Of course a nation at 53 years that is still faltering, grappling in the dark, wobbling and stumbling in all areas of human endeavour need not to be reminded that all is not well and so the best way forward now is to sit down together and discuss all the issues holding the nation back. How come at 53 years as a nation, we are still reluctant to accept the reality of a true national roundtable discussion that will proffer solutions to the problems which continue to push us to move in vicious circles over the years, tottering on self destruction because some people are unwilling to sacrifice self interest for overall interest of the generality of the people? Why should we accept to be wallowing in poverty in a country blessed with unimaginable human and material resources because a very powerful few have decided to hold us and the future generation hostage in order to protect their selfish interest?

With the obvious self- centeredness of the National Assembly members and most political office holders, there is every need for the citizens to rise up and make it categorically clear that the future destiny of the country lies in a purposeful dialogue or conference. There, the authentic representatives of our diverse ethnic nationalities can sit unrestrictedly to discuss everything and anything that can propel us to achieve full potential as a nation.

Many Nigerians, including myself may suspect that this decision to inaugurate a Presidential      Committee on National Dialogue or conference may be a divisionary tactic, but we may need to still seize the bull by the horns and insist that it is the only way forward if we are to fully realize our collective destiny.

We must bare our minds on all nagging issues vis-à-vis; Did the various ethnic nationalities freely accept to be one Nigerian nation or was it created as an administrative convenience by Lord Luggard of blessed memory?

Even though God or Allah will hold us accountable for all our shortcomings, but our present and future generations will condemn and curse the present leadership if they fail on this dialogue or conference to discuss all the myriad of problems and proffer meaningful solutions that will save us from more adversities.

 

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Read this article in the Sun Newspapers

 

Op-ed pieces and contributions are the opinions of the writers only and do not represent the opinions of Y!/YNaija

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