by Ralph Egbu

Finally we must congratulate President Jonathan for this concession. Some have tried to make a change of mind by our leaders look like a crime. This should not be so. If even change of mind is not a world model yet, there is nothing wrong if we introduce it to the world.

My mood as I began to put pen on paper tallies with what McCarthy Eugene saw many years ago about the state of societies with huge diversities. McCarthy, it was who after a careful review of life in a multicultural set up said, “as long as the difference and diversities of mankind exist, democracy must (note the word must) allow for compromise, for accommodation and for recognition of differences”. McCarthy hit the nail right on target. He may not have had our nation in mind when he proffered the above position, yet a deep appraisal would confirm that McCarthy’s conclusions are very relevant to our situation today.

The truth about our nation is that we are big with diverse cultures. We became a nation by a process that did not take into consideration the factor of diversity in the make-up. It is equally true, that not all nations especially in the developed worlds are of same stock; yes, but the founding fathers and those who succeeded them took time to take actions that gave diversity its due place. Our founding fathers had great visions quite alright but they did not have the right measure of courage to pursue through what they harboured in their hearts. Majority of them sought to build a great nation from ethnic platforms. Unfortunately, the contradictions that followed such a posturing were so much that the consequences could not have been different from what we see. For instance some of them spoke passionately about a great Nigeria but their major engagements on a day to day basis suggested that their main interest was to establish the superiority of their group against the rest. That struggle magnified our differences and progressively took us to the point we are in presently. Military intervention and their style complicated matters.

It’s within this understanding that I welcome the change of heart on the part of President Goodluck Jonathan and the senate leadership over the need to hold a national conference. I would not have gone the national conference path if majority of Nigerians and especially the leadership class had a particular kind of mind-set necessary for the development of a nation. Unfortunately such disposition is very scarce in our kind of environment where “buccaneers” many years ago took over the reins of power and even authority. In this kind of atmosphere even the most altruistic motives, policies and efforts, are fought fiercely, misinterpreted and the harbingers made to look stupid, treacherous and devilish, that is if they are not eliminated out rightly. Patriotism and economic independence are the issues. The obstacle between us and these targets has been visionless leadership. Unfortunately, their bad acts have become the norm, with dire consequences.

It is for this reason that I support we talk and agree on some critical areas before we can take another serious look on the processes for change. On the timing, there is no best time to talk than now. Ordinarily, the approach of another general election could rightly cause us to raise concerns, but the truth is that given the level our friction and hatred has reached not many can guarantee that the next polls would not be a source for another civil strife, one that could be worst than the civil war. The civil war had a clear distinction between combatants but the hatred and disenchantment currently ravaging the land is beyond ethnic and religious lines.

Some groups talk of motives and my position is that this should not be the issue.  The right approach should be to seize the opportunity outline and insist on what should be done. If the generality of Nigerians say what they want and the organisers/originators decide to be on their own then they would have exposed themselves and possibly place themselves very well for slaughtering. There are those who rightly think that solutions to our fears could be found in the elections. It is a genuine desire even though the current indices do not support an early success from this path. I have seen the main opposition behave as if elections are held today they wi

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