Nwabueze
President Goodluck Jonathan on Monday
extended the tenure of the National Advisory
Committee on National Dialogue led by Senator
Femi Okurounmu to six weeks as against the
four weeks he announced in his Independence
Day address to the nation.
Jonathan announced the extension of time while
inaugurating the committee at the Council
Chambers of the Presidential Villa, Abuja. He
said the extension became necessary in order to
give Muslims who would be on Hajj the
opportunity of returning to the country and
contributing to the committee’s work.
A prominent member of the committee, Prof.
Ben Nwabueze, was absent from the ceremony
as he was said to be undergoing medical
checkup abroad.
The Secretary-General of the Project Nigeria
Consensus Group, Wale Okunniyi, had told The
PUNCH on Sunday that Nwabueze had written
the President indicating his desire to be
represented on the 13-man committee. There
was no one at the event that indicated that he
was standing in for the octogenarian Senior
Advocate of Nigeria and expert in constitutional
law.
During the ceremony, the President also gave
members of the committee the free hand to
decide the nomenclature for the planned
conference whether it would be called a
national dialogue, conversation or conference.
Jonathan also said he decided to change his
initial anti-national conference posture because
of his realisation that “as challenges emerge,
leaders must respond with the best available
strategies to ensure that the ship of state
remains undeterred in its voyage.”
He explained that the initial scepticism he
exhibited on the need for another conference or
dialogue was borne out of the nomenclature of
such a conference, taking into cognizance
existing democratic structures that were
products of the will of the people.
Describing it as a child of necessity, he said with
the inauguration of the committee, the nation
was taking historic and concrete steps to further
strengthen its citizens’ understanding, expand
the frontiers of their inclusiveness and deepen
their bond as one people under God.
He further described the steps as sincere and
fundamental undertakings aimed at examining
and resolving longstanding impediments to the
nation’s cohesion and development.
The President said, “There is a view by some of
our people that we do not need to sit together
to talk over the socio-political challenges facing
our country. Some believe that because we have
held several conferences in the past, we do not
need to hold another one.
“I was one of those who exhibited scepticism on
the need for another conference or dialogue. My
scepticism was borne out of the nomenclature of
such a conference, taking into cognizance
existing democratic structures that were
products of the will of the people.
“However, we are in a democracy, and in a
democracy; elected leaders govern at the behest
of the citizenry. As challenges emerge, season
after season, leaders must respond with best
available strategies to ensure that the ship of
state remains undeterred in its voyage.
“Nations rise to the challenges that each epoch
presents. It is imperative therefore, that in our
march to nationhood, we have to be dynamic in
our approach and response to the problems,
even as we seek solutions to them. We cannot
proffer yesterday’s solutions to today’s
problems.”
He recalled that conferences that were held
before 1960 were designed to produce a political
system and a road map to Nigeria’s
independence.
Jonathan said while the Constitutional
Conference of 1957 in London prepared Nigeria
for Independence, the Constituent Assembly of
1978 gave the nation the 1979 Constitution and
also created the current presidential system with
its attendant checks and balances as well as
fundamental human rights provisions.
He added that the 2005 National Political
Reform Conference produced a number of key
recommendations that were sent to the fifth
National Assembly, which were however not
perfected.
The President also said the Justice Alpha Belgore
Committee whose mandate was to review the
reports of past conferences worked hard and
came out with a report that included a number
of bills, which were forwarded to the National
Assembly.
He expressed the belief that the bills would
form key components of the ongoing
Constitutional Review by the National Assembly.
He said, “Clearly, every dialogue adds something
valuable to our evolving nation. The urgency of
a national conversation in the present therefore,
need not be over- emphasised.
“As we continue to strive to build a strong and
virile nation, especially in the midst of agitations
and tensions, we cannot deny the fact that
sitting down to talk is one right step in calming
down tensions and channelling our grievances,
misgivings and suggestions into more positive
use for the good of our country.”
While allaying the fears of those that think the
conference would call the integrity of Nigeria
into question, Jonathan said the discourse would
strengthen the nation’s unity and address issues
that are often on the front burner.
He advised the committee members to see their
assignment as a serious task and consult widely
before developing the framework that would
guide the proceedings of the discussions.
The President said, “In the task before you, no
voice is too small and no opinion is irrelevant.
Thus, the views of the sceptics and those of the
enthusiasts must be accommodated as you
formulate this all important framework. This
conversation is a people’s conversation and I
urge you to formulate an all-inclusive process
that protects the people’s interest.
“We have wasted too much time and resources,
bickering over sectional versions of what define
reality. This is an open-ended luxury we can no
longer afford. Let us move forward, with honest
conviction and patriotic courage, to strengthen
this Republic, and get it to work better and
brighter, for all of us, to the glory of God.”
Okurounmu, in his acceptance speech,
expressed the confidence that at the conclusion
of the committee’s assignment and the national
conference that would follow, those who were
once sceptical and critical of the idea of a
national conference would have become
persuaded of its benefits to the nation.
He observed that no committee in the polity is
more sensitive or carries higher expectations
from Nigerians than the advisory committee.
He recalled that for over two decades, there had
been calls from many sections of the public for
the convening of a national conference in one
form or the other.
Okurounmu promised on behalf of other
members of the committee that they would not
fail Nigerians.
The event was witnessed by the National
Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, Dr.
Bamanga Tukur; Chairman of the party’s Board
of Trustees, Chief Tony Anenih; Governor Idris
Wada of Kogi State; Governor Ibrahim Shema of
Katsina State; members of the Federal Executive
Council and presidential aides.
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