*Chief Clark, Alhaji Musa, Prof. Ben Nwabueze, Femi Falana and Pat UtomiUnanimously, the leaders of thought were of the view that there was need for the convocation of a Sovereign National Conference to properly restructure the nation.
The banquet hall of Sheraton Hotel and Towers in Lagos, venue of the two day summit, was charged as emotions ran high and burning national issues affecting the nation, including the activities of the Boko Haram Islamist sect, poverty, fiscal federalism, unemployment among others were discussed, albeit exhaustively.
The two day national conference organised by the National Summit Group, NSG, to address salient issues affecting the country ended in Lagos, with participants resolving that there is need to convene a national conference.
The conference, which is expected to involve constituent units of the country, is aimed at giving birth to a truly peoples constitution.
Participants observed that the nation is currently facing serious challenges and if not urgently addressed are capable of leading the country to disintegration.
While identifying systemic corruption, insecurity of lives and properties, infrastructural deficiencies, lack of credible electoral process, clueless leadership of state institutions and processes across the board and defective structure of the Nigerian federalism backed by a flawed constitution as issues constraining development in the nation, it argued that these defects have lasted for too long.
Also, it maintained that the deteriorating state of insecurity, especially in recent time calls for more urgent attention noting it is capable of leading to violent and unprecedented collapse of the polity if not dealt with “firmly and decisively.”
While observing a minute of silence for Nigerians who recently lost their lives leaders condemned the “senseless killings” of defenseless Nigerian in different parts of the country!
ROLL CALL
Dignitaries present at the summit included but was not limited to Prof Ben Nwabueze, Alhaji Balarabe Musa, Founder of the Oodua Peoples Congress (OPC), Dr Fredrick Fasehun; Chief Audu Ogbeh, Chief Edwin Clark, Mr Shehu Sani, Dr Kalu Idika Kalu, Chief Chukwuemeka Ezeife, Chef Olu Falae, Sen Felix Ibru, Alabo Graham Douglas, Am Grace Eke, Prof Saliba Mukoro, Lagos state Commissioner of Police, Yakubu Alkali, Obong Victor Attah, Ms Ankio Briggs, Mr Femi Falana, Oba Adeyemi Adedapo, Mr Mike Ozeokomhe, Chief Missioner of Ansarudeen Society of Nigeria, Sheikh Abdulraham Ahmad and Prof Akin Oyebode.
Others are Alhaji Yerima Shetima, Maxi Okwu, Ralph Obioha, Prof Kimse Okoko, Sen Bassey Ewa-Henshaw, John Nnia Nwodo, Naseer Kura, Sen Ben Birabi, Chike Ogeah, Kenny Okulugbo, Prof Ishaq Akintola, Mahmud Othman, Prof Bolanle Awe, Mrs Ganiyat Fawehinmi, Saint Oi and Adewale Balogun among others.
Nobel Laurete, Professor Wole Soyinka, Alhaji Maitama Sule, Alhaji Adamu Ciroma, Justice Alfa Belgore (rtd), National Security Adviser, (NSA), General Owoye Azazi (rtd) were unavoidably absent.
They however expressed their support for the dialogue and urged Nigerians to participate in the convocation of a national conference.
Government sponsorship is repulsive – Prof. Sonaiya
There was, however, a mild drama during the conference. One of the delegates stormed out of the conference alleging that the summit was a federal government initiative.
The delegate requested to know the sponsors of the two day summit. He request was openly turned down. She simply stormed out of the conference.
The delegate, Professor Remi Sonaiya, argued that if government was involved in the project, she does not intend to participate. Prof Sonaiya said “somebody actually said that we Nigerians should own this thing, but how do you own it?
You own something by putting your resources into it. So this kind of initiative cannot be government sponsored, there is something that I find repulsive about that, it is not right to be government sponsored.”
Continuing, she said “There is nobody in the hall who is unable to pay for their hotel bills to come and attend this meeting. Why should the organisers of such a meeting now undertake hotel bills? To me, it seems like they want to share part of the national cake; that is what somebody said, that it is our money.
“I don’t want my money that way, I don’t want to share Nigeria’s money that way; I don’t want to share Nigeria’s money that way. I want Nigeria’s resources to be for the development of this nation and not for some individuals.
They have been lodging people in Sheraton and we have been pretending that they are trying to right the wrongs in the society. I am sorry I don’t want to be part of that. I was not invited, I invited myself. I wrote to the organisers that I was interested in this conference; so, could you please send me an invitation?
I was sent an invitation card by e-mail which I printed out. Who would invite me because I am not part of the system. I can’t speak for other delegates, this is my own conviction. I am not willing to take money from the government to talk about how this nation ought to be addressed. I want a private answer”, she queried.
Summit not FG sponsored — Uranta
Secretary of the NSG, Mr Tony Uranta dismissed insinuations that the summit was a federal government sponsored initiative.
Uranta countered the submission saying the summit was a private initiative with no government involvement.
He said “I want to categorically state that this is a totally private initiative; we didn’t get any support from the federal government. If we got any support, it was from the Lagos State governor, Mr Babatunde Fashola and the other support we got was from the Inspector General of Police, while the Commissioner of Police in Lagos State provided security for the venue.”
He explained that the initiative was borne out of the desires of eminent leaders of thought who “genuinely want the nation restructured.”
Uranta said “unlike what has been raised in some quarters, this is not a government initiative. It is an initiative borne by most Nigerians aimed at restructuring the country. We believe that this dialogue should be seen as a seed that will lead to a sovereign national conference.
This was supposed initially to focus on issues like deregulation, the cashless economy but events have overtaken them because there are on going discussions to address them. But we can still all talk about the security of Nigeria. I do not know how it affects you but I am sure it affects every one of us. Our gathering should focus on building bridges and our working together to build a better nation.
He, however, enjoined participants not to see the summit as a “fault finding forum, but to look for ways to move the country forward. We look forward to ending this forum on a good note.”
But Uranta did not address the question of who then, was the sponsor.
For instance, flight arrangements for some out of town delegates were borne by organizers of the summit. Sunday Vanguard gathered that some of the delegates were flown in from the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Abuja, the morning of the Summit.
Protest against summit
Aside that, on the first day of the conference, a group which described itself as worried citizens carried placards to protest the non-inclusion of some Nigerians alleging that the summit was being sponsored by government.
The protesters who condemned the summit described it as an unacceptable jamboree just as it warned that the outcome, like other previous confabs would not have any effect on the polity. While chanting solidarity songs, the protesters berated the summit organisers saying it was not people oriented and called for a people oriented Sovereign National Conference that will not take place in a private hotel put in a public square that will accommodate people who will be able to speak their minds.
The dialogue observed as follows:
1. That the Nigerian nation is currently facing serious challenges which, if not urgently addressed, are capable of leading the country to total disintegration
2. That the issues constraining our development as a nation include systemic corruption, Insecurity of lives and properties, poverty and infrastructural deficiencies, lack of credible electoral process, clueless leadership of state institutions and processes across board and defective structure of the Nigerian Federalism, backed by a flawed constitution. These defects have lasted for too long
3. That the deteriorating state of insecurity, especially in recent times, calls for more urgent attention as it is capable of leading to violent and unprecedented collapse of the Nigerian state if not dealt with firmly and decisively.
4. That we condemn the senseless killing of defenseless Nigerians in different parts of the country. The dialogue observed a one minute silence for all Nigerians who have recently lost their lives across the country
RESOLUTION
The dialogue resolved as follows:
1. That the dialogue should be continued and held in all six geopolitical zones of Nigeria dovetailing into a major national summit at the Federal Capital Territory Abuja in ensuring a total mobilization of all Nigerians and state institutions, including the legislature within the shortest possible time.
2. That the National Summit Group should ensure wider attendance at future dialogues and was commended for its efforts so far.
3. That the ultimate goal of the dialogue should be the convocation of a peoples’ national conference of the constituent units of the country that will give birth to a truly peoples Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
4. That a steering committee whose membership would be continuously reviewed as more Nigerians come onboard be established, to ensure that no interest is excluded.
5. That the steering committee is to come up with a work plan within 30 days of its constitution.(vanguard)
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