ABUJA—TUESDAY’S inauguration of the committee to work out framework for the convocation of a national conference by President Olusegun Obasanjo, yesterday, sparked off suspicions from the ranks of politicians opposed to the president.
National chairman of APGA, Chief Chekwas Okorie, Egbe Afenifere and former scribe of the group, Chief Ayo Opadokun, expressed doubts about the sincerity of government on the issue.
Chief Okorie in an interview dismissed the setting up of the committee as a ploy by government to organise a national jamboree. Said he: “My position is that setting up the committee on national dialogue was done in absolute bad faith. General Obasanjo never supported the national conference most Nigerians have been asking for.
So, you can see that in setting up a committee, the president has called people who are political appointees and technocrats serving government, so there is no sincerity. And when you look at it further, what the Federal Government is trying to do is to amend the Constitution, but what many Nigerians have been asking for goes beyond amending the Constitution. In fact, in a proper national conference, the Constitution can only be a sub-head, because what Nigerians are asking for is a forum where how they relate with one another can be discussed.
“Let me give you an example. In the National Assembly today, you could find representing the people of Plateau, for instance, that there are no more than eight, while there are about 20 ethnic nationalities in Plateau. So, what you have is that at best about eight ethnic nationalities representing 20 others, and it is important that there should be a conference where the 20 others have a say on how they relate with others. So, the nationalities conference is very important if all the other reforms are to have a chance of succeeding. What Obasanjo is doing is nothing more than another Abacha jamboree, where he could amend what is said to suit his design.
“I want to also say that in January, the Ethnic Nationalities Forum, Nigeria United for Democracy and all the other groups will publish an agendum for a national conference, and in that publication we will tell Nigerians what a national conference should be. If after that, Obasanjo continues with his national dialogue, we will not stop him, because he is the Commander-in-Chief, but it will be clear he is on his own and does not have Nigerians with him.”
On his part, Chief Opadokun said: “The very idea that government is now thinking of a national conference is a welcome departure from the previous misguided position of the government on this issue. Secondly, some of us will be suspicious of this kind of shadow attempt that you cannot establish the veracity of the thinking behind it.
“My advice, therefore, is that those putting togther the national dialogue should work to meet the representative assembly of the popularly driven, and not that which may achieve purposes desired by government, and which will not fundamentally connect with the national question.
“Having read the guidelines, if members of the civil society groups, professional groups, student groups, ethnic nationalities groups, market women, the academia, are not in the vanguard in the convocation of such a dialogue, the implication is that setting up such a committee would achieve a result pre-determined by the government.”
Some members of the Delta State House of Assembly also bared their minds on the setting up of the committee. The member representing Sapele constituency, Mr. Ojaife Odebala, said: “My own reaction is positive but one thing is: what can the conference achieve because everything will fall back to constitutional amendments since the sovereignty of the constitution will now reside in the presidency and the legislature of the country. And if the conference comes out with any fundamental change, the laws we are operating today they will definitely require a constitutional amendment.
So, the question is: can we get the required number because we need two-third majority of the National Assembly and the Houses of Assembly of the country to amend the Nigerian constitution? If a particular amendment is favourable to the South and not favourable to the North, will they (North) vote for the amendment? So, these are issues I feel the national dialogue or what you call it will just be a forum to express their opinion and talk. They will not achieve a substantial result.”
Deputy Minority Leader of the state Assembly, Dr. Victor Ochei, said. “The president has taken a step in the right direction. In a democracy, people clamour for change, people clamour for things, people have the right to speak out. But it should be done within the ambit of what would not tamper with our national unity. So, Mr. President in his wisdom feels the call for Sovereign National Conference may not be the immediate way to kick start in order not to throw this country into chaos and our nascent democracy into a mess. So, the setting up of the Makarfi committee, I believe, is a step in the right direction.”
Afenifere cautious
And in a statement in Lagos, Afenifere said it received news of the committee inauguration with cautious optimism, saying: “Optimism in the sense that by opting for national dialogue, the president is shifting from his implacable position that there is no need for a national conference since there are elected people in place who can do all the necessary tinkering. But five years of ‘fire brigade’ approach must have convinced the presidency that you cannot cure an ailment requiring intensive surgery with medication across the shelf.
“But we are cautious in embracing the initiative because of a sense of deja vu. We have seen this time and again. It would be recalled that the basis upon which Abacha and Diya hoodwinked many progressives to accept their 1993 coup was the promise to hold a national conference with ‘full constituent powers.’ But at the end of the day, what the regime offered was a national symposium which recommendations were terribly tinkered with.
“Going by President Obasanjo’s charge at the inauguration of the panel, it seems to us that the whole idea may be an attempt to take the wind out of the sail of the agitation for a national conference. If that was the intention, we hasten to say that the idea is dead on arrival as the national conference is an idea whose time has come and no battalion on earth can withstand it.
“If President Obasanjo wants the idea to be taken seriously, the following gaping holes must be addressed:
*The national conference is a project for all stakeholders of which government presenting government’s idea to a broader platform of all stakeholders, which would now midwife a national conference.
*The agenda of the committee should be broadened to include fundamental issues of true federalism such as regional autonomy, resource control, devolution of power; form of government as well as restructuring of the polity.
*The critical issues of the powers of the conference, its composition and modus operandi are so fundamental that all stakeholders must agree on.
“If these issues are addressed, it would be seen that the regime is interested in salvaging the nation, but if it insists on its own way, it is only begging the issue as the crises in the land are so fundamental that the various nationalities in Nigeria can no longer allow any government to play games with their fate.”
Terms of reference of the committee include:
l to produce, through a review of the 1999 constitution, a sound, relevant, coherent, consistent and well-articulated constitution that would strengthen national unity and stability, promote democracy, facilitate good governance and ensure human rights wtihin the rule of the law with citizen’s obligations;
lrefine the electoral system for the purpose of ensuring the conduct of free, fair and credible election that are cost-effective and ensure level playing ground for all political competitors;
l to build a highly principled, sharply focused well-organised, effectively-managed, value-oriented and disciplined political parties to sustain democracy;
l to provide a harmonious system of checks and balances based on the separation of powers, with transparency, integrity and accountability; and
l to mobilise and transform civil society into viable organisations that would be relevant and responsive to the needs of the nation within the cultural milieu of the society.
