ABUJA — MEMBER of the House of Representaives, Ms Temi Harriman has called on the Federal Government to widen its recent dialogue with Ijaw militant, Alhaji Asari Dokubo into a national conference involving all ethnic groups in the country.
Harriman (PDP, Warri, Fed. Constituency, Delta) in a statement issued in Abuja yesterday said the urgency of a national conference had become imperative with the recent involvement of the presidency in brokering peace between the hitherto feuding Niger Delta Peoples Volunteer Force (NDPVF) and the Niger Delta Vigilante Force (NDVF).
The lawmaker also cited the reported endorsement of a national conference by Prof. Jerry Gana, the Special Adviser to the President on Political Matters as another recognition of the inevitability of a national conference to address the issues affecting the country.
Her statement reads thus: “Recent news reports have highlighted the pivotal role played by officials of the Federal Government at the highest level in brokering the truce between the hitherto feuding Niger Delta Peoples Volunteer Force (NDPVF) and the Niger Delta Vigilante Force (NDVF).
“The government’s action would impact on all those living in the Niger Delta region that have borne the painful brunt of the fighting between these two groups and other groups using the force of arms in the region. “In playing its mediation role, government has acknowledged that the contentions in the Niger Delta region cannot necessarily be addressed by the use of military force alone.
"It is, however, worthy to bring to the attention of the government that these contentions are not only restricted to that part of the Niger Delta region. “All sections of the polity have contending issues that require equally serious attention by government and all stakeholders in the Nigerian federation. “I believe that democracy provides an enabling environment for us to address the historical and fundamental distortions against our peaceful co-existence as a nation. “Hence, against the background of the continued sectional agitations, I hereby call on the Federal Government to take the initiative in summoning a National Conference to address these issues.
“It is welcoming that even a prominent figure of government such as the Special Adviser to the President on Political Affairs, Prof. Jerry Gana is reported to have seen the political imperative of this option.
“In this light, I urge the Federal Government, legislators from across the parties and nation to support and take the lead in immediately summoning a national conference.”
