ABUJA —FORMER Secretary-General of the Commonwealth, Chief Emeka Anyaoku, yesterday in Abuja called for the strengthening of Nigeria's corporate existence through the convocation of what he called national dialogue of all ethnic nationalities in the country. He spoke at the opening of a three-day foreign policy retreat organised by the Presidential Advisory Council on International Relations (PAC) of which he is chairman. He advised President Olusegun Obasanjo to begin the pursuit of peace from home than from abroad.
Former ministers of foreign affairs, former heads of the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs (NIIA), foreign envoys in Nigeria and top government functionaries among others, are attending the retreat. Chief Anyaoku said Nigeria was ripe for a national dialogue, contending that it was the only way of attaining national peace and stability. The aim of the dialogue, he said, would be to discuss and produce a national consensus on the fundamentals of the constitution as well as ways of strengthening Nigeria’s corporate existence.
He x-rayed the campaign by President Obasanjo for a lasting peace in Africa and other parts of the world, wondering why such a campaign should not begin from home. He said except the home was secured, the effort being made to bring about peace abroad would amount to nothing.
His words: “If the Federal Government could be willing to hold conversation with the representatives of a restive group in the country, it should also be willing and able to take the initiative to organise a national ‘dialogue.’
"In recognition of the fact that peace is a basic necessity for development, our foreign policy of pursuing peace abroad must be anchored on peace at home. No country can do well abroad if the home front is weak.”
Chief Anyaoku, also noted the need to configure the nation’s constitution to bring about a more meaningful federation that would be more conducive for attaining national peace and stability and national development. Anyaoku who listed the challenges facing Nigeria’s foreign policy direction to include the increasing economic importance of the Gulf of Guinea, the quest for a permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council; the debt burden and funding of foreign missions observed that the cost of running government was astronomical, pointing out that with 812 governments, comprising federal, state and local governments, Nigeria was heavily administered with the cost of administration very high and impacting adversely on the resources available for national development.
“We must free the resources spent on governance and deploy them on development, which will palpably benefit our toiling and unemployed masses. In this way, we would give our people a greater stake in the democratic dispensation,” he said.
President Obasanjo in his address on the occasion, called for a review of the country’s foreign policy to make it more relevant to the present reality and situation in the world. He directed the Presidential Advisory Council on International Relations to review Nigeria’s foreign policy thrust in a bid to evolve better ways of conducting the nation’s foreign relations. He then charged the council to discuss and analyse particular foreign policy actions or structures of government, sub-structural issues underlying foreign policy action, historical and other consequences of the such actions.
