EDITORIAL
31 March 2014
National Confab: By who? For Who?
Most of the news headlines nowadays are
dominated by happenings and fallouts of the on-going National Conference in
Abuja. The Confab has produced enough drama to push most other front-burner
issues out of the news. Hardly anyone talks about who has defected from one
party to another or who is angling for one position or the other. All eyes seem
to be set on the National Confab.
In its first week of sitting, a lot of
controversies have been swirling around the Conference. News Media and Social Media are awash with
reactions and opinion over the event at the Confab, discussing the various
happenings filtering out of the National Judicial Institute main auditorium.
The first salvo from the Confab was the
issue of opening prayer. A lot of dust was raised about the use of Islamic
prayers to start off, which several delegates argued should have been a neutral
prayer. Before that dust could settle down, the issues of voting took centre
stage. The crux of it was the provision that a 75% voting majority would be
required to reach a decision in the absence of a consensus decision. The
argument raged so much that some delegates early came to fisticuffs on the
matter and that argument dominated the day’s proceedings.
Next the JNI threatened to pull out of the
Confab over their perceived disparity of representation between Christians and
Muslims. Not to be outdone, the Lamido of Adamawa threatened to transfer his
people’s allegiance to Cameroon in the event the Confab led to Nigeria’s break
up. The issue of the age of the Confab delegates became another side show, as a
lot of Nigerians described them as too old at an average age of 62. Tie that to
the insinuations about the “sleeping” delegate (who eventually passed away
three days later) and concerns about the health of former Information Minister,
Dora Akunyili and you have a superb soap opera script that even Hollywood
cannot contrive.
A wise man has said that “talking is good
because as long as you are talking you are not fighting”. We at Nigerian
Hotline Newspaper agree with that postulation in its entirety. Focusing on
personalities and differences would not lead us far in this undertaking. The
Confab is an event Nigerians should take very seriously. We should be able to
learn from history and take our fortunes in our own hands. Nigerians should
take a cue from the people of Benin Republic who, in the 1990, took control of
a similar conference setup Marchby military dictator Mathieu Kerekou and forged a
new direction for their country while also easing the strongman from power.
It does not matter the age of the
delegates, their backgrounds or antecedents. What matters is that they are
Nigerians and we can hold them to account. Whereas different groupings have
forged their own agenda ahead of the Confab, WE THE PEOPLE can foist OUR own
agenda on the delegates if we can use the third eye and see the great chance
and opportunity presented by the Confab to WE THE PEOPLE.
This is the reason for the title of this
editorial: National Confab: By who? For Who? It is by Nigerians and if WE THE
PEOPLE of Nigeria are vigilant we can push all the drama aside and make the
Confab for us. A word is enough………….
©2014
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