National Conference: Making The Most Of An Imperfect Situation

By Daniel Onwe

Over the years, there has been the clamour for a national conference or dialogue or discourse, whether sovereign or otherwise. Despite the semantic variations, the issue is a forum for the Nigerian peoples and groups to come together, sit down and talk over the essence of their corporate existence. Previous governments have been evasive of this issue. Therefore, the present government deserves some commendation for rising up to the occasion by setting the machinery in motion for this long awaited and desired discourse. In his National Day broadcast 1 October, 2013, President Goodluck Jonathan announced the formation of a 13-man advisory committee on the holding of a national conference. On Thursday, 27 January, 2014, the Federal Government formally unveiled the modalities for the National Conference. According to the modalities, the conference shall be attended by 492 persons who shall be delegates drawn from the statesmen, retired military officers, the police and the state security service, traditional rulers, retired civil servants, labour unions, the organised private sector, youth organisations, women groups, political parties, religious leaders, civil society organisations, Nigerians in the Diaspora, Persons with Disabilities, the media, ethnic nationality groups, professional bodies, and so on.

While this move has been commended by some, others have expressed varied levels of skepticism and have even gone as far as writing it off as “sheer waste of money,” “mere jamboree,” “political ploy of the ruling party,” and all what not. The modalities set out for the conference may not be perfect. Whether the government is organising this conference with the best or the worst motive, one thing is certain – Nigerians can make the best of this National Conference.  Therefore, I think this is not the time to sit back and be ascribing speculative negative motives to this gesture of the government. After all, only God can infallibly determine the motives of men.

Obviously, a common denomination among all the political, economic, social, tribal and gender divides in the country is disaffection. If it is not the Igbos lamenting their woes since the civil war, it is the south-southerners agitating against their exploitation and degradation, or the northerners crying of being disadvantaged, or the Yorubas whose story would not be different, or the women who feel the need for liberation, or persons with disabilities who feel, and are indeed, excluded from the scheme of affairs. The list goes on and on. Each of these diverse peoples and groups in the country would make demands that are often in isolation, and sometimes, even antithetical to the demands of other competing peoples and groups in the country. Therefore, nothing can be more desirable and apposite at this point in time than a forum where the different peoples and groups in Nigeria can sit together, articulate their demands and balance them with that of each other.  At least, for once, let the Nigerian people be the ones to come together and decide their fate. Our Constitution for instance, lies against Nigerians by declaring itself to be a product of “We the people of Federal Republic of Nigeria,” when we know that it was a hand out of “They, the military junta.” This National Conference offers an opportunity for us to now speak for ourselves. This would hopefully lead to the solution of our problems and correct the fallacies that have been ingrained in the fabrics of our polity.

In 1914, the colonial masters in a bid to maximise their exploitation foisted on us an amalgamation and even the name “Nigeria” without even deeming it fit to seek our opinion on that. One hundred years thereafter we are yet to unanimously express our ratification of that act of amalgamation. This is why I am of the view that the exclusion of the unity of Nigeria from the subject of discussion at the National Conference is wrong. I am of the considered personal opinion that our respective interests would be better served in a big, strong and united Nigeria. However, I also think that our unity will be stronger and more viable if we sit down, walk ourselves through its essence and then take ownership of it. There is an adage among my people that if you benevolently extract a chigger from a dog’s body without disclosing it, the dog will wrongly think you only mischievously pinch it (the dog). In other words, our unity as a nation is something we must deliberately consider and subscribe to, as against having it forced down our throats and warning us not to talk about it.  I feel quite uneasy when the government consistently appears to be teleguiding the discourse of the National Conference to exclude the unity of Nigeria. We have to discuss and agree and collectively bind ourselves to this unity; it’s important. If the Conference is a reflection of the minds of the generality of the Nigerian people, then it should be competent to deliberate and decide on whatever is good for Nigeria and Nigerians.

Now, it is becoming clearer, that the National Conference will hold. People still express some misgivings and raise interrogations such as why should the Presidency have delegates to the conference? How would the respective interest groups pick their delegates? Will the discourse of the Conference not be hijacked to satisfy selfish political interest, especially in the light of 2015 election that is around the corner? In the actual sense, the situation poses a test to the leadership disposition of the respective interest groups designated to be at the conference. It is one thing to accuse governments of selfishness in their agenda. It is another thing for the respective interest groups and the individuals there to show selflessness on their own part. This they will do by putting forward the nominees who will best champion the collective interest of their groups in particular and the Nigerian people in general, rather than seeing it as another avenue to get a share of the national cake without consideration for requisite competence.  The delegates must see themselves as the midwives of the destiny of this nation, present and future, rather than selling themselves out as merchandise, susceptible to the highest bidder.

There is the concern about the Federal Government participating at the Conference by nominating too many delegates. Much as that calls for concern, the government’s delegates are still the minority among about 492 delegates to the Conference. Therefore, if the other delegates are people of integrity and worth their salt, it will be unlikely that they will be swayed by the delegates of the government. So, the respective interest groups have a responsibility to put their best foot forward and ensure that their very best in all sense of it are the ones nominated to the Conference.

Again, some quarters have insisted that it is a “Sovereign” National Conference or nothing. But even the Almighty does not grant all our prayers at the same time. So, when all your demands are not forthcoming it may be expedient to take what is offered and keep demanding for the balance instead of foregoing everything. Accordingly, I think it makes a lot of sense to accept the National Conference and then work towards making its decision “Sovereign.”

May the mistake of the pre-1999 democrats not reoccur in this circumstance. Before the military quit the political scene in 1999, there were the true democrats who boldly confronted them (the military) at the risk of their lives. These were the ones who truly fought for Nigerian democracy. But when the soldiers were apparently vacating the political space, these democracy fighters did not believe them and, therefore, stayed put in their fighting trenches. The political opportunists were the ones who emerged from nowhere and took over the political space from the military.  By the time it occurred to the true democrats to relocate from the trenches to the political space, the said space had already been overrun and occupied by the political opportunists who have maintained their grip on political power to date, unfortunately relegating the true democrats to the background.

It is therefore, imperative that all men, women, boys and girls of good will in Nigeria should get genuinely interested in this conference with a view of making the very best out of it. It is our country that would be talked about; it is our money that would be spent on it. Therefore, we cannot afford to stay aloof.

•Onwe is a Lagos-based public interest litigation lawyer.