ABUJA—PRESIDENT Goodluck Jonathan, yesterday, hit back at critics of his decision to hold a National Conference.
His critics said the National conference is diversionary and a waste of time.
But in a message to Muslims on this year’s Eid-el-Kabir celebration, President Jonathan while urging Islamic faithful to offer special prayers for peace, harmony, unity, security and progress in the country said the proposed dialogue will rather promote and enhance national peace, stability and progress.
David Mark and President Goodluck Jonathan; at the pre-centenary national praise
and thanksgiving service in Abuja on Sunday
President Jonathan said: “My administration remains fully committed to the implementation of measures and policies that will further promote and enhance national peace, stability and progress. It is in keeping with that avowed commitment and my firm belief in the right to freedom of expression and the right of all people in a democracy to make choices on how they wish to live and be governed that I recently announced plans for an orderly national conversation on our problems and challenges.
“Those who continue to say that the initiative is diversionary or aimed at promoting certain political ambitions are in error. Our sincere objective is to create an acceptable and workable platform for a national dialogue or conference that will help us to resolve the issues that still cause tension and friction in the polity, reinforce the ties that bind the country’s many ethnic nationalities and ensure that Nigeria’s immense diversity continues to be a source of strength and greatness.
“Our desire is for the greatest possible majority of Nigerians to key into the process and agree on the best way forward for our dear nation. We have been greatly encouraged in this regard by the very positive reaction of various national interest groups to the initiative and I seize the opportunity of this occasion to urge all other Nigerians to give their fullest possible support to this renewed effort to harness the efficacy of dialogue and consensus-building for the future well-being and progress of our beloved nation.
“I assure all Nigerians that going forward, my administration will continue to give very focused and purposeful leadership to the nation. We remain committed to achieving significant improvements in the living conditions of all Nigerians through the diligent implementation of our agenda for national transformation. We will also remain very proactive in taking all actions deemed necessary for the restoration and sustenance of peace and security in all parts of our country.”
Nwabueze rallies 13 lawyers, political scientists to produce blueprint
Elder statesman and chairman of The Patriots, Professor Ben Nwabueze (SAN), 83, has written 13 prominent lawyers and political scientists to join him in a committee to prepare a Draft People’s Constitution that will be submitted for deliberation at the Uyo National Summit when it re-convenes and thereafter present same to the Presidency and the National Assembly as a working paper for the National Conference proper.
The legal luminary, who opted out of the Senator Femi Okurounmu-led Presidential Advisory Committee on National Conference/Dialogue on account of ill-health and medical treatment in London and nominated Chief Solomon Asemota (SAN), said he considered his appointment inappropriate because of age and ill-health.
Although, the Presidency did not accept his nomination of Asemota to replace him in the committee, he nevertheless assured that The Patriots would work with the Okurounmu panel to hammer out water-tight modalities for the national conference, if invited. In a statement he wrote on October 13, Nwabueze said, “I cut short my stay in London for medicals and returned to Nigeria on Saturday, October 12, 2013 to keep a long-standing commitment to chair the Anambra Literary Creativity Festival at Awka on October 15. It may be necessary for me, after my Awka engagement, to go back to London to continue my medicals.
“It is not generally known to people that I have been fighting prostrate cancer for some years now, and have been kept going by consultations from time to time with, and treatment by, a Consultant Oncologist at Charing CrossHospital, London. My appointment with the Consultant Oncologist had been shifted many times because of several postponements in the dates of The Patriots meeting with President Goodluck Jonathan and the National Summit at Uyo, both of which eventually took place on August 29 and September 3/4, respectively, leaving me free at last to travel to London on September 8 for my medical appointments.
“After The Patriots’ fruitful meeting with the President, a member of our team who has access to him on a personal basis was mandated to go back to get him to set up the Committee on the National Conference of which he had earlier given a hint.
Nomination of The Patriot member to the confab
My understanding from the contacts with him was that The Patriots would be asked to nominate a member to the Committee. I never expected to be appointed chairman or member of the Committee, and would, quite frankly, have considered such an appointment inappropriate in the circumstances. It is an appointment for a younger person, not for an old man of 83 years afflicted by ill-health. But The Patriots remain willing to work with the Presidential Committee, and to give it all necessary assistance, if called upon to do so.
“This is the area in which I think my contribution to the work of the Conference would be particularly useful, and I do not see this as in any way conflicting with the terms of reference of the Presidential Committee, although they (i.e. the Terms of Reference) contain a somewhat vaguely worded item, to wit, “to advise government on legal procedures and options for integrating decisions and outcomes of the national dialogue/conference into the constitution and laws of the nation.”
Presidency lampoons Tinubu over comments, says he is mischievous and off target
Meantime, the Presidency has lampooned former Governor Bola Tinubu over his comments and opposition to the proposed convocation of a national dialogue, saying that his description of the conference as a Greek Gift by President Goodluck Jonathan was not only shocking and disappointing, but mischievous, just as it said that the Dr. Femi Okurounmu’s committee will not be teleguided.
The Presidency which also attacked Tinubu on his criticisms of the Government’s Subsidy Re-investment Programmed (SURE-P), alleged that the All Progressives Congress, APC leader was ignorant of the programme, adding that he ought to have been informed, rather than what it termed his falsehood, just as it challenged governors of the All Progressives Congress, APC controlled states to, as a matter of urgency publish how they have so far spent the funds that accrued to them from the Subsidy Re-investment Programmed (SURE-P).
Addressing journalists, yesterday, in Abuja, Senior Special Assistant to the President on Public Affairs, Dr. Doyin Okupe, said that of the N582.2 billion that accrued to SURE-P between 2012 and 2013, the Federal Government got N255 billion while N219 billion went to the 36 States. He added that the balance of N108.2 billion went to the 774 local government areas.
Okupe said: “It is heart-warming that Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu finally made a seeming volte-face on his initial opposition to the convocation of a national dialogue/conference by President Goodluck Jonathan in his October 1 National Broadcast. It is obvious that his initial reaction on arrival from overseas medical trip was not well-thought out and was roundly opposed, rejected and condemned by a clear majority of the Nigerian people, in particular, the authentic Yoruba leadership in the South-West.
“It is, therefore, crystal clear and unarguable that whatever position the APC leader holds on the issue of the National Conference does not represent the views of the majority of Yoruba people in the South-West. In his initial reaction, Senator Bola Tinubu rejected the National Dialogue outrightly and called it a “Greek Gift”, diversionary and an act of public deception, which according to him was also ill timed because of the supposed closeness to the forthcoming 2015 Elections.
Ulterior motives
“His assertion that there is an ulterior motive for the conference is purely conjectural and speculative; and has no foundation in any reasoning or logic. The onus is heavily on him to prove this; hence we will not dwell too much on this unjustifiable conclusion. We wish to state categorically that President Goodluck Jonathan has shown convincingly that he is a credible, reliable and capable leader by his unprecedented achievements in such a short space of time. He most certainly does not flip flop as the opposition politician insinuates.
“President Jonathan promised to embark on electoral reforms with the sole aim of giving Nigerians the full value of credible elections. It will be recalled that the very first general elections under the watch of President Jonathan was adjudged by both local and international observers including leaders of foreign nations such as America, Britain and France, as being one of the best ever in Nigerian history. This fact is further confirmed by a monumental reduction of almost 70% of litigations arising from the conduct of elections in Nigeria.
“Another pointer to his commitment in this regard are the Edo and Ondo States governorship elections where the President’s party, PDP lost and the entire process was commended by all Nigerians including Bola Tinubu’s party, the then ACN. One therefore wonders the mischief that Bola Tinubu intended to play by the alleged non-implementation of reports of the Justice Uwais committee on electoral reforms. Therefore, contrary to Senator Tinubu’s position, Mr President has demonstrated reliability and capability in his handling of his electoral reform promise to the Nigerian people.
“The President promised that he will deliver power to the Nigerian people through a well-planned Power Roadmap. To date, all the 10 previously comatose NIPP Projects capable of adding an additional 5000 megawatts to our National Grid have been virtually completed by this administration. Two weeks ago, in order that even the most cynical of all can see and confirm that these are not political gimmicks, the Geregu NIPP Power Plant with 434 Megawatts was commissioned by the President to the admiration and appreciation of the entire citizenry and in a few weeks from now, Omotosho Plant with 450 MW will also be commissioned. Surely and steadily, Nigeria is moving towards the provision of uninterrupted power supply to the citizenry.”
Attacking the former LagosState governor on his position on SURE- P, Okupe said, “Amazingly, Senator Bola Tinubu spoke ignorantly on the issue of the Sure-P. He ought to have been better informed rather than the shameful falsehood he tried to disseminate on the utilization of the Sure-P funds. We submit for the records, the allocation to Sure-P and the projects to which the Federal Government has applied them. These are verifiable facts.
Utilization of SURE-P funds
“The Federal Government receives 41% of the total Sure-P funds while all the States and Local Governments receive the remaining 59%. The utilization of the Federal Government Sure-P funds in 2012 and 2013 are stated below: “The leader of the APC should publish the total amount of money received by the APC States and the projects for which they were used for Nigerians to see who is reliable and capable and who is not.
“Tinubu’s myopia and beclouded diatribe on this matter reveals the narrow mindedness of a local politician totally insensitive to the genuine sensibilities of other sub-nationalities within the polity. The results of the various programmes of the Amnesty Office are self-evident and have definitely impacted positively on the lives and wellbeing of the Youths and Communities in the Niger Delta Region. Finally, the reference to the fact that Mr President is calling for a National Conference at a time when his party, the PDP seems to be having an internal crisis is plainly mischievous and dishonest.
“The APC leader, as usual, is completely off target. Desperate politicians and self-seeking political leaders tend to believe that their quest for power or insatiable appetite for wealth accumulation through politics is superior to the genuine desires and innate aspiration of the ordinary Nigerians. While the Bola Tinubu’s of this world focus only on the 2015 general elections, most patriotic ordinary Nigerians are more concerned with the emergence of a true united Nation, based on equity and justice to all its component parts, devoid of schisms and rancour which has made it impossible for us to benefit from the full potential of all the God-given resources of our great Nation.
“Senator Tinubu in his criticism of the conference asked “Where is the capability, where is the sincerity?” He also queried “Will this president have the guts to implement fully all final resolutions of the conference without fear or favour?” On all these queries, we state that for the first time in the history of post-independence Nigeria, a Federal Government took a bold initiative to call for a National conference without the obnoxious “no-go-areas” so that Nigerians can once and for all have the opportunity to address all pertinent issues regarding the polity and has also given the advisory committee freewill to determine its nature and/or structure. This is a definite demonstration of boldness and sincerity by the administration of President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan.
“Our dear Senator Tinubu wants the Yoruba Nation and indeed the people of LagosState to believe that he is sincere in rendering public service to the state and the people, whereas he has heavily garrisoned the state political apparatus with a sizeable number of his immediate family members. Nigerians should ignore the vituperations of so-called leaders who don’t see anything good in anyone or any programme except they are either in control of it or that it is tailored to satisfy their inordinate desires and greed. Like Mr President said at the inauguration of the Advisory committee on National conference, “Let us move forward with honest conviction and patriotic courage to strengthen this Republic and get it to work better and brighter, for all of us, to the glory of God.”
National dialogue should involve all ethnic groups, not only the Major Groups—Middle Belt Forum
The Middle Belt Forum, MBF, yesterday, said that if the national conference must be a success, there must be no restriction of any ethnic group, just as it warned that attention must not only be focused on the major ethnic groups in the country.
In a statement signed by the forum’s President and Secretary, Professor Jerry Gana and Mr. John Dara respectively, the group suggested that every ethnic group must have at least one representative before proportional seats were allotted to the bigger ethnic groups and other interests.
While commending President Goodluck Jonathan for initiating the dialogue, the MBF stressed that it was also satisfied with the quality and composition of the newly inaugurated advisory committee on national dialogue, even as it urged members of the committee to ensure that the national dialogue was truly representative, credible and patriotic insisting it must also be orderly, peaceful and productive.
The forum said, “We also hope that the conference will focus less on politics and posturing, and avoid reckless brinkmanship. We must proffer workable solutions to the developmental problems facing our country. We need urgent solutions to the problems of poverty, unemployment, low productivity, insecurity, corruption and the re-occuring mismanagement of our resources and opportunities.
“The leadership and members of the Middle Belt Forum commend the wisdom and political sagacity of President Goodluck Jonathan in acceding to the vociferous calls for a National Conference. This is a further confirmation of his responsiveness to the yearnings of the public. While we had advised against a Sovereign National Conference because of the obvious institutional conflicts, we also firmly took the position that national discourse, dialogue and conferences are indeed necessary democratictools for promoting national understanding, harmony and cohesion. We are therefore enthusiastic about this proposed conference, and we salute the courage of Mr. President in boldly convening it.
“We need to see this Dialogue as an opportunity for national reconciliation, restoration of trust and rededication to the onerous task of accelerated national development. The time has come for us as Nigerians to rise above debilitating self-criticism, self-doubt and self destruction. We must learn to support whoever has our mandate to govern by being more charitable while giving constructive counsels.
source: vanguard
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