The Nation Newspaper

Tag: conference

  • Senate: it’s time for national conference

    Senate: it’s time for national conference

    Advocates of a national conference got a major boost yesterday. The Senate said steps should be taken to convene a national conference of ethnic nationalities.

    The upper chamber also lamented that those it described as political jobbers, sycophants, and hustlers have seized the country’s political space, and are being allowed to set the tone of national discourse ahead of 2015 general elections.

    Senate President David Mark spoke in an address to flag off a new session for the Senate.

    Though he counselled that Nigerians should make haste slowly and operate strictly within the parameters of the Constitution in discussion of the national question, Mark agreed that time has come for the country to confront alleged structural distortions in the polity.

    Such a conference, he said, can find accommodation in the extant provisions of the 1999 Constitution, which guarantee freedom of expression, and of association.

    The only no-go area at the conference, the Senate President noted, should be dismemberment of the country.

    He, however, cautioned that it would be unconstitutional to clothe such a conference with constituent or sovereign powers.

    He said, “We live in very precarious times, and in a world increasingly made fluid and toxic by strange ideologies and violent tendencies, all of which presently conspire to question the very idea of the nation state.

    “But that is not to say that the nation should, like the proverbial ostrich, continue to bury its head in the sand and refuse to confront the perceived or alleged structural distortions which have bred discontentment and alienation in some quarters.

    “This sense of discontentment and alienation has fueled extremism, apathy and even predictions of catastrophy for our dear nation.

    “A conference of Nigeria’s ethnic nationalities, called to foster frank and open discussions of the national question, can certainly find accommodation in the extant provisions of the 1999 Constitution, which guarantee freedom of expression, and of association.

    “To that extent, it is welcome. Nonetheless, the idea of a National Conference is not without inherent and fundamental difficulties.

    “Problems of its structure and composition will stretch the letters and spirit of the Constitution and severely task the ingenuity of our constitutionalists.

    “Be that as it may, such a conference, if and whenever convened, should have only few red lines, chief among which would be the dismemberment of the country. Beyond that, every other question should be open to deliberations.

    “However, I hasten to add that it would be unconstitutional to clothe such a conference with constituent or sovereign powers!

    “But the resolutions of a national conference, consisting of Nigeria’s ethnic nationalities, and called under the auspices of the Government of the Federation, will indeed carry tremendous weight.

    “And the National Assembly, consisting of the elected representatives of the Nigerian people, though not constitutionally bound by such resolutions, will be hard put to ignore them in the continuing task of constitution review.

    “But to circumvent the Constitution, and its provisions on how to amend it, and repose sovereignty in an unpredictable mass will be too risky a gamble and may ultimately do great disservice to the idea of one Nigeria.

    “That is not to say that a Constitutional Conference, whether sovereign or not, is a magic wand.

    “The task of nation building requires patience, faith, scrupulous honesty, diligence, dedication, sacrifice, toil, labour, assiduous application and massive investments in our future.

    “The heights attained by great nations were not made by sudden flights.”

    Mark said that parliamentarians would have discovered that the vast majority of Nigerians wanted a united, peaceful and prosperous Nigeria.

    According to him, Nigerians long for a country in which “our tremendous potentials as a nation are transparently and equitably nurtured and realised; a country in which law reigns supreme, and is applied evenly and equally to all, high and low.”

    “For our constituents, there is no alternative to the democratic project. What they dread, and will never want, is a nation trammeled by impunity, brigandage, banditry, insurgency, rampant corruption, and misgovernance.

    “These expectations perfectly dovetail into our core constitutional mandate of making laws for the good government of our federation, and all of its parts,” he said.

    Mark charged the lawmakers to continue the session with a solemn determination to deepen good governance, and to enthrone the legitimate expectations of the people, saying “the legislature remains the driving force of our constitutional democracy, and an indispensable block in the arduous task of nation building”.

    He insisted that more than ever before, “our countrymen and women are looking up to us for leadership, redemption and stability”.

    The Senate President maintained that in the chamber, “we are first and foremost Senators of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, and though not impervious to the present centrifugal political pulls, we must put the interest of Nigeria above every other consideration.

    “We must not only rise above narrow, parochial and partisan considerations, we must also very eloquently, by deeds and words, demonstrate the capacity and willingness to moderate national discourse, and balance the polity.

    “This we can only do by always standing with the people and on the side of truth, and by painstakingly striving at all times to do what is legally and constitutionally right and morally justifiable.”

    On the alleged activities of political jobbers and war mongers, Mark lamented that it is disheartening that even though the general elections of 2015 are two years away, “political jobbers, sycophants, and hustlers have prematurely seized the political space, and are being allowed to set the tone of national discourse”.

    The unfolding scenario, he said, “is an unnecessary and avoidable distraction by characters or hirelings who are desperately in search of relevance”. “They are only out to feather their own nests and in the process, unduly overheat the polity.”

    According Mark those involved employ every weapon, including threats of war, and open saber rattling, to advance their partisan causes.

    He said: “I am therefore, compelled to urge restraint and to call on all putative contestants to various political positions in 2015 to advise themselves and call their various supporters to order.

    “My prayer is to see our democracy advance to a level where those who lose elections would stoically accept the verdict of the electorate, congratulate the winners, and forge ahead.”

    Beating the drums of war, chanting war songs and blackmailing the nation with fire and brimstone, he said, are outdated and unacceptable tools of political brinksmanship.

    To him, political jobbers and war mongers do not serve anybody’s interests, but theirs as “they exploit our collective fears and fan the embers of hatred, acrimony and division”.

    “But, like I have said in the past, Nigeria is greater than any of its parts, and it is in our collective interest to promote her unity, based on the ideals of love, peace, patriotism, faith, compromise and sacrifice.

    “And Nigeria is certainly greater than any position any politician will ever occupy.

    “I, therefore, strongly advise the security agencies to take any threat bordering on treason very seriously and to thoroughly investigate such and take appropriate measures, irrespective of who the culprits are.

    “The greatest legacy we can bequeath to posterity is to collectively build a Nigeria that is more functional, more united, more dynamic, more peaceful and more democratic.

    “Our objective should be to build a nation whose unity is an article of faith based on equity, fairness, justice and equal opportunity; a nation where injustice to one is injustice to all.

    “I know it is a herculean task, but it is one that can be attained by steely resolve.

    “As Senators of the Federal Republic and as stabilizers of the polity, we must sound it loud and clear to all our elected and appointed officials, and indeed to every politician, that to divert attention from the core task of governance to desperate political permutations, is a great disservice to our nation.

    “National redemption requires renewed and concerted focus on governance at all levels, in every tier.

    “Concerted focus on governance entails keen and constructive engagement between all the arms of government.

    “To collaborate with, and engage the other arms of government in the interest of good governance, is neither to surrender our mandate as the gatekeepers to the realm of the public good, nor is it to compromise our ability to serve as a check on the other arms of government.

    “Rather, collaboration simply implies that when we as a legislature discharge our constitutional functions with faith, commitment and patriotism, we will insist that the other arms do likewise.

    “All are critical institutions in a country very much in a hurry to develop, a country whose citizens yearn for, and deserve much more from her public officers.

    “Collaboration or engagement also calls for a strict and more imaginative commitment to our constitutional oversight responsibilities.

    “It is only by so doing that we can help upgrade the quality of life in our country, and reward our peoples’ unflagging faith in democracy.

    “We resume plenary to be confronted with a legislative agenda filled to the brim with crucial activities.

    “Soon to be dealt with are the 2014 budget, the Petroleum Industry Bill, Customs (Amendment) Bill, Pensions Reforms (Amendment) Bill, Further Review of the Electoral Act, and harmonization of the Senate and House positions on the amendment of the 1999 Constitution (as amended),” Mark said.

    He recalled that the 2013 budget estimates were laid before the National Assembly in October, last year and urged the Executive to improve on that record this year.

    According to him, “Because the 2013 budget estimates was laid early enough, we not only scrupulously, meticulously and robustly debated it, we also ensured that it was passed before the commencement of its operative financial year.”

    On the ongoing strike by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), Mark urged the lawmakers to spare a thought “for the plight of our youths who are idling away because of the closure of our universities due to the ASUU strike”.

    He said, “The morass in the education sector is deeply troubling, not only because it is retarding the educational progress of millions of our children, but also because it arrests the intellectual development of our nation, with grave consequences for the future.

    “While appreciating the tremendous merit in the case put forth by ASUU, we call on its leaders to return to class, while pragmatic negotiations to address their grievances continue.

    “The Senate will invest the full weight of its moral and constitutional authority to nudge both the Federal Government and ASUU towards a comprehensive settlement that addresses, in a realistic manner, the problems afflicting tertiary education in our country.”

     

  • National conference is irreversible, says Nwabueze

    National conference is irreversible, says Nwabueze

    Participants at the National Political Summit in Uyo, the Akwa Ibom State capital, yesterday insisted that until the over 300 ethnic nationalities in Nigeria get together to discuss their future, the people within the country cannot be regarded as a nation.

    The stakeholders, who included elder statesmen, said peace and security may continue to elude the nation until the convocation of the national conference.

    The Coordinator of Nigeria Consensus Group, Prof. Ben Nwabueze (SAN), led the submissions in his keynote address yesterday at the summit, with the theme: Roadmap to Stability, Progress and Unity in Nigeria.

    Prof. Nwabueze argued that anybody who does not support the national conference (not sovereign national conference), does not believe in Nigeria’s unity.

    He said: “The critical problem of this country is insecurity and lack of progress. We are nowhere belonging to a nation; we are still a state.

    “The national conference would, therefore, be a unique occasion – the first for the President – to speak directly to over 300 ethnic nationalities, comprising different peoples, to galvanise them into one people with one common destiny.

    “Any Nigerian who does not believe in the national conference does not believe in one Nigeria.”

    The constitutional lawyer explained that the conference would not be held for the disintegration of Nigeria but to cement the people as an indivisible nation.

    Prof Nwabueze said: “This meeting is not meant to break the county. The conference is meant for everybody. The President should convoke the conference, as a matter of urgency. He has the power to do so as the leader of the country. He represents the majesty and sovereignty of Nigeria. We have to press on him to do it.

    “We have been talking. The time has come to combine words with action.”

    The elder statesman, who was a minister under the late Head of State, General Sanni Abacha, noted that the concentration of power at the centre stifles fiscal federalism.

    He recalled that when he was the chairman of the sub-committee that produced Chapter Two (the Fundamental Objectives) on the drafting of 1979 Constitution, the choice was influenced by a strong centre as a factor to unite the country.

    Prof Nwabueze said: “We felt that by doing this, we were establishing unity. We did not stop at that. We looked at the residual matters. These are matters that are exclusive to the states. We took a large part of it – over 30 per cent and close to 50 per cent. We took it away from states and gave to the centre.

    “The result is the Almighty Federal Government. But what we discovered was that instead of producing unity, we produced disunity. That’s because of the intensity of the struggle to control the centre and the misuse or abuse of the power.

    “The intensity of the struggle and the abuse of the power is so much that it is not just the political power that was concentrated at the centre; much of the money also went to the centre. So, by our action, we destroyed what is called fiscal federalism. Too much money at the centre increased the struggle for the control of the centre and the incidence of abuse.

    “So, when people struggle and agitate for true federalism, for fiscal federalism, they know what they are talking about. And they are right! That must be changed. Until it is changed, we might not achieve true unity, because the basis on which we did it has proved to be misguided. The unity we thought we would achieve and what we achieved was more disunity than unity, because of the struggle and the abuse.”

     

  • DHQ, 34 navies hold maritime conference

    The Defence Headquarters (DHQ) as well as the navies from 34 countries yesterday converged on Lagos for the maiden International Offshore Patrol Vessel (OPV) Africa Conference.

    It was aimed at stopping piracy in the Gulf of Guinea.

    Participants at the conference said there was need for a joint regional maritime force to address increasing sea crimes in the Gulf of Guinea.

    They noted that the area has become one of the most dangerous maritime domains with piracy and sea robbery threats.

    The participants said regional navies need to work together to achieve success, adding that criminal gangs were taking advantage of their inability to collaborate at the operational and strategic levels to cause trouble in the region.

    The participants noted that the nature of most regional navies to information sharing was also contributing to the challenges in curbing sea crimes.

    According tothem, criminals easily commit offences in one domain and enter another country without trace.

    At the event, which was organised by the Nigerian Navy, in conjunction with International Quality and Productivity Centre (IQPC), were the Minister of State for Defence, Olusola Obada; Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) Admiral Ola Ibrahim; Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Dele Ezeoba and the Chief of Air Staff (CAF) Air Marshall Alex Badeh.

    Obada said the conference protrayed the feasibility of a potent strategy and civil-military synergy,whic is needed to mitigate increasing vulnerabilities in African waters.

    “The economic opportunities that abound in African waters have progressively witnessed increasing interests across a broad spectrum of profitable commercial activities,” she said.

  • Postgraduate College to hold conference

    The National Postgraduate Medical College will hold its eighth Annual Scientific Conference and All-Fellows’ Congress next week.

    The conference is scheduled between August 13 and 17. It will be hosted by the Obafemi Awolowo University Teaching Hospital, Ile-Ife, Osun State.

    According to a statement signed by the Chairman of the Organising Committee, Prof Olusegun Ojo, this year’s conference, with the theme: The impact of Postgraduate medical education on the quality of healthcare delivery in Nigeria, will deliberate on the state of the nation’s health care delivery in the light of the standards of clinical practice worldwide.

    The statement said the conference would attract specialists from every part of the country to address “contemporary matters of common interest” in all fields of medicine, adding that this has become necessary in view of the need to find innovative and sustainable ways of improving the standards of clinical practice in the country.

    “The National College expects to use this conference to further draw attention to contemporary medical challenges confronting our nation, and proffer solutions to them. We also intend to examine the various challenges facing postgraduate medical education in Nigeria, and chart a new course that will ensure that we are leveraging on our various capacities and resources, using all technologies at our disposal, to achieve a better future for our profession and the populace at large,” the statement said.

    Prof Ojo stressed that the conference will also discuss other issues such as health insurance, non-communicable diseases and child health care, as well as deliberate on the need to encourage specialisation among Nigerian doctors.

     

  • Akinrinade calls for national conference

    The Nigerian civil war settled nothing so Nigerians should convoke an assembly to discuss and settle the country’s problems, Lt.-Genl Alani Akinrinade, a retired Chief of Army Staff and civil war hero has said.

    He spoke with top editors, led by Sam Omatseye, the Editorial Board Chairman of The Nation.

    Gen. Akinriande said most of the problems that caused the civil war were still around today, under different names, echoing the title of Brig-Gen. Godwin Alabi-Isama’s Civil War memoirs: The Tragedy of Victory, to be presented to the public on July 18.

    “I think that we have been a bit negligent,” he told the editors in the corroborative interview to confirm some claims by Gen. Alabi-Isama, who was his colleague at the Third Marine Commando sector of the war.

    The Civil War raged from 1967 till 1970.

    “We should have taken stock of what factors caused the war, dissected them one by one, and sit down to resolve them so that such problems never happen again,” he said.

    “It is better we sit down and really resolve this problem in the interest of everybody. Let’s recognise the problems that we have in the country.”

    He recalled the death of Isaac Adaka Boro, the Niger Delta folk hero and leader of the Niger Delta Volunteer Force. The group was the first to highlight federal attention to the region’s environmental challenge and concluded that the cause for which Boro died, after he helped to capture Port Harcourt for the federal troops, had not been realised.

    “What Boro stood for, we have refused to address till tomorrow. But if we don’t address these issues,” he warned, “Nigeria is not going to go very far.”

    Gen. Akinrinade predicted that the Goodluck Jonathan Presidency would not solve the Niger Delta problem anymore than the Olusegun Obasanjo Presidency solved the Yoruba problem.

    “Well, I’m sorry for them,” he said of the Niger Delta political elite. “All they do now is to want to hold the Presidency, which the Yoruba held for eight years and were worse for it. When they hold it for eight years,” he warned, “they would also be worse off for it.”

    •Full text of the interview will be published tomorrow.

     

     

  • Africans have suffered identity crisis, says don at conference

    A scholar at the Department of Language, Linguistic and Philosophy, University of West Indies, Jamaica, Prof. Ishola Ayotunde Bewaji, has said Africans have suffered an identity crisis.

    He said this is responsible for their problems.

    Bewaji spoke yesterday when he delivered a lecture at the Third Toyin Falola International Conference on Africa and the African Diaspora (TOFAC 2013). It was held at the Lead City University (LCU), Ibadan, Oyo State.

    The don noted that identity is critical to every human being, adding that a lot has changed in the last 100 years, which is responsible for the identity crisis.

    Bewaji said human beings, societies, cultures and civilisation are shaped by the past and the present. Said he: “Religion has been used to replace our notion of God. It has left us with the ancestors of Jews. How can the ancestors of Jews leave the Jews to favour us?

    “We are so blessed; this is why we are foolish. A civilised society must have a sense of belonging. There is a sense in which sameness may apply to one. Africans are in awe of the whites in terms of religion.”

    Bewaji, who centred his lecture on identity, memory, memorials and development, noted that memory for human beings is critical, adding that it is to an individual what memorials are to societies.

    He said: “Our sense of memory is now problematic.”

    Oyo State Governor Abiola Ajimobi, who was represented by the Commissioner for Culture and Tourism, Princess Adetutu Ahigbe-Adeyemi, stressed the need for Africans to show commitment to the promotion of the African culture.

    He said the rich African culture faced extinction if stakeholders did not promote African values.

    The governor urged TOFAC to set an agenda for the promotion of the Yoruba culture.

    He said: “I am happy about the idea and the personalities behind this programme.

    “I am expectant that the conference will offer recommendations and suggestions that will be beneficial to Oyo State and the nation.”

    The convener of TOFAC 2013, Prof. Ademola Dasylva, said the forum engaged the minds in matters of concern on Africa and Africans in the diaspora.

    He added: “The objectives are promotion of excellence in Africa and the African diaspora cultural studies. We create awareness and proffer a solution on matters concerning Africa.

    “TOFAC is designed to go round African countries to engender a network of budding scholars and facilitate effective mentorship, global exposure and visibility.”

    The Chancellor, Lead City University, Prof. Gabriel Ogunmola, said the conference was named in honour of Prof. Toyin Falola under the auspices of the Ibadan Cultural Group, Faculty of Arts, University of Ibadan (UI), in recognition of his contributions to the promotion of African values.

    The high point of the occasion was the formal transfer of the TOFAC plaque to LCU by the state Commissioner for Culture and Tourism, Princess Ahigbe-Adeyemi.

    Those honoured with the TOFAC award were Dr. Doyin Aguoru from the University of Ilorin; Dr. Ayo Owolabi, LCU; Dr. Abimbola Asojo, University of Minnesota; and Dr. Olufadekemi Adagbada, Olabisi Onabanjo University.

  • LASU begins conference today

    The Consul-General, United States Consulate, Lagos, Mr Brian Browne and the former Secretary of the National University Commissioning (NUC), Prof Peter Okebukola are among local and international speakers billed for the international education conference at the Lagos State University (LASU), Ojo, Lagos, which starts today.

    Also expected at the five-day conference tagged: “Education and the transformation agenda at nations; hindsight, insight and foresight”, are: President of Nigeria Academy of Education, Prof U.M. Ivowi; ex-Provost of Adeniran Ogunsanya College of Education Dr. Kayode Noah; Lagos State Commissioner for Works Dr. Obafemi Hamzat and first Dean of Facaulty of Education, LASU, Prof P. A. I. Obayan.

    The Dean, Faculty of Education, Prof Rafiu Okuneye, said the theme was chosen after considering on-going talks about transformation in the country, adding that a communiqué will be issued at the end of the conference. Participants, he said, would come from Ghana, Sierra-Leone, South Africa and Gambia.

  • Progressives in UK postpones conference

    The progressives rescue mission, scheduled to hold on June 20 at the Hilton London Dockland, has been postponed.

    Organisers of the conference, the All Nigeria Progressives Merger Group United Kingdom (ANPMGUK), said it would now hold on August 18 at the Hilton London Dockland, UK.

    In a statement by the Head of the Communication Unit, Dr. Ibrahim Emokpaire, the group said the programme was postponed because of “certain events critical to the success or otherwise of the conference that surfaced after we had made our conference date public and the subsequent advice from the All Progressives Congress (APC) leadership in Nigeria, supporting the need to move the conference to August.”

    It said the decision to change the conference date would not affect the group’s determination to remind the international community of its social obligation to Nigeria as an emerging and struggling democracy.

    The group added: “It will not affect our resolve to showcase on the international stage, the efforts of the opposition in Nigeria to change the way the country is governed. It does not shake our faith in the contemporary relevance of the progressive principles in government and what Nigeria and the international community stand to benefit if the political direction of the nation changes in favour of the APC in 2015.”

    While apologising to the invited guests over the postponement, it said: “We remain steadfast in our determination to coalesce and synergise with the progressives in Nigeria to rescue the country from the brink emanating from poor governance, inept political leadership and the absence of a strategic direction or credible roadmap to get it out of the present quagmire.”

  • Convene national conference now, group tells Jonathan

    Convene national conference now, group tells Jonathan

    The call for a national conference to address the various threats against the unity and corporate existence of the country resonated yesterday. It was at the third conference of the Southern Nigeria Peoples Assembly (SNPA) in Lagos.

    Rev. Emmanuel Bolanle Gbonigi set the tone for the renewed call for a national conference in his address. He said this has become imperative.

    On the danger that the likes of Boko Haram insurgency pose for the unity of the country, Rev. Gbonigi said a delay in organising a national conference now may be too expensive.

    He said: “We must also continue to emphasise that the ending of the insurgency in the North will not, by itself alone, bring a sustainable peace to our country. There are many other centres of simmering discontent across our nation; many of them have the potential to burst open as rebellions, if the grievances of the people are not addressed.

    “This is why an all-embracing national dialogue or a national conference has become imperative. Any further delay of this issue may turn out to be very expensive.”

    Second Republic Vice-President Alex Ekwueme also spoke on the same subject.

    He said there is need to ensure that Nigerians have a sense of belonging.

    Dr Ekwueme said: “There is need for us to establish a system which will make every Nigerian have a sense of belonging. As I have always said, as long as any group feels that there is little to lose by going out of Nigeria, there will always be crisis.

    “But once people begin to think that they have everything to lose by not being in Nigeria, then we will have a better Nigeria. It is, therefore, our duty to ensure that all signs of discontent are addressed. We can come together and address our problems.”

    Elder statesman and Ijaw leader Chief Edwin K. Clark urged President Goodluck Jonathan to ensure that he convenes the conference before next January when Nigeria will mark its centenary.

    He said: “ I want to use this occasion to appeal to everybody that we need to respect ourselves. If 2014 will be our centenary, then we must respect one another. We must have a national dialogue or a national conference where we will discuss the basis of our existence in this country. We must appeal to Mr President that this must be done before January 2014.”

    In a goodwill message by the matriarch of the Awolowo dynasty, Mama Hannah Idowu Dideolu Awolowo, which was delivered by her daughter, Dr Tokunbo Awolowo-Dosumu, the elderly woman praised the organisers for “the successful formation of a non-partisan body of eminent political actors to champion the cause of the entire Southern Nigeria on issues of common interest”.

    She described the forum as a “significant milestone in the political evolution of our nation”.

    Also, Oba Okunade Sijuwade, the Ooni of Ife, described the conference as “one other great effort at bringing together the major forces that constitute some of the component parts of our country, Nigeria”.

    Dignitaries at the event include former Anambra State Governor Chukwuemeka Ezeife; former Senate President Adolphus Wabara; former Bayelsa State Governor Diepreye Alamieyeseigha; former Chief of General Staff, Gen. Oladipo Diya (rtd); Chief Olu Falae, Chief Felix Ibru, Chief Richard Lamai, Senator Lee Maeba, Chief Ebenezer Babatope, Dr Fredrick Fasehun and Otunba Gani Adams.

    The Southern Nigeria Peoples Assembly started in July 2012 when it held its first conference in Uyo, the Akwa Ibom State capital. Its second meeting was held in Janury in Enugu.

  • Afenifere Renewal Group calls for national conference

    Afenifere Renewal Group calls for national conference

    Afenifere Renewal group (ARG) yesterday called for a Sovereign National Conference (SNC) to debate the future of the country.

    The group said the rejection of amnesty and dialogue by the dreadful Boko Haram sect has confirmed the group’s commitment to the destabilisation of the fledgling federation.

    ARG Publicity Secretary Mr. Kunle Famoriyo, in a statement in Lagos, pointed out that Boko Haram does not believe in a secular Nigeria.

    He said: “We have consistently warned that offering Amnesty to the fundamentalist group or to any other for that matter, is certainly not the solution to the crisis of nation-state confronting Nigeria.

    “We strongly consider this rejection by Boko Haram as a challenge to the imagination of those in government, and to many of those in the larger society who seem to have subsumed the restiveness in the whole country, particularly in the Northern part as a challenge to the authority of those in government only. We believe that the Boko Haram menace and the restiveness in the various parts of the country, be it the militancy in the Southsouth, the kidnappings and brigandage in the Southeast and the incipient, but growing loud grumblings in the Southwest, are all a manifestation of a terminally diseased nation state.

    “We are of the view that the Boko Haram insurgency should not be treated in isolation from the other outstanding issues that are begging for solution. By all means, Boko Haram is challenging the rest of us and giving assent to what needs to be done urgently, as regards the unresolved national questions tugging at us everyday, and impeding our match to greatness.

    For instance, we in Yorubaland are very clear about the damage that the current Nigerian structure is doing to our quest for development, and we seek a change.

    “The current scenario only reinforces our time-honoured call for a national dialogue. There is no better time than now to convoke a national conference where all the challenges facing Nigeria will be put on the table, discussed and resolved once and for all. We restate again that the time is NOW, unless we are all waiting for the death wish predicted by the United States intelligence agencies a couple of years back to come to pass.