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  • Conference delegates to vote today on 18% derivation formula

    Conference delegates to vote today on 18% derivation formula

    Zonal leaders at the National Conference yesterday took steps to forestall a looming deadlock on the agitation of oil producing states of the Niger Delta for an increase of the 13 per cent derivation principle.

    The zonal leaders engaged in promoting consensus at the conference after two days of intense negotiation, recommended for the adoption of delegates, 18 per cent derivation formula, an increase of five per cent.

    The leaders also recommended for the adoption of delegates, that five per cent from revenue allocation to be made available for solid mineral development.

    Members of the group said they recognized that the country had been over relying on oil, which is a depletive asset hence the need to develop solid minerals.

    The leaders recommended that another five per cent fund for stabilisation, rehabilitation and reconstruction should be set aside principally for the Northeast which will have about 50 per cent, while the remaining 50 per cent would be for Northwest and Northcentral.

    Ambassador Ibrahim Agboola Gambari, announced the recommendations after General Ike Nwachukwu, leader of the Southeast and a member of the group, requested him to brief the house.

    There was a revolt after Gambari’s announcement by some delegates which forced the conference to adjourn abruptly.

    Before handing over to Gambari, Nwachukwu told delegates that he had the honour to brief the house on key issues that had the capacity to divide it.

    He noted that delegates were aware of how emotional and emotive the issues of derivation were, hence zonal leader elected to seek consensus.

    Gambari, who took over from Nwachukwu said apart from the zonal leaders, the membership of the consensus building group was expanded to include labour leaders, women leaders, civil societies and others.

    He noted that for two nights and three days, the group engaged in promoting consensus on way forward with regards to the issue of derivation and related matters.

    He added that after two days and several hours of consultations, “we arrived at, among us, that there will be shift of positions on the part of two poles of positions already taken by our members.”

    The resolution, he noted, was done in the spirit of compromise and the context of putting Nigeria first and “above the interest of our respective constituencies, recognising that status quo is not sustainable.”

    Gambari said, “We have always felt that any time we reduce our discussion to primordial village, state or zonal level, we are bound to run into a lot of disagreement.

    “But when we raise the level to what unites us rather than what divides us, that was the basis of agreement.

    “We began from what was contained in the Committee’s recommendation on Devolution of Power, the way from 13 per cent to 15 per cent to 17 per cent but should not be less than 18 per cent.

    “Another position shifted from very high figure 100 per cent to 50 per cent to 21.5 per cent to 20 per cent and finally to not less than 18 per cent to be reviewed after every 10 years.

    “Therefore, this group adopted a position and recommend to the plenary not less than 18 per cent as the derivation formula.

    “We didn’t leave it there, as a package, we proposed two recommendations, one, for five per cent from revenue allocation to be made available for solid mineral development. We know we have been over relying on oil, which is a depletive asset.

    “The time has come to pay attention to other resources that this country has in abundance and are fairly well spread throughout the country.

    “For the second and perhaps most urgent, we have recommended a new fund to be established which we called, Fund for stabilisation, rehabilitation and reconstruction.

    “Five per cent of revenue is proposed to be allocated to the fund that would be principally for the Northeast which will have about 50 per cent, Northwest and Northcentral.

    “This recommendation, if endorsed, will be reflected in the Revenue Allocation Act.

    “We all know, the peculiarity is now where, the greatest victims of what is happening is not a Northeast problem but a Nigerian problem manifesting itself most traumatically in the Northeast.

    “We have also recommended broadly, a safeguard and mechanism to ensure that monies go to those who need them the most and to also enhance the production of important mineral resources our country is endowed with.

    “Finally, in reaching this conclusions, this group was only motivated by one goal which was just to provide an avenue for reaching consensus rather than voting. We do not believe that voting would really move us forward.

    “Yes, there will be some winners and losers but in so doing, but in so doing, we believe Nigeria may be the biggest loser, which was not why we are here.

    “We realise that several members of the Conference would not be entirely happy with these recommendations, no one is completely happy. But with our recommendations, we produce a situation whereby no one will be completely unhappy, which was precisely what consensus is all about.”

    The revolt was in the form of murmuring as the recommendations seemed not to have gone down well with many delegates.

    Sensing danger, Deputy Chairman of the conference, Prof. Bolaji Akinyemi, said voting would take place on the recommendations today.

    He quickly called for a motion for adjournment apparently to give room for frayed nerves to calm down.

    It is not clear how delegates would vote.

    Apart from Nwachukwu, (South East), Gambari (Northcentral) and Hon. Mohammed Kumalia (North East) other zonal leaders said to have participated in decision included Chief Edwin Clark (South South), Alhaji Ibrahim Coomasie (North West) and Chief Olu Falae (South West).

    Delegates representing Southeastern states described as deceitful, the recommendations.

    In a statement, Chief Goddy Uwazuruke, said the recommendations were uncalled for.

    Uwazurike said if any five per cent would be given, it should be done for all the zones, insisting that it would amount to cheating the Southeast, which is also begging for development.

    “We, the southeast delegates reject the recommendation of five per cent of the national fund to any section. It is uncalled for. This is very deceitful. If they want to allocate any five per cent, it should be for the entire country.

    “You do not need to cheat any particular region. We completely oppose it,” Uwazurike said.

  • Delegates approve mayoral status for FCT original inhabitants

    Delegates approve mayoral status for FCT original inhabitants

    •Ministerial slot too

    Delegates to the National Conference have approved a mayoral status for Abuja indigenes.

    They also endorsed a ministerial slot and two additional Federal constituencies and two additional area councils for the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

    The Conference also approved an FCT Commission for the indigenes and urged the Federal Government to accelerate compensation for owners of seized land in the FCT.

    A statement yesterday in  Abuja by Original Inhabitants Media Adviser, Summer Sambo, said FCT indigenes, under the aegis of the Original Inhabitants Development Association of Abuja (OIDA), hailed the Conference for giving a voice to the aspirations of Abuja natives.

    Sambo noted that the recommendations of the General Ike Nwachukwu and Mohammed Kumalia led-Committee on Political Restructuring and Forms of Government was in tandem with the natives’ desire for a democratic system that allows Abuja indigenesand other Nigerians resident in the city to freely elect leaders who could be directly held accountable.

    The statement said: “A democratically elected Mayor and Deputy Mayor will aid good governance and accountability to the FCT electorate, unlike the present ministerial system that lacks transparency and accountability to the people. It will also put Nigeria on the global map as one of the countries with an elected mayor who runs its capital city in accordance with democratic best practises.

    “The National Conference recommendation gives credence to Abuja natives’ quest for democratisation of governance in the FCT as contained in its memoranda submitted to the National Assembly in 2013 and as earlier proposed by the former Minister of State (FCT), Solomon Ewuga-led Ministerial Committee on FCT Indigene ship, Land and Political Administration in Year 2000.”

    The statement added:  “While expressing hope that the National Assembly and the 36 states’ Houses of Assembly will pass the approved National Conference recommendations as proposed into an amended constitution, the FCT people thank President Goodluck Jonathan for supporting Abuja natives’ demands and for convoking the National Conference to restructure Nigeria.”

    The indigenes also thanked FCT delegates to the National Conference “for a job well done”.

    The statement said the FCT indigenes resolved to continue their agitation for “two additional senatorial districts, two House of Representatives constituencies and eight additional area councils due to population explosion in Abuja, which has made the territory to be at par with some states in the country”.

     

  • How Northern, Southern delegates parted ways

    How Northern, Southern delegates parted ways

    From Abuja, Assistant Editor, Onyedi Ojiabor and Dele Anofi, report that some of the recent recommendations have become the source of division between northern and southern delegates

    The long awaited break-up of the ongoing National Conference may be looming as the bickering and power play between southern and northern delegates have blown open.

    Northern delegates have already rejected resolutions adopted by the conference on Thursday, July 3rd 2014 on the grounds that some of the thematic issues adopted were allegedly lifted from a document not prepared by the Conference Committee on Political Restructuring and Forms of Government.

    Monday and Tuesday sessions of the conference slated for the consideration and adoption of recommendations of the Conference Committee on Devolution of Power, insiders said, would be the make or mar sessions of the conference.

    Insiders also said that Wednesday July 9th, 2014 scheduled for the adoption of modalities of treating conference resolutions, may lead to fisticuff unless carefully managed.

    Southern and Northern delegates have been labouring to paper their relationship under the platform of the “Consensus Bridge Building Group (CBBG)” an amorphous group of leaders and elders in the conference who elected to seek common ground on sensitive issues before the conference.

    The Nation gathered that the CBBG, which had its inaugural meeting on June 22, 2014, was convened by Chief Raymond Dokpesi in his Asokoro Abuja DAAR Communications Complex.

    The CBBG group included leaders of delegation to the conference, Chief Edwin Clark (South-South), Chief Olu Falae (South-West), General Ike Nwachukwu (South-East), Alhaji Ibrahim Coomassie (North-West), Professor Ibrahim Gambari (North-Central), Air Commodore Idongesit Nkanga and others.

    Coomassie, The Nation learnt, did not attend a series of meetings held by the group but mandated Professor Auwalu Yadudu (North-West) to lead three others to the consultative meetings.

    All seemed to be going well for the CBBG until Yadudu wrote the group to say that northern members of the select group were withdrawing from further participation in the group.

    The undated letter, addressed to “High Chief Raymond A. Dokpesi, The Convener, Leaders of Zones Harmonization Committee, National Conference” was signed by Prof A H Yadudu with the title “ Re: Terms of agreement of the six geo-political zones.”

    It claimed that the CBBG, with the tacit support of the leadership of the conference had formulated a hidden agenda to smuggle in a new constitution.

    The northern delegates accused the Deputy Chairman of the conference, Prof. Bolaji Akinyemi of lobbying northern delegates to support a new constitution.

    Akinyemi vehemently denied the accusation saying that he merely made moves to bring two opposing groups at the conference to “start talking before we have a major issue at our hands.”

    Yadudu in the memo said “Recall that this group (CBBG) has been convened on the direction of the leaders of the geo-political zones to look into the recommendations made by the committees set up by the Conference with a view to cultivating the consensus of all delegates around contentious issues so as to facilitate their smooth passage at plenary.

    “We have reviewed the above titled document. Following this, I have been directed by the leaders of our respective states and other critical stakeholders to bring to you the following as our response to both the idea of consensus building and content of what has been circulated.

    “Our delegations welcome and remain available to participate in any consensus building process or effort that is conducted under an environment of mutual respect, which is genuinely inclusive and carried out in good faith.

    “It is well known that the document circulated and the ‘agreements’ ‘conclusions’ reached have been drawn up and vigorously canvassed by some zones in concert to the exclusion of delegates from our states and other vital stakeholders.

    “We view them more like ‘terms of surrender’ than proposals for discussion.

    “We observe that the document conspicuously contains many vital issues not at all discussed or even recommended by any committee. It seeks for anticipatory approval for many other recommendations not yet considered and, rather curiously, ignored issues in respect of which the Conference has come to a decision on at plenary.

    “It is evident that authors of the document have, without any consultation and in total disregard to sensibilities of other critical stakeholders, gone ahead to determine what number of states to create in Nigeria and even generously assigned named states to geo-political zones.

    “We find it curious and would need an official explanation or clarification as to how the said document contains the official emblem of the Conference.

    ‘We will take steps to seek to find out from the leadership of the Conference whether or not it has sanctioned the ‘agreement’ and ‘conclusions’ contained therein and under which Order within our Procedure Rules they derived such a mandate or authority.”

    Yadudu’s memo concluded by stating that “In view of the foregoing observations and reservations we have expressed regarding the on-going consensus building process, I wish to state, with regrets, that our representatives have been directed to take no further part in the process.”

    Dokpesi who responded to Yadudu’s letter with a memo dated June 24, 2014, said he was left speechless by the contents of the letter.

    He noted that Yadudu had been trying to break up the conference since the inauguration of the talk shop.

    He added that the alleged offensive document was a working document reproduced verbatim from committees’ recommendations to facilitate conference deliberations.

    Dokpesi stated in his response, which he copied to leaders of the zones at the conference: “I write to acknowledge receipt of your undated and unreferenced letter but received today, Tuesday, June 24,2014 with thanks.

    “I must confess that the contents of the letter left me speechless. There is obviously a misunderstanding and miscarriage of facts in arriving at your conclusions.

    “Please recall that during our inaugural meeting held on Sunday, June 24 at the DAAR Communications Complex in Asokoro, whilst discussing the modalities of building consensus on the most sensitive issues that we are yet to discuss at the conference, it was agreed by all members including your goodself that we review all the reports of the Conference Committees still outstanding, especially the following: National Security, Politics and Governance, Political Parties and Electoral Matters, Political restructuring and Forms of Government and Devolution of Power.

    “The recommendations of these Committees constitute over 98 per cent of the issues tabulated in the document titled ‘Terms of agreement of the six geo-political zones’ and were reproduced verbatim.

    “The remaining two per cent are the known objections by groups of persons to various committee recommendations. I expect to have more views during the discussions of our committee.

    “You will also observe that the covering massage I sent by e-mail to all the nominated members of the committee clearly stated that it is a working document to facilitate our deliberations.

    “The columns for the positions of geo-political zones were conspicuously blank.

    “Please be irrevocably assured that there are no agreements and conclusions reached by any zone or group of states before now. Our mandate is to harmonise all unknown views and opinions before the plenary of the conference discusses the committee reports.

    “On the issue of creation of states, please let me state unequivocally that the committee on Political Restructuring and Forms of Government received over 40 applications.

    “Discussions at various informal fora clearly indicate that this Conference should recommend some states for creation based on the criteria outlined in the Committee’s report.

    “Some of these demands have been pending since the Second Republic in 1981. I take absolute responsibility for introducing it for discussion at our Leaders of Zone Harmonization Committee meeting so that we can arrive at some consensus/agreement on the way forward.

    “As regards the use of the emblem of the Conference on the cover of the working document, please permit me to state that the leadership of the Conference has absolutely nothing to do with the contents of the document.

    “As you very well know, the Leaders of Zones Harmonization Committee were constituted by Chief E. K. Clark, CON; Chief Olu Falae, CFR; Gen. Ike Nwachukwu (rtd); Prof. Jerry Gana, Alhaji Ibrahim Coomassie, GCON, in the presence of Prof. Ibrahim Gambari and I.

    “The Leaders agreed to nominate three delegates each from the geo-political zones in order to keep the list compact.

    “I have the list of the nominees to the harmonization committee by zones and not states.

    “The same group mandated me to convene the meeting and nominated the members of the body from the six geo-political zones.

    “I therefore tender unreserved apologies if you got the impression that it is an official Conference document.

    “Please permit me therefore, to plead most fervently in the interest of our beloved country to request you and leaders of northern Nigeria to rescind the decision to ask representatives from the three geo-political zones in the North to withdraw from deliberations aimed at building consensus on major national issues at this Conference.”

    Our correspondent gathered that Southern leaders at the conference have scheduled a series of meetings to discuss how to deal with attempts by some delegates to break up the conference.

    But a northern conferee told our correspondent that the conference leadership “must cause delegates to withdraw some of the controversial resolutions adopted on Thursday if they still want us to continue to participate in this conference.”

    He noted, for instance, that the north is not comfortable with the liberalization of policing in the country.

    He also said that the north is not comfortable with the resolution that states should have their own constitution ditto the resolution that specification be made in the constitution on how to conduct referendum in the country.

  • Conference delegates back state creation

    •Want Local councils removed from Exclusive List

    Delegates to the  National Conference backed yesterday the agitation for creation of more states.

    They were, however, divided over whether or not to remove local government councils from the Exclusive Legislative List and place it in the Concurrent Legislative List.

    No resolution had been taken on the issues but most delegates who contributed to the debate of the  committee report on political restructuring and forms of government saw creation of more states as one sure way to address the problem of imbalance in the country.

    A particular mention was made by most speakers of the necessity to carve out one more state for the Southeast geo-political zone as a balancing measure.

    Some delegates also supported the proposal for power rotation  to create the sense of belonging in all parts of the country.

    Former Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Chief Bayo Ojo  noted that the quest for power rotation in the country was as a result of the denial of minority rights.

    Ojo said that following  the recommendation of the Committee on power rotation, most of the quest for more states and self determination by ethnic minority groups has been due largely to marginalisation and domination that characterised the political relations among the various groups and component units at the state and local government levels.

    He said: “The failure of previous constitutions, including the 1999 to provide for power rotation at different levels has led to deep sense of alienation and bitterness that can not be easily assuaged by mere legal positions that are not entrenched in the constitution.

    “This obvious  lacuna has resulted in a situation where many ethnic groups in most States are entirely excluded from taking part in government contrary to the provisions of Section 14 (3) and (4) of 1999 constitution but it is also the primary cause of political and social instability at all levels of government.

    “It’s a step in the right direction with the committee’s recommendation that power rotation should be entrenched in political party’s manifestoes but that is not enough.

    “To make it lasting, a new subsection 5 should be added to Section 14 of 1999 constitution that the Office of the President shall rotate between the north and the south, the office of governor to rotate among the three Senatorial Districts and office of Chairman of Local council to rotate between the Local governments.

    “In addition the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) should divide the Local government into two or three equal parts for the purpose of the contest for the position of Chairman.”

    Chief Sola Ebiseni, delegate on the platform of Local government Administration from Ondo State drew applause from majority of the delegates when he highlighted what he described as the injustice of local government creation by the military.

    Ebiseni gave facts and figures to back up his argument that the best way for the country to go was to empower states by making local government matters residual issue.

    He said: “With the present constitution, no new Local government can be created, Lagos a State tried it, it was unsuccessful. Any attempt to create Local government through the National Assembly as dictated by the constitution will amount to a nullity.

    “The implication is that even those who are clamouring for minority rights will never get local government created for them.

    “The only problem that people have, in my opinion, is that the list of local government contained in the 1999 constitution be removed and empowered the States.

    “I want to say that the removal does not a mean scrapping of Local of Local government but it is intended to cure the ambiguities, injustice and inequity in the constitution as we have it today.

    “If I may state this, the South West geo political zone, Lagos State was created in 1967 with a population of almost 15 million people, this constitution gave Lagos 20 Local government Areas.

    “Osun was created in 1991 with a population of about three million people, this constitution gave Osun 30 Local government Areas.

    Katsina state was excised from Kaduna, that still had more Local government than Katsina, yet Kaduna was left with 23 Local governments but Katsina having 34.

    “The combination of Local governments in Kano, Jigawa and Katsina is more than the entirety of Local governments in the South East.

    Bauchi is the most populous State in the North East, but today it has 20 Local government, while Borno with less population has 27.

    “In the North Central, Benue has the largest population but not less than three States in the region has more Local government than Benue.

    “In the South South, Rivers State has the largest population with 23 Local government while Akwa Ibom has 32.

    “We cannot, as a country, allow this kind of injustice to thrive by people who are romancing with the past.

    “What this Committee has recommended on Local government is a national consensus, There was nothing mentioned about Local government in the 1963 constitution.

    “Local government issue is residual, it belong to the State. It was the same recommendation by the 2005 Political Reform Conference. It was the 1979 and 1999 military constitutions that are imposing this arbitrariness on our nation.

    “This Conference will not address the massive injustice done to the minority groups of this country by not allowing the States, who know the geographical and biographical composition of their areas to handle local government affairs.”

    Former Imo State Governor, Achike Udenwa, appreciated the recommendation of the  committee for addressing the imbalance in state creation especially the proposal one satte should be created in the South East geo-political zone.

  • Delegates vote to phase out pilgrims’ welfare boards

    Delegates vote to phase out pilgrims’ welfare boards

    National Conference delegates yesterday adopted a proposal for the gradual phase-out of pilgrims’ welfare boards.

    Deputy Chairman Prof Bolaji Akinyemi said over 350 delegates endorsed the proposal, following wide consultations.

    The conference also adopted a recommendation for the establishment of a Religious Equity Commission (RECOM) with branches in every state.

    Delegates could not reach a consensus on the issues last week when the report of the Conference Committee on Religion was considered and adopted.

    The issues divided delegates along religious lines: most Christians supported scrapping of the boards; majority of Moslems opposed the proposal.

    The division forced the conference leadership to suspend decision on the matter pending further consultations.

    Co-Chairman of the Committee on Religion, Alhaji Nurudeen Lemu, took time yesterday to explain why delegates should support the committee’s proposal.

    Delegates agreed that in place of the pilgrims’ welfare boards, the Federal Government should provide normal consular services for pilgrims through the Federal Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Nigerian foreign missions in the relevant destinations.

    The conference, last week, adopted the recommendation that the apex religious organizations in Nigeria be allowed to handle all matters relating to pilgrimage through Pilgrims Commissions duly managed by them under a law to be passed by the National Assembly which will regulate their functions and protect pilgrims.

    Delegates also accepted that in consonance with Section 10 of the Constitution 1999, government at all levels should not use public funds to sponsor any religious pilgrimage for any category of citizens and government.

    The recommendation that government should discontinue the sponsorship of official government delegations on any pilgrimage, in consonance with Section 10 of the 1999 Constitution, was also adopted.

    On the establishment of RECOM with branches in every state, the committee proposed and it was accepted that the mandate of the body would include advocacy, enforcement of constitutional religious rights, such as freedom of religion, freedom to acquire land for religious purposes and others within the limits of the Constitution.

    Lemu explained that the recommendation of his committee was that the government should no longer sponsor pilgrims, adding that there should be an organisation to handle the welfare of pilgrims.

    The delegate said the committee reasoned that there should be government structure to handle the large number of pilgrims, particularly Muslim pilgrims.

    He added: “We acknowledge the emergence of one of the most progressive Emirs in the country; we recognise that we have a very knowledgeable and exposed Secretary-General for the Nigerian Supreme Islamic Affairs (NSCIA).

    “We feel that this is the right time to begin the transition where government should no longer sponsor pilgrims. But we strongly believe that there should be a government body to handle the large number of pilgrims, particularly Muslim pilgrims.”

    Lemu said the proposal for the creation of RECOM should not be seen as the establishment of more government agencies, especially when the committee also recommended a stop to government sponsorship of pilgrims.

    The delegate pleaded with his colleagues to adopt the proposals, adding that the recommendations might not be immune to abuse “but we strongly believe that this is the best way to go”.

    Akinyemi noted that to be assured that delegates agreed with the proposals, the Conference Secretariat asked for evidence.

    “I am happy to announce that over 350 delegates endorsed the recommendations,” Akinyemi said.

    Before the recommendations were adopted, Hajiya Bilikisu Bello Aliyu, from Zamfara State, moved for the adoption of the proposals; Chief Mike Ahamba, from Imo State, seconded.

    The proposals were overwhelmingly adopted by delegates through a voice vote.

  • Delegates vote for ‘Character and Equal Opportunity Commission’

    Delegates vote for ‘Character and Equal Opportunity Commission’

    The National Conference yesterday voted in support of the proposed  creation of a Federal Character and Equal Opportunity Commission.

    Delegates said the new commission, which would be merged with the existing Federal Character Commission (FCC), became necessary to take care of minorities and persons with disability.

    Alhaji Nurudeen Lemu proposed the new commission and was seconded by Festus Okoye.

    Prof A. B. C. Nwosu opposed the proposal on the ground that the FCC was strong enough to take care of minorities and persons with disability.

    The former Education Minister noted that the intendments of the proposed Equal Opportunity Commission were adequately covered by the FCC as presently established.

    He insisted that it would be wrong for another body to be smuggled into the FCC, which was included in the Constitution after decades of hard work.

    Senator Iyorchia Ayu disagreed with Nwosu.

    Ayu argued that if created, the Equal Opportunity Commission would be beneficial to the minorities and persons with disability.

    The opposing views were put to vote and delegates agreed that Equal Opportunity Commission should be created and merged with the FCC.

    Delegates voted against the recommendation of the Committee on Public Service that the minimum wage of civil servants be increased to N40,000.

  • Niger Delta delegates reject 13% derivation

    Niger Delta delegates at the National Conference yesterday rejected a resolution by the Committee on devolution of Power to retain the controversial 13 per cent derivation principle.

    The delegates also described agitation by northern delegates for the scrapping of Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), Niger Delta Ministry and amnesty programme as laughable.

    Most southern delegates at the committee were said to have been overwhelmed by the insistency of their northern counterparts to succumb to the decision to retain 13 per cent derivation principle.

    Northern delegates in the committee, an insider said, “demanded and insisted on the reduction of 13 per cent derivation.”

    But some Niger Delta delegates who are not members of the committee told The Nation that “we are waiting for the issue to come up at plenary.”

    A member of the committee, Annkio Briggs, however, expressed disappointment over the resolution to retain 13 per cent derivation principle.

    Briggs, an activist from Rivers State, said the delegates from Niger Delta came to the conference to make a presentation on ownership of the resources in their zone.

    The activist noted that she was disappointed that those who were not bringing anything to the sharing table of the country were the people dictating the direction of issues at the conference.

    She said that the argument that the status quo of 13 per cent derivation should remain while funds should be made available for the development of other mineral resources in other states is preposterous.

    The position of Niger Delta people, she said, was that derivation should go up to 50 per cent.

    She said: “Our position is that derivation should go up to 50 per cent. What we expected was that we will discuss the position of 50 per cent. If you don’t agree to the position of 50 per cent, what is it that you agree to? Is it 35 per cent or 25 per cent derivation?

    “We expected that we should agree on something so that we graduate upward over time, but those things were not discussed.

    “We sat down and what was clear to me was that people were sitting in groups and making decisions. I refused to agree with the decisions and the major decision was that we should allow 13 per cent derivation status quo to remain.

    “This is based on the presumption that certain amount of money will be invested in other mineral resources in other states and when money is invested in other mineral resources in other states, it will still remain 13 per cent derivation principle.

    “But I cannot lose sight of the fact that until those other minerals are exploited, the only exploration and exploitation that is going on is oil and gas.

    “I refuse to go back to Niger Delta and tell my people that I brought back the status quo of 13 per cent derivation principle and that this status quo is based on the decision of people that are bringing nothing to the table.

    “I, therefore, wish to say that after spending two to three months here that what we are going to take back to the Niger Delta is that 13 per cent derivation principle remains and that the decision was taken at the whims and caprices and the arrogance position that is playing out here.

    “This position is definitely not in the interest of Nigeria and definitely not in the interest of the Niger Delta. And I refuse to accept it on behalf of my people.”

    Asked what steps she wanted to take to redress the alleged injustice, Brigss said that whatever action Niger Delta people decide to take she would join them.

    Reminded that perhaps Niger Delta people ought to be happy that they escaped with the retention of 13 per cent, she thundered that there was nothing to be happy about.

    She said: “I don’t know the Niger Delta people you are referring to. If you are referring to the Niger Delta people that include me, I tell you by my reaction you can see that there is nothing like happiness in what has happened here.

    “I am not happy, my people are not happy and we cannot be happy. It is not about happiness. It is not about what anybody thinks here, it is about justice and it is about doing the right thing.

    “To say that 13 per cent should remain in Nigeria of today is not doing the right thing in this country. We have to be very careful what we expect people to bring when we are bringing absolutely nothing.”

    On the agitation by northern delegates for the restoration of onshore/offshore oil dichotomy, she said that the bridge would be crossed at the appropriate time.

    She said: “It is arguable but we will cross that bridge when we get there. But I want to point it to you that Nigeria as a country is laying claim to the waters through the fact that we the oceanic people, we the people of the riverine area are in Nigeria.

    “If we are not in Nigeria today Nigeria cannot lay claim to the area. So it a privilege to Nigeria that we are in Nigeria because that is the only way they are laying claim to the waters.”

  • Delegates seek solution to religious crisis, insecurity

    Delegates seek solution to religious crisis, insecurity

    Delegates at the National Conference shifted deliberations on the inauguration speech delivered by President Goodluck Jonathan, dwelling on hair-raising issues that are of national significance.

    A delegate on the platform of the Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (SCIA), Alhaji Nurudeen Lemu, pulled the hall to its feet in a standing ovation, which was a breach of the Conference Standing Rules, when he combined sound logic and eloquence to deliver a message that touched on the need for religious harmony in Nigeria.

     Lemu told the delegates that God is neither a religious nor ethnic bigot and that the problem with Nigerians is that both Muslims and Christians always over-estimate their virtues while down-playing the goodness in others. He almost drew tears in the hall when he condemned both the murdering and the murderers of Christians and Muslims in the country under the cover of religion. He said, “as a delegate and as a people representing people of faith in God from Islamic perspective, one thing we believe is that God will protect the community that stands for justice even if they are not Muslims and God will not protect the community that goes contrary to justice even if they call themselves Muslims.

     ”God is not a religious bigot. He is not a male chauvinist. He is not an ethno-centric tribalist. God is not the oppressor of anyone. God is with those who care, those who want for others those things they want for themselves. One tendency for people who claim to follow a religion is to slide into the position of believing that they are better than the others. We over-estimate our virtues and under-estimate the goodness in others. The tendency is for us to be spiritually arrogant and forget that others are people like us. And if you are in other person’s position, you probably will be like someone else.

    “As delegates from the Supreme Council of Islamic Affairs, we condemn the murder and the murderers of all Christians; we condemn the murder and the murderers of all Muslims; not because they are Christians or Muslims but because they are all human beings—creatures of God. There is no compulsion in religion. We all own Nigeria. We all belong here. And we all have rights to self-determination. We should respect that right and do onto others what we will do onto ourselves.

    “Every ethnic group is an oppressed minority somewhere. Every majority or settlers is an indigene somewhere. In one way or the other, we are all settlers. We just don’t remember where we came from and why we came. But ultimately, we are all visitors to this planet; from God we came and to Him we will return. As Muslim delegates, we come against the exploitation of religion and religious sentiments; we come against stereotyping, stigmatizing and dehumanization of each other. We come against the use of religion as a political decoy and distraction from the critical things that bedevil our nation. I pray that at the end of this conference, we will all grow in our humanity and respect for each other.”

    Mrs. Yemi Mahmoud-Fasominu touched on a seemingly controversial issue, calling for the establishment of a special court where issues of rape and other criminal acts against women would be addressed. She went further to demand that a law setting up such a court should specify that rape convicts be castrated, ostensibly to serve as a deterrence to others. At this point, the hall exploded in both cheers and jeers, depending on which side of the divides delegates found themselves.

    Zamani Lekwot, a retired general, did a quick analysis of the security situation in the country, especially regarding the murderous insurgency in Northern Nigeria, and concluded that the creation needed what he called a standing frontier force to protect the Nigerian borders.

    Recommending functions to the proposed force, he said the force should be saddled with the task of curbing illegal movements in and out of the country, and most importantly halting with military precision any infiltration by insurgents and other criminals. Ambassador Yusuf Mamman said the violence in the North that has led to several deaths and loss of property presents an ideological challenge that has defied the use of military force, urging the conference to find a way out of the logjam. On education, he said beautiful as the issue of the Almajari school concept may be, government should de-secularise education by bringing the Almajari education in the mainstream curriculum instead of giving it a special treatment.

    Ambasador Hassan Adamu, in his comments, said the Conference presents a good opportunity to talk rather than to fight and declared his belief that something positive will emerge from the Conference. He said the Conference should focus on job creation, peace and security, elimination of corruption at all levels, justice, patriotism, qualitative education; and security of residents in every part of the country, adding that “Nigeria is waiting for us to offer solutions.” Another delegate, Adeniyi Akintola, said it was pathetic that whenever the issue of corruption was being discussed, those who should be in jail for corrupt practices are the most vocal. He disclosed that if government were to compare the assets of public office holders between when they entered public service and at the time of departure, all of public office holders, including former state governors, would be in jail. Akintola said sometimes, public officers declared in their assets form what they do not have and on entering public office would begin stealing desperately to meet the target earlier declared, adding that there should be a way where assets and tax payments should be put side by side as a way of checking fraudulent declarations.

    A motion by Dr Bello Mohammed asked the Federal Government to take drastic action against people engaged in the act of kidnapping and other violence. He drew the attention of the Conference to last week’s abduction of Chief Edwin Clark’s son and prayed that the Conference should send a letter of felicitation to the 86 year-old delegate after the release of the son last weekend. Engineer Adefemi Kila, who seconded the motion, said the ineffectiveness of the local government administration in the country is to be blamed for the high rise in crime rate nationwide. He said, “These kidnappers, these Boko Haram members, are not spirits; they live with us. They can be identified.” He called on the federal government to do more in the area of security, adding that “our lives also are not safe.”

    On the issue of local government status, Nasiru Ibrahim Jinju said it was high time government ensured, in practical terms, the autonomy of local governments. So far, he said, state governors have held council areas by the neck by not allowing them to function independently. He explained that most of the security problems faced by the nation could be traced to non-functionality of local government councils. Ibrahim Khaleel was of similar opinion, saying that insurgency is a product of the bastardisation of the local government structure which has made it impossible for people at the grassroots to feel the impact of governance.

    While Professor Sambo Junaido from Sokoto appealed for speedy implementation of the resolutions that would be arrived at in the course of the Conference, Is’haq Modibbo Kawu of the Nigerian Guild of Editors (NGE) said the poor economic management is the main cause of Nigeria’s problems; he described a situation where a state governor is richer than the state based on his ability to steal. Remi Kuku called on every Nigerian to repent, saying if Nigerians were to love one another as their religions teach them, there would be no room for bickering and religious enmity. Mohammed Kumalia reminded the delegates that the spirit of the speech made by Jonathan was for everyone to put aside their prejudices and parochial feelings and talk Nigeria instead of their ethnic groups. He added that if representations at the Conference were through election, it would have been impossible for most of the delegates to have been there to discuss issues of national importance as they affect their different groups.

    Ledum Mitee from Rivers State reminded the Conference of the need to attach practical solutions to all the issues raised and for government to act in accordance with the wishes of the people. He told a story of how he met some Niger Delta youths during an awareness campaign and confronted them on why they were breaking pipelines only to be told that since all government plans are always in the pipeline, they were breaking the pipelines to bring them out. Bello Mohammed, in his contribution, said there was nobody in the North who does not know about the environmental problems being faced by the Niger Delta people; and that no Southerner could claim ignorance of existing poverty and illiteracy in the North. According to him, what is required is for both groups to agree on solutions to existing problems both in the North and in the South instead of behaving as though only one part of the country has problems. A 24-year old girl, Yadomah Bukar Mandara, who said her father died exactly one year ago, moved the hall with her presentation when she spoke concerning the rise of insurgency in the North. She said, “So many children have turned orphans. So many women have turned widows. We must unite to fight our common enemies. Our common enemies know no Christian. Our common enemies know no Muslim. Let us unite against them.”

  • Confab: Delegates protest withdrawal of power

    Confab: Delegates protest withdrawal of power

    Some delegates at the ongoing National Conference have protested the decision of their principal officers to withdraw the power of committee members to select their chairmen and deputies.

    Addressing newsmen before the plenary on Thursday, Mr Abdulwaheed Omar, the Spokesperson of the aggrieved delegates, said thwarting a decision already agreed by delegates was not acceptable.

    “We are protesting against something that is being brought through the back door; the decision for the committee to select their chairmen and deputies at the committee level .

    “This decision was concluded by delegates at the plenary, only for it to resurface through the Committee of 50, who are only mandated to talk about the voting pattern.

    “The leadership of the conference is using the Committee of 50 to come up with something they were not originally mandated to discuss and we are saying this is the beginning of a dangerous pattern.’’

    Omar declared that if the trend was allowed to continue, there might be such developments in the course of the conference, which might not achieve the desired outcome of the conference.

    He said “we are afraid if we go by this trend, only God knows what other things will be manipulated again in the same way.

    “We are saying we have to practice democracy and we are demanding that this decision be reversed so that we will go back to the popular decision.

    “In 2005, it was the committees that selected their leaders, why will it be different this time?.’’

    It would be recalled that on March 20, an amendment to the Rule was proposed at the conference that committee members should select their chairmen and deputy chairmen from among themselves.

    Arguments for and against the proposal were canvassed by many delegates and when the conference Chairman, Retired Justice Idris Kutigi put it into a voice vote, the “ayes” had it.

    However, the leadership of the conference, on Monday, rescinded the power it gave the delegates to appoint their chairmen and vice chairmen at the committee level.

    This followed a motion by Hon. Muhammed Kumalia (North-East) that the position taken on Order XII of the Draft Rules of Procedure be rescinded.

    The Rule had proposed that the Chairman, in consultation with the Vice-chairman and the Secretary, should choose the committee chairmen and secretaries

     

  • Save Nigeria, cleric appeals to delegates

    Save Nigeria, cleric appeals to delegates

    Anglican Bishop of Abakaliki Diocese Ebonyi State, Bishop Monday Nkwoagu has urged delegates to the National Conference to be ready to make some sacrifices in order to save the country or risk its unity in the nearest future.

    Bishop Nkwoagu, who spoke in Nnewi while addressing journalists, warned the delegates to the national conference to be committed and patriotic.

    He said: “We have been suffering from social and religious injustices in this country. What is happening in this country, particularly in the Northern parts is getting out of control. See how people are being slaughtered everyday in thousands as if they are not human beings.

    “A lot of people are being marginalised. For instance, the South-eastern part of the country is the only region that has five states while others have six. It appears as if there is insecurity in the country but these are caused by fellow Nigerians.

    “There are no employment opportunities, crime rate is high and high cost of living is on the increase, when God has endowed us with abundant human and material resources.

    On those who opposed the convening of the conference, Bishop Nkwoagu said: “Remember I said in the beginning, may God help us so that we may not break up, even though the President has spelt out the modalities and rules including secluded areas that are no go areas that will not, in any way, solve our problems.

    “The country will not stand as one unified nation if nothing is done to address the imbalances in the system.

    “Of course, there is no end in sight to the marginalisation, economic and social injustice as well as religious intolerance among different ethnic groups in Nigeria. What the United States of America speculated about Nigeria’s break-up in 2015 may be inevitable.

    “You know we have a problem of leadership, especially among the Igbo nation. This is the more reason we are marginalised and under-developed. We lack federal infrastructural development in the Southeast zone. For instance, look at the issues of Enugu-Onitsha Expressway and the Second Niger Bridge.

    “Our colonial masters did not consider the interest of these ethnic groups with different cultures and traditions during the 1914 amalgamation exercise. What they did was to lump us together in a way that will benefit them and this has been the bane of our problems.

    “The representatives of the Igbo nation at the conference should know that their nomination was a challenge and therefore should be prepared to defend our common front instead of going there to negotiate for money. Anything contrary to this will perpetuate our continued marginalisation.”