Growing insecurity in parts of the country and the need to tackle corruption was yesterday the subject of debate at the National Conference in Abuja.
It was the third allotted day for delegates to comment on the inaugural address given by President Goodluck Jonathan on March 17.
Besides insecurity and corruption, delegates also said urgent steps should be taken to restructure the country. Alhaji Magaji Dambatta, who came on the platform of Northwest geopolitical zone, said the conference should devise ways and means to energise the country to fight corruption. Dambatta, after tracing the problems facing the country to unbridled corruption, insisted that until the country was able to fight corruption to a standstill, not much would be achieved in terms of development.
Former Deputy Speaker, House of Representatives, Hon. Chibudom Nwuche, agreed with him. According to Nwuche, corruption is a hydra-headed monster which Nigerians must confront frontally “if we are to break out of the circle of instability, poverty and disease that we currently find ourselves.”
Nwuche, who was nominated for the conference on the platform of House of Representatives Forum, said that governments at all levels must show the will and capacity to fight corruption while urging Nigerians to support government in the fight against corruption. He therefore, enjoined the conference to focus on how to address the menace of corruption because “it is the underlying cause of all our problems and all our difficulties.”
He added: “We should not discriminate, whoever is involved in corruption should be sanctioned and brought to book following due process of the law. We can trace many of our problems to corruption. When people kidnap, they kidnap because they have no employment. Therefore, we need to employ people. Because few persons have cornered the national resources, other people are left in abject poverty. In their response to poverty, they commit crime, and they cut corners all in an effort to survive.
“If we fight corruption, we will address the symptoms that we find, symptoms like criminality which manifests in kidnapping, armed robbery, thievery. A top official of the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) said that Nigerians have $400 million abroad. This is stolen money. So, if that kind of money is available in the system, it will address unemployment, child mortality, women who are dying during pregnancy and other healthcare issues. Most importantly, it will address the problem of infrastructure, power, and road. So, we must fight corruption.”
For Francis Doukpolagha (Bayelsa State), corruption is traceable to the grassroots, saying it begins from the home with manifestations in form of impatience and undue influence.
Ben Dantoye, a youth representative delegate, wants invocation of capital punishment to deal with corruption. Dantoye also said that the structure of the country should be looked at while religion should be downplayed. Hajiya Diye Bala, a delegate from Niger State, lamented that corruption is almost swallowing everybody, urging that steps be taken to tackle corruption before it destroys the country. Chief Charles Edosomwan, a delegate from Edo State, traced the roots of corruption in the country to faulty structure of the country. He said that a situation where too much power is in the centre breeds inefficiency. Major General Geofrey Ejiga (Benue State), who said that corruption has grown into billion and approaching trillion, maintained that corrupt public officers should not be spared.
Mr. Femi Falana (SAN) noted that when the Campaign for Democracy (CD) was asking for a sovereign national conference to address the problems of the country, it was rejected. Falana, who representscivil society organisations, noted that, “Jonathan’s National Conference provides the country a window of opportunity for us to find why majority of our people are poor and why a tiny minority of Nigerians smile to the bank. The country is collapsing. Many of the people who contributed to the mess are here. They must tell us that it is their fault.
“There are kidnappers. Terrorists have taken over parts of Nigeria. Nigerians are being killed in their numbers on a daily basis. The members of the ruling class are the group that engages in pen robbery, which is worse than armed robbery. Let us advise President Jonathan that he still has over a year to put Nigeria in the right place. Who says that the country cannot break? A minister has just made N700 million from helpless Nigerians. It is the worst case of robbery, extorting money from jobless Nigerians. Nigerians have rights, the right for employment and others which must be protected. You cannot have a free and prosperous country if we are tied to the apron strings of the International Monetary Fund (IMF). We must tell IMF that we want to run a country of our own.”
Prof. Godini Darah, a Delta State delegate, referred to what he called the sudden emergence of subsidy billionaires and Subsidy Re-investment and Empowerment Programme (SURE-P) billionaires that must be checked in the interest of the country. Darah described the presidential inaugural address as “inspirational,” but regretted “the squandering of the resources of the Niger Delta region to develop other parts of the country.”
Elder Bulus Dareng, a North Central delegate lamented the increasing spate of insecurity in parts of the country. He also bemoaned a situation where most appointment into offices are not advertised. Urging President Jonathan to elect to deal what those who regard themselves as “sacred cows or untouchables,” the Plateau State-born delegate said Jonathan must develop the political will to implement recommendations of the conference.
For Dr. Sale Dauda, a Northeast delegate, the country, especially the North East geo-political zone, is in turmoil. Tracing the crisis in the Northeast to failure of governance in states and local governments, Dauda said that the failure of governance at the state and local governments led youths in the zone to take up arms against their neighbours. He lamented a situation where more than one million people have been displaced from their homes and called for a Marshal Plan to address the problems afflicting the embattled zone. Dauda, who also complained bitterly about the plight of Christians in the North, saying that it is most unfortunate that most Christians have been forced to go underground to worship God, called for the creation of a separate geo-political zone for minorities in the North. He said that it was unfortunate that in some states in the North, “it will be easier for the camel to pass through the eye of the needle than for Christians to get land to build church.”
Aliyu Akwe Doma, a delegate from Nasarawa State, warned that religion, ethnic nationality, and revenue sharing formula are very sensitive issues that should be handled with care. He said the country should not allow religion, ethnic nationality and revenue sharing formula to override national interest.
Hon. Orok Duke, a Southsouth geo-political delegate, described the problems of the country in the light of “Ali Baba and the 40 thieves,” and insisted that the time has come to kill ‘Ali Baba.’
Chairman of the conference, Justice Idris Kutigi (rtd) laughed and asked Duke to go and kill Ali Baba alone.
Prof. Olu Ajakaiye, a delegate of the Nigeria Economic Society, said that the country should take efficiency seriously while dwindling economic opportunities should be addressed.
Chief Edwin Clark, who came to the conference on the platform of Elder Statesmen, said God allowed delegates of 70 years and above to clear the mess they created. He said, “We should tolerate one another. We are one; no one is superior to the other. Anyone can hold the highest office in the land. Let us accept one another, live by one another. Some people have taken religion too far. Nigeria existed before the religions. We have nowhere to go. Northerners, southerners, there is nowhere to go.”
Former Inspector General of Police, Ibrahim Coomasie, who is also Chairman of Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) said that delegates should be poised to make the opportunity of the conference an avenue to chart a new course for the country. He said: “What we need now is good leadership through transparent elections. We need servant leaders that lead by example; leaders serve constitutional responsibility of security and welfare of the people.”
For Senator Saliu Dansadau, the failure of President Jonathan to give assurance to implement the recommendations of the conference should be considered by the delegates. He said that appeal should be made to Jonathan to ensure that implementation of the recommendations of the conference, especially critical issues raised. Raymond Dokpesi noted that all constitutions from 1960 to date have not worked well for the country, urging delegates to take a deep look with proposal for restructuring and what the status quo should be.
