The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Yinka Odumakin

  • Delegates urge Nigerians to access conference website

    Some delegates at the ongoing National Conference have advice urged Nigerians to take advantage of the conference’s website:www.nigerianationalconference2014.org, to offer useful suggestions that would enrich deliberations at the conference.

    The delegates told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja yesterday that Nigerians should access the website and pass on their suggestions to them.

    The spokesman of Afenifere Renewal Group, Mr Yinka Odumakin, said the idea of a website for the conference was well-thought out.

    According to him, the world is now in the digital age where information is passed through the internet.

    “One should even suggest to the conference secretariat that there should be dedicated e-mail for all the delegates on the website through which people can reach the delegates on certain issues.

    “The public should be able to reach us because we are the citizens’ representatives.

    “We should prove that it is very possible for appointed or elected leaders to serve the interest of Nigerians who elected them into their positions.

    “So, Nigerians should have unhindered access to us, to push their issues to us for inclusion in our deliberations,’’ Odumakin said.

    A delegate of the Coalition of Civil Society Organisations, Mr Steve Aluko, said the website would give public access to information about the conference and the delegates.

    Aluko, an Executive Director, Civil Liberties Organisation (CLO), suggested that the contacts of every delegate should be published on the website.

    According to him, it will enable the people, particularly, the major stakeholders, the opportunity to monitor and also give their inputs into the agenda of the conference.

    “The people we claim to be representing should have our phone numbers, email, twitter and facebook addresses.

    “By this, those who nominated us can contact us on any issue they feel we should canvass for or stand against at the conference,’’ Aluko said.

    The Secretary-General, Nigeria Guild of Editors (NGE), Mr Isaac Ighure, said the website was going to be a mutual benefit to the delegates and the general public.

    Ighure said the platform would make it easy for the public to have an indepth knowledge of issues that the delegates would be discussing about them and the country.

    “I also believe that with so much information at delegates’ disposal via the website, we will be able to make informed decisions.

    “The public will want to get in touch with their delegates and make suggestions on issues they consider necessary.

    “They (public) may also want to advise the delegates on issues they believe they have not been represented well.

    “I believe, in all, this is going to contribute positively to the deliberations when we resume plenary.

    “I am sure the delegates also stand to benefit immensely from contributions, suggestions and words of advice which they are likely to get from those who chose them,’’ Ighure said.

  • Confab: Oodua Initiative seeks Yoruba agenda

    Confab: Oodua Initiative seeks Yoruba agenda

    A Yoruba social-political group, the Oodua Development Initiative (ODI), has said the Yoruba should have a consensus agenda for the proposed National Conference.

    It held a colloquium on “National Conference: True Federalism and the Yoruba Nation” yesterday at the Premier Hotel in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital.

    The four-hour colloquium was moderated by Prof. Alade Fawole. Prof. Ayo Olukotun and Mr. Yinka Odumakin were the lead discussants.

    In a statement at the end of the colloquium, ODI resolved that the Yoruba must have a set agenda. It said the decision of the conference must be subjected to a referendum and should not be subjected to a review or debate by the National Assembly or any other body, including the executive.

    ODI said: “President Goodluck Jonathan’s decision to accede to the yearnings of Nigerians for a National Conference is commendable and should be supported by everyone. There is a consensus that there must be a National Conference and the six geo-political zones must have equal representation.

    “The National Conference should have sovereign powers to the extent that its outcome would not be subject to review by any organ of the Federal Government, but may be subject to a referendum by the people of Nigeria.

    “The outcome of the referendum should be consequently incorporated in the Constitution and the National Assembly should promulgate same after repealing the existing Constitution.

    “The Yorubas must present an agenda at the National Conference. Such agenda must incorporate a demand for true federalism, which will give the federating units autonomy. Once there is true federalism, other contentious issues like revenue sharing, resource control, state police and so on would be easy to resolve.”

    ODI said there must be no “no go” areas and that whatever the President’s motive in calling for the National Conference, Nigerians should commend him for giving them an opportunity to dialogue.

    It urged civil society groups to set a course for the conference.

    ODI President Dr. Olusanya Awosan said: “A National Conference at this time is imperative because it will help tackle burning issues in the nation.”

    On whether the conference should be sovereign, Awosan, who is the Special Adviser to the President on Public Relations, said: “We should only have a conference with sovereign power”.

    Former Minister of Aviation Chief Ebenezer Babatope, who chaired the event, condemned critics of the conference.

    He said the conference would be successful and positive, unlike previous ones.

    Babatope said: “Every nationality should be given equal representation at the confab. The conference should be encouraged to start and end before the 2015 elections to calm the tension that is already brimming up.”