They said they were backing President Goodluck Jonathan over the conference, as it was capable of moving the nation forward.
They said the time was ripe for Nigerians to sit at a roundtable and discuss the basis of their living together.
The people also noted that there was nothing to be feared, saying instead of breaking up the nation, it would further make us achieve a more united Nigeria.
According to the leaders, who spoke in Akure, Ondo State capital, the recent developments in the country had made it compulsory for the various ethnic groups in the country to dialogue.
Spokesperson of Afenifere, Mr Yinka Odumakin, said Tinubu was one of the people who canvassed for the dialogue with the violence Islamic sect, Boko Haram and wondered why the same man should now turn against conference, where all Nigerians would talk about problems bedeviling the country.
He said: “The APC leader was one of the people that canvassed for dialogue with Boko Haram a few months back. If he can canvass for a dialogue with terrorists, why should he say dialogue with Nigerian people is not necessary?
“It shows that we have a lot of self-serving politicians in this country, who have paid lipservice to federalism and national conference in the past. National conference is an idea which time has come. If we do not do it today, the outcome for Nigeria is not palatable. We must sit and discuss our country.”
However, Daniel, in his own comment, commended the president for initiating the idea of national conference, which many people had been agitating for in the past, saying it would help address issues bordering the unity of the country.
The former Ogun State governor said the move would give opportunity for the people of the country to dialogue on burning issues that had been threatening the co-existence of the country.
His words: “We Nigerians are funny people, as in the past decades, people are making so much noise about national conference; now that the conference is here, Nigerians are condemning it again. I do not have any issue with the conference. As a matter of fact, it is the only thing we have been waiting for. We must join others in commending Mr President for taking this bold step. Let us go and talk, people should not be afraid of talk.”
The former governor added that people should not be afraid of talking as it is better to ‘talk talk than to war war’.
Meanwhile, the former governor described the death of Deji as shocking and devastating, just as he prayed for the soul of Deji to rest to rest in peace.
Meanwhile, Lagos State House of Assembly, on Tuesday, described as self-serving and diversionary move to hold national conference by President Goodluck Jonathan-led government.
The House declared that convening such dialogue at this time was capable of diverting the attention of Nigerians from their collective stance against the second term bid of Mr President.
The parliament spoke through its chairman, Committee on Information, Strategy, Security and Publicity, Lagos State House of Assembly, Honourable Segun Olulade, stressing that the Peoples Democratic Party-led Jonathan was intending to play on the collective intelligence of Nigerians with a view to manipulating them to support his ambition for a second term, contrary to their earlier resolve to bid him farewell, come 2015.
The House maintained that the Jonathan-led administration should explain why it had always turned deaf ears to the nationwide clamour for the long, overdue national conference, saying “the sudden adoption of same idea should be questioned, especially now that a vast majority of the Nigerians across party and geographical boundaries were opposed to the aspiration of the president to retain himself in office.”
It enjoined Nigerians not to be carried away by the carrot the president was daggling to them, adding that the ways and manners, as well as circumstances surrounding the adoption of the programme, just two years to the end of Jonathan’s administration, portrayed the programme as a greek gift that was not likely to bring any meaningful benefit to the people.
However, the House insisted that as much as a national dialogue remained the most fundamental solution to the socio-economic and political woes of the nation, Nigerians should be skeptical about the sincerity of the Federal Government on the issue.
The parliament urged Nigerians to remain resolute, focused and vigilant to ensure that their precious time, energy and resources were not wasted in the guise of a national conference, whose “foundation is ridden with much suspicion and deep-rooted controversies, even as there are many similar fire-brigade programmes in the past that took the nation nowhere better.”
It posited that the idea of a sovereign national conference emanated from the nation’s civil society community and should on no circumstance be hijacked by the PDP-led Jonathan administration just to score a cheap political point or divide the ranks and files of progressive leaders and citizens, who are opposed to Jonathan’s second term bid.
It enjoined the civil society community to claim the ownership of the proposed conference and be on top of all issues regarding to it.
Source: Tribune
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