Elder Statesman and a delegate to the confab, Edwin Clark, said the privilege of attaining the octogenarian age and still participating in the 2014 conference was to correct the mess constituted by the elders while they served in public office.
He told the delegates that Nigeria belongs to everyone; hence people should have the right to aspire to the highest positions in the land.
His words: “I have a slogan which is becoming national. When you are 70 years and above, you are in the departing lounge, and on your way to board. But God has allowed us to stay to clean the mess we created when we were in office. Nigeria belongs to all of us. No one is inferior to the other.
“There is no first class or second class citizen. Anybody should be free to aspire to any position. Let us accept one another. I have seen that some of us have taken religion so far.”
“Nigeria was already in existence before those who brought religion did that. Let us be patriotic. If you are a northerner or a southerner and we do not come together, there will no basis to be here. We are not here as Christians or Muslims. Let us live together.”
Similarly, a delegate from Kebbi State, Fatima Lami said one of the tenets of national growth is for every citizen to have a voice. She said when something is going wrong, the citizens should be able to tell their leaders and the leaders must be obliged to listen.
Lami said: “I am saying this because of the insecurity happening in the north. For me as a mother and a woman, whoever is involved, please, stop killing our children. For many northerners, we blame the presidency. For those in power, they blame northerners. All I am saying is that the killing of our children must stop”.
Another northern delegate, Nasiru Dan-Ali, faulted the speech of President Goodluck Jonathan. He said in all the pages of the president’s speech, nothing was said about the security in the country.
“I feel marginalised,” he said, adding that “the security in the nation has deteriorated. Even yesterday, there was bombing in Maiduguri. The constitution says the protection of lives and property are the primary responsibilities of the government.
“It is on record today that out of 36 states in the federation, 33 states have soldiers deployed because of insecurity. The conference should ensure the complete restructuring of our security forces,” he added.
Source: Daily Independent
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