…Delegate demands two years unity govt.
The long held fears in some quarters that President Goodluck Jonathan may have some ulterior motives in convoking the national conference resurfaced yesterday as one of the delegates proposed that the 2015 elections be put on hold and a government of national unity be put in place for the next two years.
Chief B. Leonard, a delegate of the North East geo-political zone, who made the suggestion while contributing to the debate on the President’s inaugural address, said the two year period would afford Nigeria the opportunity of conducting a reliable population census and producing a credible voters register under the supervision of the United Nations.But Leonard’s proposal was swiftly countered by an elder statesman and retired military officer, Major General Abdullahi Bagudu Mamman, who warned that the delegates might be walking into a trap if they allowed the ongoing conference to be extended beyond the three months period it was designed to sit.
Leonard had in his presentation argued that there were a lot of things wrong with Nigeria which the conference was meant to resolve in order to chart a new course for the country. He lamented the inability of Nigeria to have an acceptable census, reliable voter register and credible elections, blaming these on the insincerity and high level of corruption in the country.
“Nigeria has often been described as a sick patient that would neither respond to treatment nor would it die and we are like 492 specialists that have been convened to look at the ailments of this giant that is said to be dancing on the brink. The Nigerian situation has become so bad that we need unconventional methods to address its ailments. “We cannot just presume that everything is well. The President said let ‘s think outside the box. He gave us a carte blanche. I suggest that we adopt a government of national unity for the next two years.
Let everything be put on hold and let the conclusions of this conference be looked into by statesmen, detribalised Nigerians,” he said. In a separate presentation, General AB Mamman said that while there was the need for a national conference, the timing was wrong and the duration of three months too short to address the myriad of problems facing the country.
“ Nigerian issues are too serious to be considered over a period of three months if we must do justice to them. But since we are here, we just have to make the best of the bad situation we have on our hands and go ahead with it. But there are two rumours circulating. There is a National Assembly that has been accused of working to sabotage whatever report we leave here with.
Security crisis, challenge to Islamic scholarship – Maman
Ambassador Yaro Yusuf Maman, a delegate to the National Conference has identified the subsisting security crisis in the north as a challenge to Islamic scholarship. He also urged President Goodluck Jonathan to treat Almajiri education seriously.
His words: “I recall one of our foreign ministers, Prof. Ibrahim Gambari articulating the principle of concentric circle. I also recall Professor Bolaji Akinyemi advocating economic diplomacy. “These two parameters or these new paradigms are what we are facing today. This is because if you look at the security challenges in the North, it is not merely a security challenge. It is an ideological challenge within Islamic scholarship.” According to him, “It is better approached in a more holistic, more integrated intellectually engaging manner than only military force.”
Querying the country’s agenda in the 21st Century, Maman posited that South Africa has outpaced Nigeria economically. “What is Nigeria’s strategic agenda in the 21st Century; in the age of globalization? “I recall at that time Prof. Akinyemi predicted that post-apartheid South Africa economic machine will overrun Nigeria if we don’t get our acts right.
This has happened. Where are we today?” Shifting to education, Maman thanked President Jonathan for initiating Almajiri education but criticized the core concept. His words: “I come to education. I am from this part of the country. I commend Mr. President for his intervention in Almajiri education. “But, please let us not de-secularize education. Our existence here is because we have achieved a balance between our secular and our spiritual growth. Let us allow equal opportunity.
Northern Delegates’ Forum appoints leaders
The Northern Delegates Forum at the National Conference has appointed the leaders of its delegations at the state level. The new leaders were appointed at a meeting attended by the Chairman of the Forum, a former Inspector General of Police, Alhaji Ibrahim Coomasie and Lt General Jerry Useni who stood in for Prof Jerry Gana, the cochairman of the group.
The meeting considered the unfolding developments in the National Conference with a view to articulating common positions on issues most northerners share-as well as paying due attention to issues that are peculiar to their states and communities- with unity of purpose that comes with clear thought,clear morality and clear expression for the over all good of national unity and interest as they affect the North.
Stop exclusion of physically challenged – Argungu
The main problem of people with disability in Nigeria is that of exclusion; exclusion at the family, community and national levels, a delegate at the ongoing National Conference has stated. According to Mrs. Zainab Argungu, representing Persons With Disability, “Disability in Nigeria is viewed as a matter of charity, not a human rights issue.
“The implication of this is that we remain at the margin of society. For the very few of us who are privileged to be educated and have a job we have to work twice as hard at the ordinary staff to be recognized and accepted. “I was therefore happy when the president in his speech said, ‘To be successful, nation-building must continually strive to evolve better and more inclusive society in which every citizen will be a proud and committed stakeholder.”
It’s ill-timed, unnecessary – Rep
A member of the House of Representatives, Hon. Ibrahim Tukur El- Sudi (PDP, Taraba) has declared that the ongoing national conference was ill-timed. He said it was a sheer waste of time as it is ‘superfluous and unnecessary’. He also said though President Goodluck Jonathan has laudable plans for the country, he is surrounded by ‘vultures’ so it is left to Nigerians to decide his fate in 2015.
He added that the president is constitutionally okay to seek a second term. El-Sudi, who spoke at a media chat yesterday in Abuja, said Section 9 of the 1999 constitution has empowered the National Assembly to amend the constitution, hence convoking a national conference for the purposes of amending the constitution amounts to a waste of resources. He said “President Jonathan is a very nice gentleman but he is surrounded by vultures. He has a large heart but he must sack those bad eggs around him. He is constitutionally free to re-contest in 2015 if he so desires”
Speaking extensively on the national confab, the lawmaker explained that whatever comes out of the national conference will be subjected to the decision of the National Assembly, so there was no need committing scarce funds into the confab. “It is superfluous and unnecessary exercise, ill-timed and therefore not welcome. We have the National Assembly, which is empowered by Section 9 to amend the Constitution in a manner and way it deemed fit and cannot be questioned by anybody. The Supreme Court has ruled on that. El-Sudi, who represents Gashaka/Kurmi / Sardauna Federal Constituency of Taraba State, also blamed the recurring violence being perpetrated by Boko Haram across the country on the failure of governance and advocated for state police as a panacea to the crisis.
“I am absolutely in support of state police. I have finished drafting a bill on that issue. It is a controversial issue but we have no alternative. The pockets of problems we have in some states clearly show that the Federal Police have failed to be impartial” On the killings by suspected Fulani herdsmen, the lawmaker suggested that “governors, local government chairmen and ministry of agriculture must sit down to fashion out ways of containing the activities of Fulani and particularly those coming from Niger and Chad should be restricted.
Some delegates, office holders should be in jail – Akintola
Members of the ongoing National Conference in Abuja yesterday bemoaned the level of corruption that has pervaded the country. One of the delegates pointedly declared that many public office holders, including majority of the delegates, should ordinarily have been in jail, if the right investigation were done.
The members spoke yesterday while contributing to debate on the inaugural speech of the President, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan at the plenary session of the conference holding at the National Judicial Institute, NJI, in Abuja. Former Deputy Speaker of Oyo State House of Assembly and delegate to the conference, Barrister Adeniyi Akintola, SAN, while contributing to the debate, noted that many delegates at the conference and several other public office holders in the country ought to have be in jail following the discrepancies between the assets declared by them and the tax forms they filled in the office of the Federal Inland Revenue Services, FIRS.
The delegate from Oyo State, who pointed out that he had, in the past, handled several cases concerning the issue of asset declarations and tax forms, emphatically declared that he knew exactly what he was saying and that nobody could fault that. He suggested therefore that the tax clearance forms of the nation’s public office holders should henceforth be matched with their assets to determine those who are sincere and those that are not. Akintola thus pushed for the unbundling of the power at the federal level as a way of reducing the over centralization of power in the country.
Delegates want guns, First Lady’s office legitimised
Against the background of the mounting insecurity in the country, Femi Mimiko, a delegate from Ondo to the National Conference has proposed to the plenary that Nigerians be allowed to carry guns and defend themselves. In another development, Chief Mrs. Nkechi Okemini, National President of National Council of Women Societies (NCWS), a delegate representing National Council for Women Societies urged the conference to facilitate legitimization of the office of first lady in Nigeria.
These submissions were made yesterday at the auditorium of the National Judicial Institute, Abuja, venue of the ongoing confab while the debate on the inaugural speech of President Goodluck Jonathan unfolded. According to Mimiko, the confab should back that Nigerians be given the right to bear arms noting that has become necessary given the fact that illegal arms are in the hands of lawless Nigerians while the law abiding ones have become targeted species.
He also said that Nigeria should emulate the advanced countries as the bearing and keeping of arms may reduce the defenceless Nigerians in the face of a badly stretched security infrastructure. According to him, allowing citizens to bear arms in the face of serious cases of insecurity in the land would mitigate the spate of attacks as witnessed in various places of the country.
Okemini held that the issues relevant to women would find expression on the confab. She explained that her organization, which is the umbrella body for all women organization would want issues such as true federalism, elimination of all forms of hostilities and discrimination against women, citizenship and the recognition of the office of first ladies on the front burner.
Kutigi bans drinking of tea, coffee at plenary
The Chairman of the on-going National Conference sitting in Abuja, Justice Idris Legbo Kutigi, has banned the taking of tea and coffee at the plenary sitting by members. The ban was announced yesterday on the floor of the conference after a member drew his attention to one of the rules of the conference which forbids drinking at the plenary.
The Chairman, however, explained it would be difficult to place ban on drinking of water by members who may have genuine reason to do that. Justice Kutigi said any members who may want to take coffee or tea before the normal break period should do so by quietly walking to the spots that have been designated for such and quietly taking it there before returning to the hall.
A member, who did not give his name however asked if members could eat at plenary since the rules of the conference was silent on that. The Chairman responded by saying no.
Source: New Telegraph
The long held fears in some quarters that President Goodluck Jonathan may have some ulterior motives in convoking the national conference resurfaced yesterday as one of the delegates proposed that the 2015 elections be put on hold and a government of national unity be put in place for the next two years.
Chief B. Leonard, a delegate of the North East geo-political zone, who made the suggestion while contributing to the debate on the President’s inaugural address, said the two year period would afford Nigeria the opportunity of conducting a reliable population census and producing a credible voters register under the supervision of the United Nations.But Leonard’s proposal was swiftly countered by an elder statesman and retired military officer, Major General Abdullahi Bagudu Mamman, who warned that the delegates might be walking into a trap if they allowed the ongoing conference to be extended beyond the three months period it was designed to sit.
Leonard had in his presentation argued that there were a lot of things wrong with Nigeria which the conference was meant to resolve in order to chart a new course for the country. He lamented the inability of Nigeria to have an acceptable census, reliable voter register and credible elections, blaming these on the insincerity and high level of corruption in the country.
“Nigeria has often been described as a sick patient that would neither respond to treatment nor would it die and we are like 492 specialists that have been convened to look at the ailments of this giant that is said to be dancing on the brink. The Nigerian situation has become so bad that we need unconventional methods to address its ailments. “We cannot just presume that everything is well. The President said let ‘s think outside the box. He gave us a carte blanche. I suggest that we adopt a government of national unity for the next two years.
Let everything be put on hold and let the conclusions of this conference be looked into by statesmen, detribalised Nigerians,” he said. In a separate presentation, General AB Mamman said that while there was the need for a national conference, the timing was wrong and the duration of three months too short to address the myriad of problems facing the country.
“ Nigerian issues are too serious to be considered over a period of three months if we must do justice to them. But since we are here, we just have to make the best of the bad situation we have on our hands and go ahead with it. But there are two rumours circulating. There is a National Assembly that has been accused of working to sabotage whatever report we leave here with.
Security crisis, challenge to Islamic scholarship – Maman
Ambassador Yaro Yusuf Maman, a delegate to the National Conference has identified the subsisting security crisis in the north as a challenge to Islamic scholarship. He also urged President Goodluck Jonathan to treat Almajiri education seriously.
His words: “I recall one of our foreign ministers, Prof. Ibrahim Gambari articulating the principle of concentric circle. I also recall Professor Bolaji Akinyemi advocating economic diplomacy. “These two parameters or these new paradigms are what we are facing today. This is because if you look at the security challenges in the North, it is not merely a security challenge. It is an ideological challenge within Islamic scholarship.” According to him, “It is better approached in a more holistic, more integrated intellectually engaging manner than only military force.”
Querying the country’s agenda in the 21st Century, Maman posited that South Africa has outpaced Nigeria economically. “What is Nigeria’s strategic agenda in the 21st Century; in the age of globalization? “I recall at that time Prof. Akinyemi predicted that post-apartheid South Africa economic machine will overrun Nigeria if we don’t get our acts right.
This has happened. Where are we today?” Shifting to education, Maman thanked President Jonathan for initiating Almajiri education but criticized the core concept. His words: “I come to education. I am from this part of the country. I commend Mr. President for his intervention in Almajiri education. “But, please let us not de-secularize education. Our existence here is because we have achieved a balance between our secular and our spiritual growth. Let us allow equal opportunity.
Northern Delegates’ Forum appoints leaders
The Northern Delegates Forum at the National Conference has appointed the leaders of its delegations at the state level. The new leaders were appointed at a meeting attended by the Chairman of the Forum, a former Inspector General of Police, Alhaji Ibrahim Coomasie and Lt General Jerry Useni who stood in for Prof Jerry Gana, the cochairman of the group.
The meeting considered the unfolding developments in the National Conference with a view to articulating common positions on issues most northerners share-as well as paying due attention to issues that are peculiar to their states and communities- with unity of purpose that comes with clear thought,clear morality and clear expression for the over all good of national unity and interest as they affect the North.
Stop exclusion of physically challenged – Argungu
The main problem of people with disability in Nigeria is that of exclusion; exclusion at the family, community and national levels, a delegate at the ongoing National Conference has stated. According to Mrs. Zainab Argungu, representing Persons With Disability, “Disability in Nigeria is viewed as a matter of charity, not a human rights issue.
“The implication of this is that we remain at the margin of society. For the very few of us who are privileged to be educated and have a job we have to work twice as hard at the ordinary staff to be recognized and accepted. “I was therefore happy when the president in his speech said, ‘To be successful, nation-building must continually strive to evolve better and more inclusive society in which every citizen will be a proud and committed stakeholder.”
It’s ill-timed, unnecessary – Rep
A member of the House of Representatives, Hon. Ibrahim Tukur El- Sudi (PDP, Taraba) has declared that the ongoing national conference was ill-timed. He said it was a sheer waste of time as it is ‘superfluous and unnecessary’. He also said though President Goodluck Jonathan has laudable plans for the country, he is surrounded by ‘vultures’ so it is left to Nigerians to decide his fate in 2015.
He added that the president is constitutionally okay to seek a second term. El-Sudi, who spoke at a media chat yesterday in Abuja, said Section 9 of the 1999 constitution has empowered the National Assembly to amend the constitution, hence convoking a national conference for the purposes of amending the constitution amounts to a waste of resources. He said “President Jonathan is a very nice gentleman but he is surrounded by vultures. He has a large heart but he must sack those bad eggs around him. He is constitutionally free to re-contest in 2015 if he so desires”
Speaking extensively on the national confab, the lawmaker explained that whatever comes out of the national conference will be subjected to the decision of the National Assembly, so there was no need committing scarce funds into the confab. “It is superfluous and unnecessary exercise, ill-timed and therefore not welcome. We have the National Assembly, which is empowered by Section 9 to amend the Constitution in a manner and way it deemed fit and cannot be questioned by anybody. The Supreme Court has ruled on that. El-Sudi, who represents Gashaka/Kurmi / Sardauna Federal Constituency of Taraba State, also blamed the recurring violence being perpetrated by Boko Haram across the country on the failure of governance and advocated for state police as a panacea to the crisis.
“I am absolutely in support of state police. I have finished drafting a bill on that issue. It is a controversial issue but we have no alternative. The pockets of problems we have in some states clearly show that the Federal Police have failed to be impartial” On the killings by suspected Fulani herdsmen, the lawmaker suggested that “governors, local government chairmen and ministry of agriculture must sit down to fashion out ways of containing the activities of Fulani and particularly those coming from Niger and Chad should be restricted.
Some delegates, office holders should be in jail – Akintola
Members of the ongoing National Conference in Abuja yesterday bemoaned the level of corruption that has pervaded the country. One of the delegates pointedly declared that many public office holders, including majority of the delegates, should ordinarily have been in jail, if the right investigation were done.
The members spoke yesterday while contributing to debate on the inaugural speech of the President, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan at the plenary session of the conference holding at the National Judicial Institute, NJI, in Abuja. Former Deputy Speaker of Oyo State House of Assembly and delegate to the conference, Barrister Adeniyi Akintola, SAN, while contributing to the debate, noted that many delegates at the conference and several other public office holders in the country ought to have be in jail following the discrepancies between the assets declared by them and the tax forms they filled in the office of the Federal Inland Revenue Services, FIRS.
The delegate from Oyo State, who pointed out that he had, in the past, handled several cases concerning the issue of asset declarations and tax forms, emphatically declared that he knew exactly what he was saying and that nobody could fault that. He suggested therefore that the tax clearance forms of the nation’s public office holders should henceforth be matched with their assets to determine those who are sincere and those that are not. Akintola thus pushed for the unbundling of the power at the federal level as a way of reducing the over centralization of power in the country.
Delegates want guns, First Lady’s office legitimised
Against the background of the mounting insecurity in the country, Femi Mimiko, a delegate from Ondo to the National Conference has proposed to the plenary that Nigerians be allowed to carry guns and defend themselves. In another development, Chief Mrs. Nkechi Okemini, National President of National Council of Women Societies (NCWS), a delegate representing National Council for Women Societies urged the conference to facilitate legitimization of the office of first lady in Nigeria.
These submissions were made yesterday at the auditorium of the National Judicial Institute, Abuja, venue of the ongoing confab while the debate on the inaugural speech of President Goodluck Jonathan unfolded. According to Mimiko, the confab should back that Nigerians be given the right to bear arms noting that has become necessary given the fact that illegal arms are in the hands of lawless Nigerians while the law abiding ones have become targeted species.
He also said that Nigeria should emulate the advanced countries as the bearing and keeping of arms may reduce the defenceless Nigerians in the face of a badly stretched security infrastructure. According to him, allowing citizens to bear arms in the face of serious cases of insecurity in the land would mitigate the spate of attacks as witnessed in various places of the country.
Okemini held that the issues relevant to women would find expression on the confab. She explained that her organization, which is the umbrella body for all women organization would want issues such as true federalism, elimination of all forms of hostilities and discrimination against women, citizenship and the recognition of the office of first ladies on the front burner.
Kutigi bans drinking of tea, coffee at plenary
The Chairman of the on-going National Conference sitting in Abuja, Justice Idris Legbo Kutigi, has banned the taking of tea and coffee at the plenary sitting by members. The ban was announced yesterday on the floor of the conference after a member drew his attention to one of the rules of the conference which forbids drinking at the plenary.
The Chairman, however, explained it would be difficult to place ban on drinking of water by members who may have genuine reason to do that. Justice Kutigi said any members who may want to take coffee or tea before the normal break period should do so by quietly walking to the spots that have been designated for such and quietly taking it there before returning to the hall.
A member, who did not give his name however asked if members could eat at plenary since the rules of the conference was silent on that. The Chairman responded by saying no.
Source: New Telegraph
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