 |
| Balarabe Musa |
As Nigeria finalises plans to hold national conference this month, former Governor of Kaduna State, Balarabe Musa, gives reasons why Nigerians should not expect any result from the exercise, in this interview with GODWIN OFULUE
Southern leaders rose from their meeting in Calabar on Monday with the resolution, among others, that at the coming national conference, they would demand for greater power to federating states. What is your reaction to the southern leaders’ position?
Let me say, first of all, that I’m not interested in the national conference.
Why?
That is not the national conference we require.
What manner of conference were you expecting?
The idea is the President’s idea, he came up with the modalities, he appointed the delegates to the conference, he will give them terms of reference, he’s the one doing everything. That is not the conference we want.
But the President set up a committee, which went round the country, to consult with Nigerians in various regions before decisions were taken.
The committee was appointed by him. I think the approach is self-serving. I reject it, it is not what Nigerians want; Nigerians want a legitimate national conference.
What is your idea of a legitimate conference?
All the persons that will have anything to do with the conference should be elected, not appointed by one individual. It is not representative of the people because the delegates are not elected; delegates do not have the peoples’ mandate; that’s what makes it illegitimate.
To make it legitimate, first of all, the need for a national conference should be expressed by the people based on two fundamental issues. They should decide the type of national conference they want. It could be sovereign national conference, which is revolutionary. It demands a lot of sacrifice. It will set aside the executive, set aside the legislature and even the judiciary. It is like a social revolution. Now, Nigerians are not prepared for that. What Nigerians are prepared for is a democratic national conference.
Then, a collective decision should be taken whether we should have a national conference or not. Those to take the decision should be representatives of the executive, the legislature, the judiciary and the sovereign people of Nigeria to be represented by the civil society. These four should decide whether we should have a national conference or not.
If they decide that we should have a national conference, they should convene a delegates conference to be attended by two elected representatives from each of the local government areas in the country, which will be about 1,500 delegates. Then we can add 500 delegates to represent interests that may not be sufficiently represented in the election. That will be a conference of 2,000 delegates.
Don’t you think the number will be too large to manage?
It can be handled because they will be working through committees. If it is handled this way, it will be called a collective action, not a selection by a single person, that is the President. He should be a part of the solution, he can’t do it alone.
Going by your analysis, you don’t seem to believe in ethnic representation, which some notable Nigerians have been clamouring for.
There is nothing wrong with ethnic representation, there is nothing wrong with religious representation; there is nothing wrong with having various sectors of the economy represented; all fundamental organs of the country should be represented. In my earlier suggestions towards having a successful conference in the country, I listed these different representations.
Beyond the reasons you have given for not supporting this national conference, some critics have observed that most northern elites, like you, are opposed to the national conference because they fear the confab may upset the current situation in the country, which favours the North more than any other region in the country.
Which benefits? Where is the evidence that the North is benefiting anything from the present situation? Anyway, I’m concerned with Nigeria, not any region. I do not represent the North in any way.
With or without persons like you, it is now almost certain that the confab will hold; don’t you think you will be doing the nation a disservice if you fail to contribute your ideas to nation-building through the conference?
I know the President is going to have his way. Even if the National Assembly refuses to provide funds for the conference, he will do like Obasanjo did; he will take the money from somewhere else. But I assure you that like the Obasanjo conference and others in the past, nothing serious will come out of this one.
If you feel very strongly that the conference is not legitimate, why haven’t you sought legal action against it?
No, no, no, I will not go to court; how many legal actions have succeeded? Like his predecessors did, let him have his conference.
How would you react to the calls for the split of the country as a solution to the country’s problems?
I will tell those making the suggestions to think about these two fundamental issues: Nigeria is now 100 years old. You cannot live for 100 years and still think you have not achieved anything. That is one. The second is that the amalgamation of Nigeria in 2014 has produced, the largest economy in Africa. If Nigeria breaks up, first of all, the country will break up into units that cannot achieve anything. The new nations that will emerge will drop to the level of the small countries around Nigeria, those countries that are not viable, that cannot do what Nigeria can do today. Is that what they want?
If the country breaks up, what new things will those leaders in the North or South give to their people, which they have not been able to give all these years? I think those calling for the split of the country want freedom in smaller units where they will continue stealing.
Those agitating for the split have argued that the North is opposed to it because it will bring hardship to the region.
The thing is this; the break-up of Nigeria will bring hardship to all parts of the country. No part will have what it has today, they will not even have up to one-tenth of it.
They want Nigeria to break up simply because they think they will be able to steal more in the new nations that will emerge. Some of them have stolen so much and they know that one day, they will have to answer for it; so they think if Nigeria breaks up, there will be nobody to ask them for the crimes they committed.
Download Cowbell Mathematics Past Questions and Answers
Download unlimited e-books in various disciplines for FREE
Get Breaking News on BBM - add our PIN - 232FC0E9
Follow on Twitter to receive updates every hour
Don't miss the next news item - LIKE our Facebook page
No comments:
Post a Comment