The quest for the convocation of a national
conference got a boost on Tuesday as the Senate
said that steps should be taken to convene a national
conference of ethnic nationalities .
The upper chamber also lamented that those it
described as political jobbers, sycophants, and
hustlers have seized the country ’ s political space,
and are being allowed to set the tone of national
discourse ahead of 2015 general elections .
Senate President, David Mark , stated this in an
address to flag off a new session for the Senate .
Though he counseled that Nigerians should make
haste slowly and operate strictly within the
parameters of the Constitution in discussion of the
national question , Mark agreed that time has come
for the country to meet to confront alleged structural
distortions in the polity.
Such a conference , he said , can find accommodation
in the extant provisions of the 1999 Constitution
which guarantee freedom of expression , and
association .
The only no go area at the conference , the Senate
President noted, should be talk about
dismemberment of the country .
He , however , cautioned that it would be
unconstitutional to clothe such a conference with
constituent or sovereign powers .
He said, “We live in very precarious times , and in a
world increasingly made fluid and toxic by strange
ideologies and violent tendencies , all of which
presently conspire to question the very idea of the
nation state .
“ But that is not to say that the nation should , like the
proverbial ostrich , continue to bury its head in the
sand and refuse to confront the perceived or alleged
structural distortions which have bred
discontentment and alienation in some quarters .
“ This sense of discontentment and alienation has
fueled extremism , apathy and even predictions of
catastrophy for our dear nation.
” A conference of Nigeria ’ s ethnic nationalities , called
to foster frank and open discussions of the national
question , can certainly find accommodation in the
extant provisions of the 1999 Constitution which
guarantee freedom of expression , and of association .
“ To that extent, it is welcome . Nonetheless , the idea
of a National Conference is not without inherent and
fundamental difficulties .
“ Problems of its structure and composition will
stretch the letters and spirit of the Constitution and
severely task the ingenuity of our constitutionalists . ”
On the ongoing strike by the Academic Staff Union of
Universities (ASUU) , the Senate President urged the
lawmakers to spare a thought “for the plight of our
youths who are idling away because of the closure of
universities due to the ASUU strike.
He said, “The morass in the education sector is
deeply troubling not only because it is retarding the
educational progress of millions of our children , but
also because it arrests the intellectual development
of our nation, with grave consequences for the future.
“ While appreciating the tremendous merit in the case
put forth by ASUU we call on its leaders to return to
class , while pragmatic negotiations to address their
grievances continue .
“ The Senate will invest the full weight of its moral
and constitutional authority to nudge both the Federal
Government and ASUU towards a comprehensive
settlement that addresses , in a realistic manner , the
problems afflicting tertiary education in our country . ”
Source: http://thenationonlineng.net/new/senate-backs-convocation-of-national-conference/