NATIONAL CONFERENCE TOO CRITICAL TO BE LEFT TO THE FLIP-FLOPPING PRESIDENCY OF GOODLUCK JONATHAN - Bola Tinubu

Since I first made known my initial reaction to President Jonathan’s proposed National Dialogue/Conference, the daggers have been out against me. The paid public relations gangs of the administration and some sympathizers have gone into overdrive in the media and public fora to denounce me for the position I have taken. I thought I ought to enjoy the same right they have exercised by supporting Jonathan’s conference to also reject it and make my reaction known. Unfortunately it does not seem so.

But I have news for them. I will not take anything I have said back on the proposed National Dialougue by this present administration. I insist that the planned national dialogue is a ‘Greek’ gift and public deception. I say beware of the Greek gift; let us first of all, ask a series of questions.

The government's proposal is a walk down a back alley that leads only to a dead end. It has the same empty taste as sitting down to dine after all the food has been eaten and the table cleared.

I intend to raise fundamental questions/interrogations in the following response. I am known to have always reviewed the message or policy action of government after which I simply proceed to respond to the message and not the messenger. But this time around, my focus and response is to the messenger and not the message essentially. Questioning the messenger and his motives is my mission here as a Nigerian and a political leader. Also, in warning against Jonathan’s proposed Conference, I will put forward a few practicable suggestions.

The core questions to ask here is how credible, reliable and capable is the current President to be able to midwife a critical conference such as this? Will this President be sincere enough to let all the issues that are on the agenda be exhaustively discussed at the conference? Will this President have the guts to implement fully all final resolutions of the conference without fear or favor or any pandering?

This is an administration that has been known to have flip-flopped on so many critical issues of national importance. President Jonathan was part of two issues of national importance in the recent past; Amnesty and the Uwais Panel on electoral reform. We all know what has happened to these two issues. The Amnesty conceived from inception has been corrupted and hijacked by the President’s clique. It is one of Nigeria’s drain pipes. A slush fund for political expeditions anda conduit to siphon money to the boys.

The Uwais Panel report gathers dust and suffers from constant cherry picking. What about the much-publicized SURE-P initiative of this administration? Another ill-conceived and fraudulently implemented program of this administration. Billions of naira have so far disappeared into private pockets and the treasury still bleeds. I can go on and on. Is this the leader we want to trust with organizing a National dialogue or is it conference they call it? Where is the capability? Where is the sincerity? Where is the presence of mind?

Recent Nigerian political history bears me out in this instance. Recall the call for a Sovereign National Conference began in earnest in the latter phase of the political transition programme of military president Ibrahim Babangida. Claiming that it was laying a solid foundation for a democracy that will endure, the regime turned Nigeria into a laboratory for all manner of political stunts.

Nigerians came to conclude that the regime was pursuing a not-so-hidden agenda of self-perpetuation and called for a Sovereign National conference to replace a transition programme that had clearly lost its momentum and its direction.

Next door, in Benin Republic, a Sovereign National Conference was being staged to chart a new course for a country that had virtually come to a standstill. Its crisp, bold and purposeful proceedings resonated in Nigeria, and Nigerians yearning for such a conference embraced the Beninoise model.

The military regime seemed at a point to embrace the concept, too, and even tried to enlist some prominent citizens to translate it into practice. But when it appeared those citizens had taken the regime more seriously than it took itself, the regime scuttled the idea and decreed jail sentences for anyone purporting to stage a national conference.

Then came the presidential election debacle of June 12, 1993, and with it, renewed calls for a Sovereign National Conference. The election crisis swept out the military regime, but not before it had planted a surrogate, the so-called Interim National Government, a clueless outfit that lasted three months but drove Nigeria to the edge of ruin, until it was overthrown by General Abacha.

To win public acceptance, Abacha promised to stage a National Conference with “constituent powers.” This was another act of bad faith, for Abacha packed the assembly with his hand-picked nominees. Those who were not his nominees were products of an election that was widely boycotted, persons who could hardly be described as authentic representatives of their constituencies. The conference exercised nothing close to the “constituent powers” Abacha had promised. The five political parties that emerged from the constitutional framework designed by the Assembly all ended up endorsing Abacha as their presidential candidate. Abacha’s death ended the charade. Knowing that Nigerians were no longer prepared to put up with military rule, Abacha’s colleagues hastily put together a constitution to serve as the legal framework for the civilian administration inaugurated in 1999.

The constitution was not published until it came into effect. It was not debated. Those who took office swore an oath to defend a Constitution they had not seen, and the provisions of which they did not know.

Soon, it became clear that it was riddled with grave defects. Despite its portentous preface, “We, the People,” it was not a people’s constitution. The people played hardly any role in its writing. It did not reflect their yearnings. Some legal authorities even went so far as to call the document a forgery.

And so, demands for a Sovereign National Conference broke out afresh, to design a new constitutional order for Nigeria, one anchored on the core principles of federalism and warranted by the preface, “We, the People.”

Then came the Obasanjo’s constitutional review process by the National Assembly in the twilight of his administration. The process came up with 118 recommendations most of which were far reaching and dealt with critical and contentious issues of nationhood. It became ill-fated due to the failure to smuggle in the third term tenure extension provision. The rest, as they say, is now history.

Now, we are about to embark on a similar futile exercise. And here is why. Until some two to three months back, our demands for a sovereign national conference found little sympathy in the Executive and Legislative branches of government, until some three weeks ago when Senate President, David Mark, issued a qualified endorsement. Then, in his National Independence Day Broadcast, President Jonathan Goodluck, announced to everyone’s surprise that the Federal Government would indeed sponsor a National Conference, at which Nigeria’s ethnic nationalists would discuss and negotiate the terms of continued association.

Within days, Dr. Jonathan named a chairman and members of a committee to advise on modalities for staging the conference and submit a report within one month.

I, like other well-meaning Nigerians, must welcome this shift. It is an admission, at last, that the wide cracks in the national fabric can no longer be papered over, and that the time has come for fresh thinking on fundamental problems, the existence of which has for too long been denied.
Yet, President Jonathan’s epiphany–if epiphany it is and not an expedient calculated to enhance his 2015 reelection bid – should be subjected to searching questions.

It is difficult to lay aside the suspicion that his sudden conversion is all about 2015. Otherwise, why the sudden endorsement of a National Conference, not merely in principle, but with a rush toward some form of implementation? What has happened that was not already in play in all those years during which the authorities rejected demands for a National Conference?

Second, it is also difficult to lay aside the suspicion that the government is now embracing the idea with a view to watering it down, if not smothering it altogether. What its proponents have been canvassing is a Sovereign National Conference organized by the sovereign people of Nigeria, not one staged by the government. Government will figure in that Conference only as a facilitator, not as organizer.

Many of the ethnic nationalities clamouring for a Sovereign National Conference are contesting nothing less than the legitimacy of the Nigerian State as presently constituted. It cannot be an answer to their misgivings that the Federal Government, the agent of that state, is set to take charge of a Sovereign National Conference designed to chart a new path.

Third, Dr. Jonathan did not indicate whether the Conference will be sovereign or exercise constituent powers. That omission is not reassuring. What Nigerians have been demanding is a Sovereign National Conference whose decisions can only be ratified or rejected by the people in a national referendum. There is no room for a Government White Paper or Blue Paper or Paper of any colour whatsoever in such a scheme.

Fourth, it must be asked whether this is an opportune moment for the conference, when the ruling party is in disarray, a large portion of the country is convulsed by Boko Haram violence and killings, and permutations over a general election have already taken centre stage in the affairs of the nation two years ahead of schedule.

Would staging a National Conference in such a setting not overheat the polity? Would it not be better to defer the Conference until after the general elections? There is still so much to do to ensure that the election is free and fair, conforms to the best practices, and represents the true will of the people.

Though I remain an unrepentant supporter of a genuine Sovereign National Conference, I am suspicious of this present concoction because it is half- baked and fully deceptive. Government's sincerity is questionable, the timing is also suspect. Now that this government is sinking in a pool of political and economic hot water of its own making, it seizes hold of the national conference idea as if it were a life jacket.

This government habitually puts the wrong leg forward. In the face of debilitating terrorist attacks by Boko Haram, kidnappings across the country and a general insecurity, this government wants to open up another political front by hurriedly organizing a national conference. This rankles the brain.

This government has not the honesty, foresight, tolerance and objectivity to hold a National Conference of any type. This government is so partisan and parochial, it can’t even hold its own party together. How dare it even think it can organize a national conference that lives up to its name by being truly representative of all the nation's constituent parts! At most, all they can conduct is a conference comprised of one section of their party and those shell, artificial civil society groups that purport to reflect the public's mind, yet do nothing but spew government propaganda and get paid good naira for their service. This government cannot hold a National Conference anymore than a comatose man can stand and hold up a candle that the rest of us might see our way to a better Nigeria.

Before embarking on new public relations ploys to whitewash its tarnished record, the government should treat some long outstanding issues and matters. This government cannot give what it does not have.

If the conference must be held now, we must return to the spade work already done by the Obasanjo government in the aspect of constitutional review. Let the Jonathan government bring it out, remove the third term toxic component and set up a technical review committee to examine the 118 recommendations therein. We must continue from where we disagreed. Nation building is a progressive work and to totally jettison the considerable spade work already done is to set back the hands of the clock. Time is not on our side.

Secondly, this government should implement the Uwais recommendations on electoral reforms. That report was the work of imminent Nigerians and it was done after widespread consultations to constituencies far and wide. We all know that our electoral system is broken and unfair. If the President has done nothing to fully implement this corrective report that would fix a system so blatantly broken, why would he implement recommendations of national conference if those recommendations do not suit his narrow purposes? The government should first implement this important work in order to demonstrate to Nigerians that it can hold and honor the outcome of a National dialogue.

This government should do so to show that it has nothing to hide and is willing to engage in the upcoming electoral contest on a level playing field.

This government must first show good faith for Nigerians to believe them. President Jonathan is not the man to give Nigerians a true National Conference. He can only give us a “Jonathan Conference” as bitter icing on the sour cake his government has become. This government lacks the presence of mind and the decency to implement a national conference.

This administration has not achieved any tangible transformation because it has no concrete goals. Now it tilts and staggers under the weight of insecurity. Claims of transformation and of building an economy that is robust and institutions of democracy, by the President shows someone who believes fiction is more important than fact and imagination is more genuine than reality. While I would not mind such a person to be a leading figure in our Nollywood film industry, I am frightened that he is the chief resident in Aso Villa.

Both in timing and in style, previous administrations adopted the same tricks of National Conference as a framework to structure their agenda to which people presented memoranda and attended plenaries before realising it was a trick.

This government's offer of a National Conference is a wingless bird. It will not fly. The advisory committee set up to design a framework and come up with recommendations as to the form, structure and mechanism of the process will soon find out they are on a journey with no destination save the wall of futility.

Yes, we need to talk. However, we need a national conference that is truly sovereign and not one dictated by the reactionary and regressive elements of the ruling party. This is not the way to clear Nigeria from danger. This is a selfish ploy that will place the nation deeper in darkness and indirection.

Nigeria is adrift and unless we start a discourse aimed at updating and improving our political economy and its structures, we might wake up one day from a night devoid of dreams because we have turned into a nation devoid of hope.

However, an imposed national conference by individuals who have shown total disdain for anything nationalistic that does not unduly benefit them and who have demonstrated lack of respect for the opinions of others because they are in “Power” will have little success. It will be an empty and expensive futility with no true dividends for a people wanting their leaders to show them a way out of the pit and not a way deeper into it.


Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu

I challenge Tinubu to read this https://www.nairaland.com/1476545/efcc-arrests-fake-police-commissioner

.

This man is finally neutralizing himself politically. Oga Jonah's master stroke caught these jokers with their pants down. Tinubu, you are free as a bird to campaign and argue against NC all you want. You are also free to make any excuses that comes to your mind and head. The political wagon of the NC will leave without you and your backers. The Yorubas will be on board, just not you and your boko haram friends.

GEJ definition of democracy..... Government of committee by the committee and for the committee...

What happen to Ribadu report on oil subsidy?

Conference of this nature always serve as instrument of self perpetuity in power...... Only God knows whats wrong with Nigeria because this so called progressives are not saint... They thrive on propaganda

"What about the much-publicized SURE-P" Can Tinubu tell us what the opposition states have done with 58% share, they collect monthly in sure-p monies www.sure-p.gov.ng/ will outline what, the federal government is doing with its own share of the monies. Are states not collecting this money monthly

Tinubu the chief criminal,your brain is beclouded with 2015 elections,are you still not satisfied with all your lootings so far. You want the status quo to be maintained so that you will loot more. shameless old !diot.

Said a lot but said nothing, I see where Fashola got his trait.

A true reasonable and foresight nigerian, who patiently read through Tinubu's plight must, without political or tribal bias, know that this is absolute TRUTH.
The summary of it all is, let all previous recommendations be implemented. This is not right time for national conference even though we deserve it.

sincerely the PDP government can't lead Nigeria anywhere. It is a cabal and a cankerworm that has drained this nation. They are a set of selfish, corrupt, greedy and power drunk politicians with no national interest.

TeaParty: Tinubu the chief criminal,your brain is beclouded with 2015 elections,are you still not satisfied with all your lootings so far. You want the status quo to be maintained so that you will loot more. shameless old !diot.

stup.id nigerian, how did you pass your waec english comprehension? Are we discussing looting here?
Please go to YABA FOR CHECKUP

Sirniyeh: A true reasonable and foresight nigerian, who patiently read through Tinubu's plight must, without political or tribal bias, know that this is absolute TRUTH.
The summary of it all is, let all previous recommendations be implemented. This is not right time for national conference even though we deserve it.

you mean we should implement that rubbish organised by obj?

atlwireles: This man is finally neutralizing himself politically. Oga Jonah's master stroke caught these jokers with their pants down. Tinubu, you are free as a bird to campaign and argue against NC all you want. You are also free to make any excuses that comes to your mind and head. The political wagon of the NC will leave without you and your backers. The Yorubas will be on board, just not you and your boko haram friends.

Remember that you are a prospect, a posterity at stake due to national economic crashes. Please reason well

Sirniyeh:
Remember that you are a prospect, a posterity at stake due to national economic crashes. Please reason well

In other words tinubu has no problem with the national dialogue or conference. But he is unsure of the conveners sincerity.

Jonathan's 'supposed' antecedent is playing on Tinubu's mind.

Ogbonaikenna: you mean we should implement that rubbish organised by obj?

on what criteria you view it to be rubbish? Many nigerians just open their mouth to talk any how! If previous recommendations were rubbish, what is the guaranty that the NC at this present hot condition will bear good fruit? Dont be deceived

Tinubu needs to go to school. How can there be sovereign national conference. There cant be a sovereign national conference.. because three sovereign countries came to form a body.

So the sovereignty of the 3 countries which came to form a body call nigeria is protected under law.

Tinubu is only speaking for his own interest .


I watch channel online, when tony Uranta and Tony nyaim use the word sovereign without them understanding what the meaning of the word is. Many nigeria dont understand the meaning of the word sovereign

When 3 state come to form a body. Their sovereignty remain with this 3 state. What it means is that Delta state land can never be part of eastern nigeria. while Kwara or kogi state or borgu in niger state can never be part of the North.

kwara and kogi were part of western nigeria. it is bad media and bad military govt and misinformation and twitting of the truth by the nigeria media . I was shock to discovery the real history of nigeria, living over here from video and the library.

You cannot treat a sickness without first knowing the name of the sickness and the root cause of it. You cannot have a free, fair election as you desired without Nigerians coming together to layout a plan of how that can be achieved. Nigerians have done elections for years and after which the result has been problematic, no politician in Nigeria is ready to accept a defeat. They will be in court until the next election and that is what you Tinubu want Nigerians to continue to go through? Anybody that says evil thing about this idea of national conference must be regarded as number one enemy of Nigeria, simple.

We all know the truth behinde this GEJ National Confrence... Even GEJ supporters knows that this NC is a FAKE.

Stupid boko-haram sympathizer,but you and your Tinubu want amnesty for your boko-haram.

Sirniyeh:
stup.id nigerian, how did you pass your waec english comprehension? Are we discussing looting here?
Please go to YABA FOR CHECKUP

tallbit: Tinubu needs to go to school. How can there be sovereign national conference. There cant be a sovereign national conference.. because three sovereign countries came to form a body.

So the sovereignty of the 3 countries which came to form a body call nigeria is protected under law.

Tinubu is only speaking for his own interest .


I watch channel online, when tony Uranta and Tony nyaim use the word sovereign without them understanding what the meaning of the word is. Many nigeria dont understand the meaning of the word sovereign

When 3 state come to form a body. Their sovereignty remain with this 3 state. What it means is that Delta state land can never be part of eastern nigeria. while Kwara or kogi state or borgu in niger state can never be part of the Nupe.

kwara and kogi were part of western nigeria. it is bad media and bad military govt and misinformation and twitting of the truth by the nigeria media . I was shock to discovery the real history of nigeria, living over here from video and the library.

Musiwa, is that you?

Sirniyeh:
on what criteria you view it to be rubbish? Many nigerians just open their mouth to talk any how! If previous recommendations were rubbish, what is the guaranty that the NC at this present hot condition will bear good fruit? Dont be deceived

it is rubbish cos obj imposed a "no go area". People didn't speak their mind

It's quiet unfortunate reading trash made by some senseless nairalanders in their respond to viberant and intteligent point raised by formal governor of Lagos stateTinubu towards bright future of Nigeria.
I see those who castigate this man as senseless because in the beginning of his write up he sincerely emphasize on freedom of opinion but left for you to decides which way to follow.
He pointed out some critical issues regarding past committee with a lot of resources been wasted without achievement. He also, in his comment recommends the implementation of Uwais and other report in other to save time and as well save the nation from looming catastrophe that capable of consuming everybody in this country as a result of poor governance and insecurity status of Nigeria. But instead of weighing this brilliant point with seriousness and genuinety, some fools were busy stoning words at him as if he had for once be a president to this country and created the mess.
Some of you can shout and bark from now till the end, one certain thing is that this man has made a records. Part of his achievements is Lagos state which can never be measured with any state in Nigeria including the capital in terms of development. In South west as a whole, no one can't claim blindness to what is happening in the region which was facilitated by this same man. If those in the central now call him any name because of his brilliancy, Nigerians with clue about happening in Nigeria know who to stone. The waste of our recourses on what will have no implementation at the end should be jettison from onset before it leads to catastrophe that would consume us all.

tallbit: Tinubu needs to go to school. How can there be sovereign national conference. There cant be a sovereign national conference.. because three sovereign countries came to form a body.

So the sovereignty of the 3 countries which came to form a body call nigeria is protected under law.

Tinubu is only speaking for his own interest .


I watch channel online, when tony Uranta and Tony nyaim use the word sovereign without them understanding what the meaning of the word is. Many nigeria dont understand the meaning of the word sovereign

When 3 state come to form a body. Their sovereignty remain with this 3 state. What it means is that Delta state land can never be part of eastern nigeria. while Kwara or kogi state or borgu in niger state can never be part of the North.

kwara and kogi were part of western nigeria. it is bad media and bad military govt and misinformation and twitting of the truth by the nigeria media . I was shock to discovery the real history of nigeria, living over here from video and the library.

what is this one saying. Abeg park well

Sirniyeh: A true reasonable and foresight nigerian, who patiently read through Tinubu's plight must, without political or tribal bias, know that this is absolute TRUTH.
The summary of it all is, let all previous recommendations be implemented. This is not right time for national conference even though we deserve it.

Any independent mind should have nothing but praise for what Tinubu wrote. His concerns are legitimate in the present dispensation. You have to be worried when committee after committees have been set-up without any of their recommendations being implemented. What we need is true SNC. This NC headed by jobless former PDP goons won't work. It is set-up to perpetuate longer term for Jonathan. Jonathan is looking for a second term in office where he gets 7-10 year office term starting from 2015. It won't work in this climate.

It is Jonathan's destiny to plunge Nigeria into crisis if he doesn't get his way. My mind tells me Jonathan will end up either like Samuel Doe or Lawrence Gbagbo.

payless:

Any independent mind should have nothing but praise for what Tinubu wrote. His concerns are legitimate in the present dispensation. You have to be worried when committee after committees have been set-up without any of their recommendations being implemented. What we need is true SNC. This NC headed by jobless former PDP goons won't work. It is set-up to perpetuate longer term for Jonathan. Jonathan is looking for a second term in office where he gets 7-10 year office term starting from 2015. It won't work in this climate.

It is Jonathan's destiny to plunge Nigeria into crisis if he doesn't get his way. My mind tells me Jonathan will end up either like Samuel Doe or Lawrence Gbagbo.

In the words of ice T, your mind is playing tricks on you.

Good

who taught Tinubu how to read and write? only in Nigeria will a renowned international fraudster like Tinubu accuse someone comfortably of fraud.

what praise tinubu wrote nonsense.
there can be a conference but not sovereign national conference

tinubu is selfish.. he thinks and talk base on its selfishness because he is going to loss money. He stole money from Yoruba people and he invested that money in the north , so he is trying to protect the money he stole from Yoruba people over the lifes of the people. This is what is happening with tinubu.

there cant be a SOVEREIGN national conference because there are 3 sovereign countries that make up nigeria. the 3 countries are sovereign and independent on their own. nigeria is just a body. there was the cool war between ussr and the usa. so to prevent invasion and money system unity that why they form nigeria.

there can be a conference but not sovereign national conference


That SOVEREIGN have already been determine. Tinubu should go to school. That SOVEREIGN lays with 3 countries. which are occupied.

Western Nigeria
Eastern Nigeria
Northern Nigeria

This is why 1,000,000 people were killed in the Nigeria civil war. Because gowon has no respect for the sovereign of others. Because Gowon was a abuser. I say it again. Gowon was an abuser. because it is an international crime to prevent a sovereign nation their right to determine if they want to remain in Nigeria, a mere body.

I believe Gowon should offer apology to the people of eastern nigeria for abuse .

When in 1963, the federal republic of nigeria was form. Western Nigeria was not part of the republic of Nigeria. why, because Western Nigeria had its own sovereignty and independent separate.


this video took place in the east. so when Ojukwu now decided he wanted to remove eastern nigeria. Gowon said NO.

That why Gowon have been hanging around Jonathan so that that he does not get taken to ICC for the biafra war since this guy from canada is a judge, so he has been hanging around Jonathan ever since.. because he knew he was wrong at that time. He was old enough to know the truth. but more of domination of other people.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TPgbteWcBCY

payless:
Jonathan is looking for a second term in office where he gets 7-10 year office term starting from 2015. It won't work in this climate.

It is Jonathan's destiny to plunge Nigeria into crisis if he doesn't get his way. My mind tells me Jonathan will end up either like Samuel Doe or Lawrence Gbagbo.

Nope, Jonathan wants Life Presidency.

Go look back at his very first month in power . Now, look at:

(1) the Presidents he visited.

answer: Paul Biya and Yuweri Musevini (Cameroon and Uganda)

(2) how they rule their countries

answer: Dictators

(3) what are their "term limits".

answer: None. They changed the term limits in their countries' constitutions.


Now, in that same very first month go find out what the VERY FIRST BILL was that GEJ said he'd propose to the National Assembly.

Answer: 7yr Single Term Proposal!

Lol. SMH Nigerians are very forgetful. I dont know if they do it willfully just to be blind to the truth because of ethnic bias or what. Anyway, Dictators rarely just come into power and declare themselves Presidents for life, they usually work their way up and soften the polity for the inevitable. That usually takes a few years. Nigerians are almost ready.

FreeGlobe: who taught Tinubu how to read and write? only in Nigeria will a renowned international fraudster like Tinubu accuse someone comfortably of fraud.

If there is a fact on your alleged curruption against Tinubu he can’t be working free. Been the only one giving Jonathan sleepless he ought to have been mess up like others in other to allow the later sleep with his two eye closed. Jonathan wife was caught red handed for money laundry; Jonathan himself in all evidences is a culprit.
Can’t you be honest for a second? Why are you people from South south making your dull brain obvious?