Exclusive: FG considers committee on National Conference
By Ayobami Ajayi
Worried by the growing agitations in the country, the Federal Government is considering a national committee with the aim of convoking a National Conference and the restructuting of Nigeria, Irohinoodua learnt this morning.
The source told our correspondent that President Mohammadu Buhari is weighing the option of convoking a national conference that will address salient issues among which is the thorny national question.
“The President is considering the suggestion for a National Conference. This is informed by the on-going debate across the country for a national conference. There may be a policy change on this issue very soon”, a top official at the Presidency told Irohinoodua on Monday. The source said the Presidency is worried that the debate on the conference has become too strong to be ignored by any one. “The President is looking at the suggestions. He might speak on this issue in October during the country’s anniversary or early next year. Definitely there is a pointer to this aspect of the National Conference,” the source said.
Last week, former Minister of Education and Fulani aristocrat raised the tempo of debate on the national question when he said that the unity of Nigeria was debatable. He had said “So what is so special about Nigeria? If we find truly that we cannot develop and guarantee the welfare of our people as a nation and the solution is to go our separate ways, why not? So you see, this is the thing we have to always discuss at all times honestly.”
However, there are fears that the possible proposal by the Presidency may be another gimmick to delude Nigerians and give a sense of false confidence that the National Conference would be convened to deal with what appears as the fundamental problems of the country.
“If they are talking of National Conference, we should know that is a gimmick to retain power and further delude Nigerians. There are more than enough reports from 1922 during the Clifford Constitution to the last report of President Goodluck Jonathan. If they are genuine, they should dust up these reports and let the Presidency make recommendations to the National Assembly. State police for instance could begin by the IG being instructed to post police ratings to their states of origin”, Mr Akanni Olumide Salau an official of the Oodua Nationalist Coalition, (ONAC) told Irohinoodua. He said a new National Conference will be time wasting and will also “dwindle national resources.”