2014 Confab report: When delegates continued agitation for implementation

Delegates to the 2014 National Conference gathered in Abuja last week to press for the implementation of the confab’s recommendations. LEON USIGBE reports.

AT the end of the National Conference organized by the President Goodluck Jonathan administration in 2014, hopes were high that the desirable political, social and economic reforms were in the horizon because for the first time, there was a near unanimity among conference delegates on how to move the nation forward. A total of 492 delegates participated, drawn from different ethnic nationalities, political parties, labour unions, professional groups, civil society groups, academia, social-cultural organizations, traditional institutions, the Diaspora, among others. They deliberated for 120 and through consensus, arrived at resolutions that were thought to present the best potentials to remodel the country and transform it to a modern and unified entity. But the Jonathan administration left office before it had the opportunity to implement the conference›s recommendations and the succeeding Muhammadu Buhari government did not as much as even read the document handed over to it by Jonathan to determine its worth.

All the issues that led to the convening of the conference remain with the country and have since become even more troubling notwithstanding the fact that the 2014 conference report had provided the way forward. It was against this backdrop that 252 former delegates to the conference gathered in Abuja last week under the aegis of “The Reunion Summit of Delegates to the 2015 National Conference” to demand for the the implementation of the confab recommendations.

According to the Chairman of the Planning Committee of the summit, John Dara, it was convened to “explore ways and means of promoting the implementation of the recommendations of the 2014 National Conference.” He explained: “The objectives of our gathering here today are: to facilitate the re-union of all delegates to the 2014 National Conference, to promote friendly, fraternal and familial feelings among members; to come up with appropriate measures to publish and publicize the reports and recommendations of the Conference; to develop strategy and action programmes for the implementation of the recommendations of the Conference, to possibly create and sustain a ‘2014 National Conference Forum’ for continuous interaction and collaboration in national interest, and above all, to start a sustainable programme of action for the peace, unity and progress of Nigeria.”

He continued: “Since we were wise enough to prepare an excellent blueprint for the transformation and breakthrough of our nation, without prejudice to whatever plan of action we may choose to embark on, we need to persuade the present administration of President Muhammadu Buhari of the benefits and workability of the resolutions and recommendations of the 2014 National Conference. We need to work closely with the National Assembly to ensure they make the Report of that Conference their primary and that principal reference material for amending the 1999 Constitution, and for making laws for the nation.”

Dara recalled that the conference which was inaugurated by the former President Jonathan on March 17 2014, featured some of the best minds and leaders in Nigeria and after about five months of hard work, Nigeria was given a clear roadmap to peace, prosperity and greatness. According to him, «not a single delegate boycotted the conference from beginning to the end, and it came to a delightful happy ending on August 14, 2014 when we unanimously adopted the reports and recommendations of the conference. We sang, danced, hugged and some wept at the realization that in spite of our differences, we are patriotic members of one large family, all seeking the best for Nigeria.” He recalled that the 2014 National Conference was by far the most representative of all such  conferences and therefore, “No progressive government can and should dismiss the recommendations of such a serious and representative gathering of thinkers and leaders,” adding: “We can only overcome our national challenges when we have the commitment and courage to take the right measures for solidarity and breakthrough. Many of the socio-economic and political issues that warranted the convening of that Conference are still very much with us.”

Dara took time to go through some of the key recommendations made by the conference and stressed the need for the summit to embark on a programme of action that would make it imperative for all political parties and aspirants in the coming elections, especially in 2019, to declare their stance on the recommendations of 2014 National Conference.

Chairman of the summit, Tanko Yakassai, was keen to stress that the summit was not a continuation of 2014 National Conference but a private initiative of some former delegates to that Conference with the sole objective of devising a strategy to promote the implementation of the recommendations of the Conference. He similarly recalled that most of the decisions taken on the recommendations of the conference committees were by and large, adopted by unanimous consent even though at times, there were many areas of differences and disagreements given the size and varying backgrounds of the delegates but such differences were resolved by majority decisions.

The elder statesman  argued that since the summit was taking place at a time when the National Assembly was also engaged in activities aimed at changing some provisions of the constitution, it was therefore, taking place at a time that could be said to be ideal for the purpose for which it was initiated.  He consequently urged the summit to concentrate attention on that particular area in order to make better use of the rare opportunity. He added: «Failure to do that would mean waiting for a number of years before the opportunity will present itself again, since the process of amending our constitution is a long, arduous and time consuming exercise.”

Yakassai harped on the need for unity in the delegates’ commitment to the peace, progress and prosperity of the country,

The keynote speaker and fiery Edo lawyer, Chief Mike Ozekhome (SAN), warned against taking Nigeria’s unity and indivisibility for granted, noting that the present agitations for self-determination by various ethnic groups, the crisis of confidence, ethno-religious crisis, terrorism, hired assassinations, etc, “are but symptoms of a larger malaise: lopsided and inequitable system of allocating and distribution of scarce national resources, leading to an eerie feeling of utmost marginalization, suppression, oppression, repression and subjugation.”

He added: “The simple answer is that we need to go back to the pre-January 1966 true fiscal federalism. The over 600 recommendations of the distinguished Nigerian patriots, men, women and the youth, from all works and strata of life of 2014 National Conference, must be immediately retrieved from the archives where they are gathering dust and spider cobwebs by this government, put on the front burner, and utilized meticulously for the purpose of re-engineering, retooling and reformatting this Nigerian contraption that is still not working.”

He therefore called for restructuring, devolution of powers from the centre to the federating units, enthronement of true fiscal federalism, “all of which the National Conference argued, fought for, disagreed, agreed on and finally consensualised upon, between its inauguration by former President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, on March 17, 2014, to August 14, 2014,” saying that this was to avoid a violent break-up of Nigeria.”

The South West delegates led by Chief Olu Falae, described the confab report as the minimum irreducible needed to move the country forward. The zone regretted that three years after the submission of the report, nothing had been done with it and observed that issues that led to the convening of the conference in 2014 were still very much with the country and threatening its existence. The position paper presented by the zone during summit stated: “It is now almost three years after we concluded our assignment and the reports are gathering dust in the archives while the country is daily drifting to the edge of the precipice and  avoidable crises tearing the entity apart. Many of the issues threatening our corporate existence today would have become a thing of the past if we had implemented the report of the conference. We therefore state unequivocally that implementing the report is the minimum irreducible to move Nigeria forward and build a country that works for all its citizens. We therefore call on the executive arm of the government to initiate the process for the  National Assembly to pick the 2014 conference report submitted to the immediate past legislative session for  implementation. Feelers from our zone is that our people strongly desire that the 2019 elections be conducted on the basis of a new and truly  federal constitution.”

The summit was hosted by Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) national chairmanship aspirant, Chief Raymond Dokpesi, with individual delegate making contributions during the deliberation.

At the end of the summit, participants resolved as follows:

(i) to create a “2014 National Conference Delegates Forum” to sustain advocacy  for the implementation of the 2014 National conference recommendations;

(ii) to come up with appropriate measure to publish and publicize the reports and recommendations of the conference;

(iii) to engage with the Federal Executive, the National Assembly and other relevant stakeholders to promote the implementation  of conference recommendations, and above all,

(iv) to mobilise the Nigerian public to buy into the 2014 national Conference recommendations.

The organizing committee was expanded and mandated to mobilize all the 2014 National Conference Delegates for solidarity, future summits and activities;

The Summit called on all Nigerians to remain committed to the ‘Nigeria Project’, and to redouble efforts for nation al unity, equity, reconstruction, peace and prosperity.

The communique the summit issued was signed by Alh. Tanko Yakassai, OFR; Prof Jerry Gana, CON; HEM Alfred Diete-Spiff, CON; H/E Dr Chukwuemeka Ezeife, CON; Comrade Yinka Odumakin; Chief Paul Bassi; Engr Esther Gonda, OON; Comrade Naseer Kura; Chief Felicia Sani, OON; Comrade Wale James Ajani; Dr Maryam Abdullahi; Comrade Augustine Etafo; H/E Obong Victor Attah; Mr John Dara; Lanre Ogundipe; Chief (Mrs) Chidimma Uwajimogu; Chief E.K. Clark; and Chief Mike Ozekhome SAN