When the idea was made public last year during the October 1 nationwide broadcast by President Goodluck Jonathan, there were expressions of reservation.
It was alleged that the President may have initiated the idea to divert attention from his government and to rock the people to sleep while plotting on his re-election agenda.
There was also the allegation that the President was desperately seeking legitimacy for his lack-lustre style of administration.
When he constituted the advisory committee on the dialogue headed by Femi Okurounmu, and when the team began to visit the geo-political zones, in some places, the reception was not all that cordial. Doubts and pessimism were the expressions of many, including some state governors who openly dismissed the proposal as dead on arrival.
The modalities for delegates’ selection and other issues such as the role the National Assembly should or not play on the product of the dialogue also generated heated arguments. Added to other areas of disagreement was the omission or non-inclusion of some groups, associations and ethnic nationalities.
Many Nigerians picked holes in the suggestion that the decision of the delegates at the end of the day would be subject to ratification by the National Assembly. According to those who oppose any such arrangement, the product of the dialogue should rather be subjected to a referendum to make it the “people’s document”.
Some pundits were of the opinion that the President just wanted to make some people millionaires ahead of the elections in 2015, in order to attract huge support to his re-election.
Despite the misgivings, the National Conference, which is expected to last for three months, will today kick off in Abuja, the nation’s capital.
A member of the Presidential Dialogue Committee, who spoke with BDSunday on condition of anonymity, said contrary to the belief that the President haboured secret intentions about the conference, Jonathan was doing it with a high degree of determination to chart a path for a new Nigeria.
“Frankly speaking, Mr. President is committed to seeing the success of the National Conference. He repeatedly reminded us that he would see the project to its logical conclusion and ensure that the resolutions are expeditiously implemented. What I think we should bother ourselves about is the commitment with which the delegates should approach the debate. He, the President, has set the AGOMUOball rolling by providing the necessary stimulus; how the delegates will deliver on their assignment will determine the realisation or otherwise of this all-important aspiration of Nigerians, not just that of the President alone,” the committee member said.
Asked whether the Okorounmu-led committee still has anything to with the conference while the dialogue is on, the member said No.
“Our job ended with the submission of our report”, he said.
A medical practitioner, who spoke with our correspondent o anonymity said, although the conference would hold, the outcome would not worth the while.
“From the word go, the National Conference was not destined to produce anything worthwhile. The sincerity of the organizers is suspect. It was not conceived to produce useful or credible result. Why do I so? It is because if the President and governors nominated one third (1/3) of the entire delegates, that will tell you it is no longer the people’s programme, but politicians’. Everybody in this country knows that the major problem of Nigeria is the politicians who have polluted the air and dangerously raped our value system. So, if there’s anybody we would not like to be among the delegates, it is the politician, but what do we see? The entire thing is being hijacked by politicians and we are watching helplessly.
“We now hear that each delegate may be paid N4million per month. It means each of them will get N12million for the three month duration of the talk. And that is where the attraction is. I am also dismayed at some of the names I saw on the list. People who have no moral high ground to make contribution for the Nigeria of tomorrow by virtue of their corrupt and base lifestyles that are public knowledge.
“If we are talking about taking Nigeria to the next level, it is definitely not the crop of people chosen to be delegates at the event. Although there are some credible names there, my argument is that a finger smeared in oil is capable of affecting the rest fingers. For me, I have no hope about any good outcome of the dialogue.”
Also expressing pessimism in the ability of the delegates to deliver, a public analyst and social critic said although the intentions were good and commendable as Nigerians needed to talk, it is doubtful if the National Conference being put together now will lead to the Nigeria of “our dream.”
According to the analyst, “I see the gathering as a mere opportunity to empower some people financially. For instance, how did the President, governors, professional groups, ethnic nationalities and others choose their delegates? Were there elections or they were just handpicked on the basis of connections? You may doubt this, but I tell you that many of those on the list are going to pay ‘tithe’ to those who nominated them.
“It was just a racket. And you can trust that many of them will not open their mouth to make any contribution all through the period of the dialogue. We are going to see a resemblance of what goes on at the National Assembly where some lawmakers only visit the chambers whenever there’s money to share. Many of them have not opened their mouth to make useful contributions since they got there. Those who nominated the delegates may have even told them to go there and collect their share of the huge amount voted, and every other thing will be story.”
Although the All Progressive Congress (APC) insists it will not participate in the dialogue, it has, however, allowed states under its umbrella to send delegates.
Explaining the reason for taking such a step, Lai Mohammed, national publicity secretary of the party, said: “We said our political party would not participate in the national conference and we explained why. We said it is diversionary, it is meant to cover up corruption and that our own idea of national conference is not the one that will be ratified by the National Assembly but by a national referendum. We raised other issues also. Nothing has happened to change our position. That’s why we are not participating.
However, our governors are not governors of APC alone in their states. Are they? Why must we now impose our own view on everybody in their states? We’re making a clear-cut distinction between partisanship and leadership, that as a political party, this is our view. We said, the people said they want to talk, how can we impose our own partisan view on them? That’s why we allowed our governors to give the people the opportunity.
