The Federal Government has been called upon to create National Integration Commission [NIC] under the presidency that would champion actions and activities that would break the resistance to a true nation-state, overcome the strong bonds of ethnic affiliation and the emergence of a democratic citizenship with full rights.
Osita Ogbu, Professor of Economics and Director, Institute for Development Studies, University of Nigeria, Nsukka made this call on ‘National Integration, citizenship and the challenge of Economic And Policy’, at the 2017 annual lecturer organised by the Chartered Institute of Bankers of nigeria (CIBN) in Lagos.
Ogbu suggested that the first order of business for the Commission would be a review of the 2014 Conference report that contains very important proposals for national integration and key elements of the draft constitution of 1995 and all other documents whose elements can become part of a new constitution that comes from “We the people.”
“But the work of the Commission cannot stop there. The institutional framework and the underlying principles would be the continuous promotion of ethos of hard work, equity and justice, multiple identity, religious and cultural tolerance, increasing the stock of knowledge of all regions, mind-set changes with the appropriate cultural software, national political ideology, and a sense of pride in a diverse but united Nigeria. It is a leadership responsibility but it is our responsibility too”,Ogbu said.
In examining Nigeria’s match towards social and economic progress, he said it has become very clear that the periods of relative progress have coincided with the period when there is seemingly a convergence on national ideology and when creativity and imagination were brought to bear on common purpose.
Hope Moses-As shike
