As Jonathan convenes his conference

Clearly President Jonathan is a late convert to the idea of a conference that its proponents consider to be a cure all for the Nigerian malaise of missed opportunities and stunted growth. It was just on October 1st 2013 that the President sprang the conference surprise which an array of elites, most notably the Patriots […]

Clearly President Jonathan is a late convert to the idea of a conference that its proponents consider to be a cure all for the Nigerian malaise of missed opportunities and stunted growth. It was just on October 1st 2013 that the President sprang the conference surprise which an array of elites, most notably the Patriots and many other like minded fellows have for decades being promoting. The idea is that such a conference is needed for the country to renegotiate the basis of its continued existence, determine the best form of government and address such often repeated ideas as fiscal federalism and devolve powers away from the central government. So far all the conferences held to draw up the Abacha constitution and the political reform conference under President Obasanjo have fallen short of the expectation of almost everyone, including their conveners, in the case of General Abacha,who did not get the endorsement he wanted and neither did the Obasanjo conference facilitate a third term for him. In the present case, the loudest proponents of the Jonathan conference appear to be disappointed even before it begins as it will not have a sovereign status just as it is not based on the much canvassed basis of ethnic nationalities.
That is why, despite the misgivings about the true motive for President Jonathan’s conference,this newspaper believes that as long as the 1999 constitution is not overthrown by stealth and subterfuge, this too shall pass without achieving much. It is noteworthy that the mandate of the delegates to the conference originates not from the people but from those who appointed them, as no election was held to produce them. It is also a measure of the ad hoc nature of the conference that there is no law backing it and as such it may just be an exercise in futility as far as the current constitution is concerned. The conference may well turn out to be a case of the Nigerian power elite fiddling while the country slides into an abyss. We also share the view expressed by those who say that whatever they do the conferees should ensure that their  agenda is carefully chosen so that issues which may  offend the provisions of the 1999 constitution, threaten the peace, security, harmonious co-existence of the country, imperil the 2015 elections are avoided.
It looks very likely that the conference will be full of sound and fury, yet signifying little in the way of a workable plan that is different from what already exist in the form of the 1999 constitution in operation in the country now. Of course the conference hall of the National Judicial Institute where the conferees will assemble later today and thereafter for the many months that it will last,will witness a lot of grand standing, provocative and divisive statements and threats that may task the patience of the presiding officers and do little in promoting understanding, tolerance and consensus  needed in a patchwork nation like Nigeria.
As always, Daily Trust welcomes any opportunity for meaningful discussion by elected representatives of the people. We however do not support any attempt that has a predetermined agenda and which seeks to force down a minority position against a majority group in a democracy.
All this is not because the country is not faced by a serious challenges. At no other time in its 100 years existence has Nigeria faced the kind of threats it now faces in terms of its security, cohesion, infrastructure and general failure of state institutions. For us, the way forward is to seek to improve the current constitution through its amendment, which though sadly our elected representatives have failed to do so far. The failure to amend the 1999 document has provided more ammunition to those who think only a sovereign national conference can adequately deal with all the contentious issues which have arisen.
The trouble is that the current arrangement cannot be displaced by the decisions of a handpicked assembly which represents  vocal but minority interest groups. Furthermore, the constitution we operate does not envisage a referendum to make the decisions of the Jonathan conference override its own provisions. This means that while the president can have his conference, if the rule of law is to prevail, its decisions will only amount to whatever the existing national assembly decides to accord it when the report eventually gets to it. And with the 2015 elections less than a year away, we encourage all Nigerians to collectively resolve to make it the defining election for the country and ensure that they chose their true representatives whose first task will be to amend all those sections of the constitution we currently find detrimental to our progress as a nation. That way a national consensus will have been achieved on the issue as the 2015 election may well be fought on the issue of making our legislators earn their pay if not also pare it down to something that reflects the reality of our situation.