RE: MEMO TO CONFERENCE ADVISORY COMMITTEE
as stated by the President while inaugurating the National Advisory Committee Monday at State House. Last time we checked, he, the President, was the only ‘child’ Necessity ever gave this nation. But Necessity is pregnant again, and we shall soon welcome her second child to be midwifed by Afenifere chieftain Senator Femi Okurounmu to be […]
as stated by the President while inaugurating the National Advisory Committee Monday at State House. Last time we checked, he, the President, was the only ‘child’ Necessity ever gave this nation. But Necessity is pregnant again, and we shall soon welcome her second child to be midwifed by Afenifere chieftain Senator Femi Okurounmu to be assisted by Ohanaeze Ndigbo chieftain Professor Ben Nwabueze (who was unavoidably absent at the inauguration) and PDP chieftain Dr. Akilu Indabawa, as well as 10 other wise men and women who could equally deliver “Necessity’s baby”.
And in order to give Muslims on Hajj the opportunity of returning to the country and contributing to the Advisoty Committee’s work, the President sensitively and magnanimously extended to six weeks the period of the Committee work, rather than the four weeks he earlier announced in his Independence Day Address. (Kai mun gode Sir!). He also gave members of the Committee a free hand to decide the nomenclature for the planned conference; whether it would be called a national dialogue, conversation or conference. Sovereign?
In his response, Committee Chairman Okurounmu had stated that since the President has not established any so-called “no go” areas for the committee, it (the committee) “would live up to the expectations of the president” and the people by carrying out its assignment with all sense of responsibility. Expectations?
And so, arising from last week’s Advisory to the Advisory Committee, several readers wrote in to add their own pieces of advice. Excerpts:
Mohammed M. Mohammed ([email protected]): Your piece on the above subject is very scintillating and a good counsel from a Good Samaritan. Let the organisers and the participants of the big show remember to ensure that all assets are to be shared equally if the need to go our separate ways comes to pass. Any marriage of 53 years devoid of peaceful coexistence, progress, mutual relationship and respect for one another is not worth it. The greatest lesson in life is to know that everyone can be smart sometimes. May Allah bless this great nation with more of your kind.
Isa Nuhu ([email protected]): I hope this write-up is just the beginning. Please keep it up and make it more outright in our interest. Allah SubhanaHu wa Ta’ala will definitely ask you a question on what you have done since he gave you the intellect to influence people’s view by the pen. May Allah guide you.
Fatima Dikko ([email protected]): Great piece as usual. I hope they will listen to you and follow those pieces of advice, even though I doubt they will. I have come to realise one thing about Nigerian politicians; all they do is confuse the ordinary citizens. They make us believe that other ethnic groups are our problem. Whenever you see a politician doing something for the ordinary people, just know that he is in it for himself. Wallahi they don’t have our best interest at heart. All they care about is how to remain in power at all cost. It’s really sad. The only way we can send them packing through fair election they won’t let us. Election rigging is now part of our democracy. People stoop so low to sell their votes. Allah dai Ya sa mu dace, amin.
Adamu Abdulsalam ([email protected]): Your memo to the Conference Advisory Committee is a one brilliant write-up! You have, in your conversational and convivial manner, draped the whole committee in the shroud called “interest”. Yet you have also succinctly inadvertently represented my own interest. I am proud to be associated with the Memo. Ka mini daidai!
Hajara Usman [email protected]: I laughed heartily reading your Memo to the Conference Advisory Committee. It is often said that when a leader does not have a hand in a crisis, that crisis will easily be resolved. The actions of the President consistently expose him as one devoid of sincerity. The pieces of advice you have offered in your piece touch a raw nerve in all of us, but I will continue to posit that Nigerians don’t have problems with each other; rather, some simple minded folks and ignorantly literate Nigerians have been brainwashed using religious and ethnic sentiments to fan the embers of hatred amongst each other. Just like P.O.C Umeh says in his poem “Ambassadors of Poverty”, our political class must have an alibi for (mis)governance hence the hoodwinking of gullible Nigerians, whipping them into a frenzy of mass hysterics. The result is what we see today. We should have been very rich as a country today because all parts of Nigeria have their comparative advantages which when harnessed would have beaten Saudi Arabia. But what have we? A few people cornering the wealth and beginning to be afraid that we will start taking notice, will now run back to their ethnic and religious cocoons to point accusing fingers in the wrong direction. Well, good luck with the conference.
Misbahu N. Katsina ([email protected]): I agree 100% with your Memo to the Conference Advisory Committee. Further, delegates should keep in mind that, in the finer details, if Nigeria does decide to break up, the off-shore oil wells belong to all of present day Nigeria. Every state of the present federation MUST BE ALLOCATED ITS SHARE! What more, if we ever find oil in the Sahara Desert behind our backyard, the others would also get a share; it is similarly another Allah-given offshore resource.
Abubakar Ahmed Nahuche ([email protected]): Delegates should agree to make recommendation that any section of the country that wishes to secede should be allowed to go. That’s where we are headed, so we should not fight over it. We should make it very easy for any geographical zone that wants to go to go. Just conduct a simple referendum, if the ‘Yes, We Want To Go’ gets 60 percent (or even 51% if agreed), let them go. Any contiguous state or local government that wants to follow them from another zone can also have their way after a similar referendum. There is no need for anyone to shout if they want to go. Just go.
Ismaila Muhammad W. Golkos ([email protected]): I am very happy with these pieces of advice. I agree with them entirely. More grease to your elbow. Allah Shi kara ma ka basira!
Ibrahim Abdullahi ([email protected]): Your Column was very exciting. You have spoken the minds of many voiceless and oppressed Nigerians. The pieces of advice you proffered on our behalf match our feelings, we the masses, the majority. There should be no no-go-areas; let EVERYTHING be thoroughly discussed and thrashed out, and decisions taken appropriately. Any tribe that wants to go, let it. There is no ‘must’ in living together in as much as there is suspense and mistrust. I want to add that the issue of religion needs to be discussed; let each religion be allowed to be practiced according to its teachings; there should be no hindrance. We are being cheated in this country. We are being denied our right to practice our religion as it is revealed. Lastly, I do hope that representatives will be chosen based on merit. Let’s send those who can fight for us to the best of their abilities. This is very sensitive, let politics play no role, it’s our fate. Take heed. JazakAllah our elder brother!
Elder Statesman (verbal comment): We have seen that the leaders of Afenifere and Ohanaeze Ndigbo as well as the PDP are very prominent in this Committee. Is the Arewa Consultative Forum and the APC waiting until the National Conference proper, or what?