Nigerian Problems That National Conference Can Resolve

I had publicly expressed reservations about the National Conference that has just been inaugurated by President Goodluck Jonathan, especially regarding its timing and whether the government has the capacity to manage the conference as well as the impending general election.

The conference ought to have been convoked a long time ago so as to give enough time for the agreed outcomes of its deliberations to have the force of law, especially as some may require the arduous process of amending our constitution. It is also a conference that may inflame passions at a time of growing tensions in the country over the 2015 general election, governance and generalised insecurity in the land. The government’s goal and the legal framework of the conference are also not clear to me. However, I want to assume that a new and improved Nigeria is the goal.

Delegates have been selected and are in attendance. Deliberations are taking place and a report or reports will be prepared and submitted, which, at the very least, will become part of the public record.

Renewing Our Federalism

At the core of the calls for a National Conference of one type or the other has been the desire to renew our federalism, to make it work. Some have called it the national question; others call it restructuring. Obviously our federation is not working well. It has not worked well for a long time; indeed it is broken, and therefore, needs fixing.

Each delegate or delegation will have expectations of the outcomes of the conference, which may be different from those of others. But if Nigeria and Nigerians are placed first (and that is a big 'if'), the outcome will be useful. If, however, as some suspect, the conference is intended to sidestep the constitutional requirement for general election in 2015 for some other arranged transitional contraption, then the fate of similar conferences in our recent memory will befall this one as well. Nigerians, including the conference delegates, must defend our constitution and our democracy.

It is critical to achieve some kind of national consensus on key issues that will help this country and our people. To me, the agenda should be limited to a few critical issues that need to be urgently addressed in order for us to adequately confront such development challenges as economic diversification, youth employment, security, education, and infrastructure.

Therefore, the conference, in my view, should focus on the structure of relations among the tiers of government (local, state and federal) that would best ensure the optimal solution to these development challenges and deepening and securing our democracy. And many of the issues around this would not even require constitutional amendment.

Let us not waste time asking for what nobody will give. There are things we can easily agree on if only we are willing to listen to each other. And there is a need to start with what we can agree on and deal with more controversial issues later.