The National Conference began on Monday, March 17, at the National Judiciary Institute in Abuja. The confab that will last for three months and cost around N7bn ($42mln) is meant to provide a platform for Nigerians to discuss issues of common concern. These issues that are likely to be at the top of the agenda are Islamist-linked violence in the north, corruption, a more fair distribution of oil wealth, and the effectiveness of the country's political structure. Former Minister of State for Defence, Olusola Obada (right), Legal Practitioner, Adeniyi Akintola (middle) and Vice President, Nigeria Labour Congress, Isa Aremu during a voting pattern on the resolutions of the conference in Abuja yesterday A visibly angry delegate, Naseer Kura (left) being calmed down by the President , Market Women Association of Nigeria, Felecia Sani during a debate on the voting pattern of the resolutions of the conference in Abuja yesterday One of the delegates taking a nap during yest...
Nobel Laureate, Wole Soyinka has voted in favour of the parliamentary government as the system of government that will serve Nigerians better than the presidential system the country currently operates. * Soyinka wants Nigeria to operate Parliamentary System of Government Soyinka made this statement during a debate titled: “Will Nigeria be better Served by a parliamentary System of Government?, at the inaugural debate of the St. John’s Forum, held in Lagos on Wednesday. Other panellists for the debate included former Minister of Foreign Affairs, Odein Ajumogobia, who argued in favour of parliamentary government as well as the Director, Legislative Support Services, National Institute of Legislative Services, Okechukwu Oko, who argued in favour of the presidential system and Associate Professor in African Politics at the University of Oxford, Raufu Mustapha, who was in favour of a hybrid system of monarchy. While denouncing the cost of running the presidential syste...
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 su...
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