With the formal swearing in by President Goodluck Jonathan of the 13 member advisory committee on the national conference, the issue has shifted from conceptualization to implementation. One issue which has emerged in the terms of reference is that there is no red line or restriction on what to discuss. This means that the experiment with the state-craft of Nigeria between 1914 and 2013 should be open to a total review. In the process, the areas of strength should be further strengthened; while the areas of weakness should be eliminated.
The success of the committee will depend, largely on the caliber and quality of those who are either selected or elected to be the members of the national conference. The only way to a successful conference is to select Nigerians that are patriotic people with tract record of service to the nation and those who are specialist in the various fields of knowledge for reviewing a constitution.
Those who are to decide the future of Nigeria must ne patriotic and believe in the edifice called Nigeria. If we start from this premise others will be easy to handle. On the other hand, it allows those who have preaching disintegration and even plotting a coup to dismember the nation to be members of the conference is likely to be inconclusive. Getting patriotic people into the conference because there are certain underlying factor which should be carefully managed. The South-West zone has always argued for the re-negotiation of the amalgamation of the Nigerian Nation-State and even pushed for secession clause in the independence constitution.
The sentiments of this tendency has emerged as a modern form with activities of Oodua People’s Congress (OPC) and the Afenefere. The South-East once attempted for secede and was only stopped by a 30 months bloody civil war. The tendency is still alive with the Movement for the Actualization of then Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB). The struggle for resource control in the Niger Delta has led to the emergence of militants like Movement for Emancipation of Niger Delta (MEND) and Niger Delta Defence (NDDF). The Amnesty Programme of the late Musa YaAdua reduce of the tempo of the struggle, but the tempo of activities has picked with the increase in oil theft and general instability in zone. Asari Dokunbo one of the King Pin of the Niger Delta struggle recently said in an interview that what they want now is “independence”. From the foregoing, it could be seen that the environment of the conference is filled with by trade which if not properly managed could sink it.
Constitutional review is an architect route task which requires expert. A building which is not designed by experts cannot withstand the fact of time. This necessitates the bringing to the committee experts in various relevant periods. This was done in the composition of the Political Bureau under the Government of General Ibrahim Babangida and the Electoral Reform Committee of President Musa YaAdua. Specific experts required in the National Conference are those in the area of constitutional law. Political scientists are specialists in political institutions and conflict management, Sociologists are experts on social structure and Psychologists are specialist in social behavior.
The conference is not likely to achieve much if members are selected on primordial consideration as there will be mere delegate promoting and projecting specific interests.
Zonal representation cannot be neglected, but it should be done within the parameter of patroticism and relevant qualification. It is necessary to mention that those who are part of the present problem should not be part of the solution.
