The Bishop of Sokoto Diocese, Bishop Mathew Hassan Kukah, has said that “Nigerians do not need conference” to solve the problems bedevilling the country.
Fielding questions on BBC Hausa service morning programme, monitored in Abuja during the weekend, Kukah also said he believed three months allotted to the conference would not be enough for Nigerians to talk.
According to him, Nigerians cannot convoke a conference any time there is any government in place to solve problems well-known to them and that problems such as lack of light, good governance, unemployment and pervasive corruption in the country do not need conference to be resolved.
He said the country had enough recommendations from Justices Oputa and Niki-Tobi Panels to dissect and solve its problems and do not require another conference since nothing new would be discussed.
He said the conference was going to be a complete waste of time and resources whose recommendations would be messed up by the politicians in the National Assembly.
He said: “Everyone saw what we did at the Niki Tobi panel, where we did a good work only for the country to refuse to use the recommendations.
I want to assure you that if Nigeria had used the report, they would have provided answer to all our problems. But they took our recommendations to the National Assembly and you saw what the politicians did with the report.”
He said since the bulk of the participants would be appointed by the president and the governors, he doubted if the conference would discuss problems facing ordinary Nigerians.
“But like I said, Nigerians say they want to talk and President Jonathan has given them three months to talk, but I know he would not nominate any delegate to the conference that would not help him on what he wants. Similarly, the Governors who would nominate delegates to the conference would not nominate those cannot further their interests.
“And it is in these divergent interests that I see problems coming up. I am sure there is going to be a lot hair rising in the conference but none of those would end corruption in Nigeria; none will end mis-governance, unemployment and all other challenges we are facing as a country.
2These are not what the conference can bring to an end. You cannot tell me that as a married man you would constitute a conference each time you get a problem with your wife. As a leader, there are mistakes that you may make that you don’t need a conference to correct. You only need to identify those mistakes and effect corrections. We cannot, as a country, continue to burden any president that comes with the need to have a conference.”
