The Nigerian President, Dr Goodluck Jonathan, will inaugurate the National Conference at the National Judiciary Institute in Abuja, today (Monday).
Expected at the conference are 492 delegates, comprising the ethnic nationalities in Nigeria, professional groups, political representatives, and civil society groups amongst others.
They will be deliberating on how to resolve the country’s constitutional challenges. The national conference, convened by the present government, is meant to address all matters except issues bothering on the indivisibility and indissolubility of Nigeria as a nation.
The event, which will last for three months, is expected to form a consensus and advise the Federal Government on the legal framework procedures, options for integrating the decisions and outcome of the conference into the nation’s constitution. The conference will be chaired by retired Justice Idris Kutigi.
Delegates have started arriving at Abuja for the conference and one of them, a former Minister of Women Affairs, Mrs Josephine Anenih, expressed optimism that the conference would help in advancing the cause of Nigeria as a united nation. “Nigeria as a nation will be better for it if delegates attending the conference approach issues with sincerity of purpose and an open mind,” Mrs Anenih said.
She believes the conference, which is long overdue, will help the nation address issues threatening the unity of the nation. Some lawyers have stressed the need for the National Assembly to consider how the conference result would be enshrined into the constitution before the end of the conference. They have suggested that decisions reached could either go through a referendum or deliberation and adoption by the National Assembly.
The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Senator Bala Mohammaed, has assured delegates attending the National Conference in Abuja that adequate arrangements had been made for their comfort and security.
Speaking to Channels Television in Abuja, shortly after inspecting the accreditation centre at the National Judicial Institute, Senator Bala, said everything was set for the effective take off of the conference which begins on Monday. The President of the National Council of Women Societies, Mrs Nkechi Okemini-Mba, said that the conference would afford women the opportunity to address issues affecting them.
