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National Dialogue: Advisory Committee’s Consultations Are Narrow — Sajoh

The Director of the Press Unit, Adamawa State Government House, Ahmed Sajoh, has faulted the consultation process of the Presidential Advisory Committee on National Dialogue, … Continue reading National Dialogue: Advisory Committee’s Consultations Are Narrow — Sajoh


Ahmed Sajoh, Director Press, Government House, Yola.The Director of the Press Unit, Adamawa State Government House, Ahmed Sajoh, has faulted the consultation process of the Presidential Advisory Committee on National Dialogue, saying it is narrow.

Mr. Sajoh told Channels Television that the committee had taken a false step by visiting each of the six geo-political zones in Nigeria with the entire members of the committee.

He pointed out that they should have divided themselves into six groups to visit the zones at the same time to save time and cost.

“They are 13 and they have six geo-political zones to cover. They should have shared the members to cover the six zones,” Mr. Sajoh stressed.

He also faulted the decision of the committee to put the venues of the North-east consultation in Bauchi and Maiduguri.

“The choice of Bauchi and Maiduguri as venues of the consultation is wrong because people will not want to attend due to the security issues in the region,” Mr. Sajoh stated.

He also pointed out that the venues were far from some towns in the North-east.

“The federal roads that lead to that part of the North-east are not good. A journey of one and half hours takes up to 4 hours,” he explained.

He suggested that the committee should make the venue of the consultation as accessible as possible.

Mr. Sajoh upheld the fear that had been expressed by some Nigerians that the proposed dialogue may not yield any result.

“We have seen misfortune as a country, having three sets of people as our leaders. We have the unprepared, the uncommitted and the compromised.

“Leadership overwhelms the unprepared. The uncommitted sees leadership as a trophy. When you win a trophy you go to celebrate.

“The compromised have had their hands soiled in graft so when they get leadership they add to the soiling of the system.

“We need a leadership that is prepared, committed and focused,” he stressed.

“We don’t have to dialogue when we have this kind of leadership,”

For the dialogue to yield results, he said, “People must fulfil commitments made.

“There should be commitment on the part of the leadership to ensure that the outcome of the dialogue is implemented.”

Reliable Technique In Solving Security Issues

Mr. Sajoh, who was a guest on Channels Television breakfast programme, Sunrise Daily, recommended the use of ‘interface committee,’  which he said had worked for Adamawa State, as a reliable technique in solving security issues in the northern part of Nigeria.

He said that the process would involve the selection of reliable members of every community to form a committee that would liaise with the military and other security agencies.

Mr. Sajoh cited the experience of Adamawa State in the use of the interface committee and expressed confidence in the result it had yielded.

“The interface committee meets with representatives of the army, the police and civilians in the state.

“Majority of the members of the interface committee are retired military men and policy officers.

“The committee in Adamawa State has helped in restoring peace in the state through a process that ensures that young people organise themselves properly.  They are also working to ensure that each young person in the state has a proper means of identification,” he further explained.

He, however, pointed out that the best way to win an internal security operation is to win the hearts and minds of the people and not to brutalise them.