A legal practitioner, Ugo Udoji, has warned that Nigeria’s proposed National Conference may be hijacked by politicians to serve their selfish interests, since the conference would not be based on ethnic nationalities.
Speaking on Channels Television’s flagship programme, Sunrise Daily, on Friday, Mr Udoji said although the citizens want the conference to hold, the participation of politicians would not augur well for the event.
“The clamour by the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) to have more slots allocated to it at the National conference shows that the desire for it is high,” he said, explaining that “even those who never wanted it before, for some political reasons, have come to grasp the reality of Nigeria, that to have a true Nigeria, you need to address salient issues. You need to address issues for the grassroots”.
Udoji also expressed fears that the conference would turn out to be “another political gathering.” He pointed out that there was no need to give room to politicians, as they would focus on their own interests.
“You don’t really have to hear the politicians. They see the rest of the people as mere voters,” he stressed.
According to the lawyer, the conference “is the best thing that has come to Nigeria” especially as it falls during the centenary celebration. “We are a 100 years old but we are not a nation. We are a collection of different ethnic groups basking in glory of what they have in their territory, each still thinking they have their own leaders and not a Nigerian leader.”
Citing individuals like Obafemi Awolowo, Ahmadu Bello and Emeka Odumegwu Ojukwu, Udoji said Nigeria had never had a national leader. “We don’t have national legacies, we only have ethnic legacies,” he added.
Although he expressed disappointment in the fact that the conference would not be based on ethnic nationalities, Mr Udoji expressed optimism that Nigerians would get a leader as a result of the Conference.
He faulted the number of elder statesmen expected at the conference. “I don’t know the make-up of an elder statesman. Is it someone who ruled Nigeria before, or someone who has contributed immensely to commerce, industry and growth of Nigeria in education?
“Before you know it, they will gather former Heads of States and bring them together. They are the problems of Nigeria,” he insisted.
Udoji also advocated that the agreements reached at the end of the conference be subjected to the authorisation of the National Assembly and not a referendum, saying that such authorisation would ensure that there would not be problems during the referendum.
“It’s much easier to hold on to the National Assembly to see it through than this referendum.”
“Referendum is pushing it before the people for them to vote. Who will control their votes in the North and in the East?”
He added that subjecting the conference to such a process was equivalent to “putting it on the laps of the governors.”
