A Nigerian Lawyer, Ahmed Akanbi, has questioned the need for a National Conference, saying it is ‘just a talk show’ and that the average Nigerian is tired of talk shows”.
Referring to the era of a former Head of State, Sanni Abacha and President Olusegun Obasanjo, Mr Akanbi said that National conferences were held during without meaningful results.
He admitted that Nigeria had problems but questioned why it had to get to this stage before a conference would be convened and if a three-month period was enough to address the problems.
Speaking on Friday on Channels Television’s breakfast programme, Sunrise Daily, Mr Akanbi pointed out that before the start of the National Conference, there was a committee set up and recommendations were passed.
He noted that about 80% of the recommendations that were submitted by the committee had not been implemented.
He further questioned the guaranty that the recommendations from the National Conference would be effected, insisting that what Nigeria needed was good governance.
Mr Akanbi questioned what the faith of the resolutions would be if the government that initiated the conference failed to win in the 2015 general elections.
“A new government may come in by 2015 and set aside the recommendations of National Conference, insisting that the recommendations do not represent the interest of Nigeria,” he said.
The lawyer blamed the National Assembly for not representing Nigerians well, pointing out that “the National Assembly is supposed to be the representative of the masses” and further stated that the 2011 elections were free and fair and urged anyone who is not happy with the 2011 election to wait for 2015.
He stressed that all that Nigerians were asking for was the basic necessities of life and not a conference that would tell Nigerians that there should be accountable in governance, noting that the National Assembly can muster the will to make the government work.
“If public pressure is brought to bear the National Assembly can make the government work,” he stressed.
He also condemned the poor representations of youth in the National conference, describing it as a maginalisation that had been going on in Nigeria for some decades.
“Nothing will come out of this conference, where you have a conference of grandfathers with just about 18 per cent of youths. The mess they have created when they were youth they want to correct with grey hair. You cannot be a judge in your own court,” he insisted.
