National Conference: The Good, The Bad, The Ugly – Shasore

A delegate at the just concluded National Conference, Supo Shasore, has described the National Conference as a mixed bag of “the good, the bad and indeed the ugly.”

Speaking on the outcome of the National Conference on the Thursday edition of Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily, he stated that it was good because despite the many flaws in the arrangement and conceptualization of the conference, they were able to come up with certain good recommendations that need to be implemented.

On the bad, he regretted that the Conference showed that Nigeria still had forces of regression, and people who wanted to maintain status quo across the country. He noted that it was disappointing that “the system would throw up” such persons as delegates representing the people’s ideas.

He noted that the situation whereby some delegates did not want to embrace positive change was disappointing, citing the issue of Resource Control as one that some delegates did not want to see changed.

“In an area like Lagos State where over 90% of Value Added Tax is generated and for Lagos State to receive six to nine percent of its Value Added Tax generation, if that’s not social injustice its quite clear.”

For the ugly aspect of the conference, Shasore said, “There were some aspects of the reporting that were less than honest, in the sense that the reports suggest that there was very little dissent or no dissent at all. The reports suggest that we were always unanimous. Its not true.

“There were indeed many areas in which we disagreed and were unable to agree and yet the reports suggest that the 492 people there somehow came to voice voting to agree on these 600 recommendations and ten thousand three hundred and something pages of report.”

The delegate, who represented Lagos State at the conference revealed that the Lagos delegates went into the conference with 11 major recommendations and came back with six of them. He opined that this was “a pass mark”.

He highlighted the request for revenue re-allocation as one of the successful ones which, based on the recommendation that came out, demands that the total allocation going to the states and Local Governments, when merged together, would exceed what the Federal Government gets.

He also mentioned the removal of the Local Government as a tier of government as one of the radical recommendations that the Lagos delegates succeeded with. He provided an explanation for the recommendation that “you cannot restrict the power of a state to create Local Governments.”

The immediate past Attorney-General of Lagos State noted that there was a policy report on issues covering different areas of the economy which he expects to be implemented as soon as possible. He urged Nigerians to demand the implementation of those recommendations from the Federal Government without further delay.

Mr Shasore spoke about the recommendation of the National Conference on Youth Employment and the rationale behind the delegates’ recommendation that special incentives should be given to the country’s youth population towards starting businesses and getting employments.

He decried the situation whereby the youths, who make up majority of the country’s population, were mostly unemployed and noted that there was an emergency in the sector.

He revealed that the recommendation, if implemented, would ensure that young people who are inexperienced but qualified would still be given opportunities to excel.

Shasore also noted that the issue of State Police was a matter of devolution of central power. He stated that policing should be a local issue and that Nigeria had lost vital policing values like intelligence due to its over-centralized police structure.

He blamed some of the issues in Nigeria on factors like federal character and the quota system which, he said, has crept into every area of the society and the economy, including sports.

The Lagos delegate did not disagree with the creation of eight more states in the country, but explained that the agitation for new states highlights a “call for a new sub-ethnic identity” and is a product of a larger ethnic problem.

“States don’t necessarily create development,” he said, in reaction to the argument that the creation of states has brought more development to the people. He insisted that Nigeria can develop a vast territory if it desires development.

Shasore referred to their inability to achieve the “special status” for Lagos State as a regrettable outcome of the conference. He emphasized the uniqueness of Lagos in the Nigerian economy and frowned at the decision for the state to fend for itself without regards for its contribution to the entire national economy.

The Senior Advocate of Nigeria also berated the leadership of the National Conference for its handling of the debates on Resource Control.

He said that the idea of referring the matters of the establishment of Solid Minerals Fund, what the percentage of derivation should be and the establishment of the Terrorism Fund to the Government was absurd.