Communiqué: Communiqué Of Meeting Of Civil Society Groups In South-East Nigeria

(Meeting Held In Enugu On Friday 7th February 2014 On The Forthcoming National Conference.) 

We leaders of Civil society Organizations in the South East Geopolitical Zone of Nigeria, met in Enugu on Friday 7th February, at Amalgamated Technical Workers House at 26 Ogui Road, deliberated extensively on issues bothering around the forthcoming National Conference and resolved as follows:

We commended the Federal Government for accepting to convoke the conference to give the people of Nigeria an opportunity to deliberate and contribute to issue bothering on their unified existence.  We indicated our willingness to participate in the conference to pave a new way for the progress and development of Nigeria. 

Consequently we agreed to submit a list of our nominees to the National Conference, to the office of the Secretary of the Federal Government immediately. 

However we observed the following and called on the Federal Government to act upon them:

1.That the number of nominees allotted to the Federal and State governments were too high just as the space for delegate nomination to Civil Society Groups was too few. We therefore demand for a suitable adjustment of both. 

2.We insist that Civil Society nominees to the conference who are to represent the South East Zone of Nigeria must be activists resident in and carrying out their activities within the geographical location of  South East Nigeria. Any nomination of South East indigenes operating outside the zone would be faulty since such persons mostly lack knowledge of social-development issues in the zone. We therefore believe that only delegates domiciled in the zone are fully conversant with the day-to-day situation of the South East and are therefore most qualified to represent it. 

3.We call on all Nigerians to begin to  organize pre-conference deliberations at national, ethnic, state, local and organizational levels in order to articulate an agreed position of the Nigerian people. 

Signed:

Comrade Zulu Ofoelue

General Secretary, United Action for Democracy (UAD) & Chairman, Civil Liberties Organization (CLO), Enugu State. 

Comrade Emeka Umeagbalasi

Chairman, International Society for Civil Liberties and Rule of Law. 

Dr. Jerry Chukwuokolo

Secretary South east Zone, Campaign for Democracy

Okonkwo (Ozo Ozummba)

Enugu State Coordinator, Global Right Development International. 

Comrade Osmond Ugwu

President, International Solidarity for Peace and Human Right Initiative. 

Comrade Ijeoma, Justice Uche

National Director, Society Watch 

Egbonwachi O. Jacobs

Director of Partnership, JOCAD

Eze Eluchie

President, PADDI

Okoro Benedict

Executive Director, Fr John Odey Centre

Chike Umeosonwune

Secretary, Intersociety. 

Thankgod Ofoelue

Media Director, International Solidarity for Peace and Human Right Initiative