News Release: Nigerians Should Dissociate From Failed National Conferenc

 

African Cultural And Fundamental Rights Council, AFCRC, USA, calls on the oppressed of Nigeria to stand up, mobilize and dissociate from the just concluded National Conference. As suspected, the conference failed to resolve core issues bothering on the nation's unity, system's responsibility, accountability, development and growth. These issues are the free-will to be part of the country, structural imbalance, true-fiscal federalism in a regional government's perspective that is the best and fair option left for Nigeria to right the many wrongs since independence.

Such regional arrangement shall meaningfully share and  balance power with the center-call it power devolution. It shall bring about resource generation, ownership or control at regional level, and the regions shall contribute certain percentage that is fix across the board to the center for efficient and effective governance; bring about system responsibility and accountability hence palpable sustainable development and growth.

AFCRC believes the recommendations of the conference, which Mr. Goodluck Jonathan said he will do all within his power to implement, will amplify gross inequality, marginalization and injustice. As a result there will be deeper displeasure; crisis and conflict shall continue. This implies the conference resolution will not change anything from current pains, mismanagement and corruption, not even did it agree to recommend raising the minimum wage of the working poor, thus suggests it doesn't care for the plight of the common people. Yet politicians and their private sector associates will continue to misappropriate and embezzle billions of Naira and Dollars, etc. if recommendations become law.

The action of  this failed conference, which may through Jonathan and his team seek national referendum for implementation of nothing tangible it recommends, gave rise to agitation for another conference before it ended as was predicted. The conference proudly protects the status quo ante on the instruction of Mr. Jonathan and the cabal, given that its  delegates were mostly nominated by government to protect its interest.

 

From the outset, the timing and composition of the conference raised curiosity about hidden agenda. Its result points to such agenda to retain the unjust status quo. It ignored the common knowledge that Nigeria was illegally imposed on free precolonial independent ethnic nations. As a result relied on Jonathan and the cabal counseling so didn't discuss whether the different ethnic nations forced to be Nigerians against their wish can and are willing to stay together as one, and on what terms.

 

The conference like other failed jamborees, which weren't of the sovereigns (ethnic nations) forcefully and illegally invaded by the British and unjustifiably colonized, then used to concoct Nigeria without their informed consent, acceded to the government's notion that all the ethnic groups forced against their wish to become Nigerians must continue to stay in bondage without the free-will and choice to determine their destiny. It failed to consider the global shift toward the recognition and protection of fundamental rights to freedom, self determination, justice and peace, and also refused to see why the former Soviet Union disappeared.

AFCRC hold strong the belief that in any country on earth all humans, ethnic nations and indigenous peoples have inalienable right to freedom and self determination, which grants the power to design and control their affairs without undue interference. This fundamental right makes the forcing of people to live together without prior and informed consent unlawful as operational in Nigeria.

We therefore deem it necessary to making this dissociation or boycott call because the conference  didn't meet the unity, equality, justice and democratic test, and given the fact that its convocation was based primarily on Jonathan's projected political gains in the 2015 presidential election. Consequently, its anti-equality, justice and peace recommendations endorsed by Jonathan and the cabal have proved him and the conference critics right.

 

This waste of time and money exercise proves Jonathan has no vision for the country he rules and seeking a second term; that country which shall treat every individual and ethnic group equally and fairly, and serve justice to all-building and consolidating democratic institutions the people can embrace for participation, believe in and be proud of .

 

Although the conference created the impression that it recommended true federalism, it's based on false premise. There can't be true federalism where three ethnic groups: Hausa-Fulani, Yoruba and Igbo maintains about 21 out of current 36 states and also benefit from 18 new states the conference recommended for creation.

More than 90 percent of current states depend solely on oil money from Niger delta region, which has six states and has about 30 ethnic groups. These states are mostly composed of multiethnic groups against the 21 states, which are specifically composed of members of the tripartite ethnic groups above. AFCRC believe there can't be true federalism where the conference recommend 18 additional states that are mostly nonviable. These new states, like the current, will as usual wait every month instead of thinking and creating more, to share oil money confiscated from mostly Niger deltans.

AFCRC states without equivocation that, no country honestly seeking better future for its people can succeed by promoting laziness, complete dependency and not imagination, innovation, creativity and competition. No progressive country can stay progressive by mounting unlawful and unacceptable pressure on one region for exploitation while the rest sits to share what comes from the pressured area. What works in proper federations if you must eat the so-called national cake as a state, region and people is, collective contribute to its baking by way of internal revenue generation to meeting local needs and paying taxes to the center for more to be available.

 

We believe Nigeria can be better, but only if it believe in true-fiscal federalism in a regional setting and act it out with all its fibers or bones and blood. The current status quo has shorter lifespan hence unsustainable, if the oppressed are conscious and serious about their rights which include freedom to decide their sociopolitical and economic life. In such federalism that works, fiscal responsibility and accountability must be recognized, discussed, implemented and monitored for substantive result.

We believe in and support that federalism, which has structural balance through regional system of government that will be based on current six Geopolitical zones or more, and will create considerable number of states they can individually manage, maintain to meeting the needs and aspirations of the people/ethnic groups in them. We also support that federalism, which properly devolves and balances power between the center and federating units and not the epileptic state structure, which grants about 21 states to three ethnic groups and shared the rest between 297 ethnic groups-a recipe for unending displeasure and conflict.

 

AFCRC believes in, and advocates therefore, the need for all the oppressed of Nigeria to stand up now, mobilize and dissociate from the failed conference, and demand a Sovereign National Conference (SNC), which meaningful Nigerians have advocated and demanded but repeatedly overruled by the military and their misnomer civil government counterpart, which cherishes and protects the cheating, unjust and deadly status quo ante.

 

Alternatively, the oppressed peoples or ethnic nations may fashion out ways to seeking external self-determination or independence, where their calls for genuine peoples' conference or measure that will bring about the peoples' constitution having taken the above issues into account and resolve them based on equal representation and consent, honesty, equality and justice for all, is ignored.

 Ben Ikari (Director of AFCRC, USA)
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