National Conference Recommendations Will Change Nigeria For Good – Delegate

by Channels Television 

A delegate at the National Conference, Mr Tony Nyiam, on Monday, said that Nigeria would witness a new beginning if recommendations made at the Conference are implemented.

Allaying fears that not all the recommendations made would be implemented, the retired Army Colonel said, “there are policy resolutions, amendment of the law and fundamental constitutional reforms” noting that Nigeria had been practicing what he termed “indirect democracy; that is through delegates and/or members of the House of Representatives.

“For a change we need to resort to what is usually the case, direct democracy that is”, he said.

He emphasized the need for a referendum, “You cannot have a constitution without asking the people whether they want that constitution or not… without that process, you have an illegitimate constitution.

“We go by universal best practices where the fundamental amendment of a constitution that is not approved by the people, makes that constitution legal not legitimate”, he said.

Mr Nyiam, who was speaking on Channels Television’s breakfast programme, Sunrise Daily, further argued that “what we achieved and arrived at are so fundamental that they cannot be contained within the limit of amendment of the constitution.

“What we arrived (at) at this conference was that, for the first time, many people who had been under colonisation, are now being given the chance to be free.” He added that it would be counter-productive to take back the resolutions to “the protectors of the internal colonialism to prevent, that is something we cannot do”, insisting that “referendum is imperative”.

He also noted that “all the National Assembly needs to do is to pass an enabling bill and not interfere with the resolutions of the conference. Where a gathering of statesmen come up with what we have come up with, it will really be arrogant of the National Assembly to try and change what they have come up with”.

My Nyiam further maintained that it was highly imperative for Nigerians to decided whether they want to stick to the existing 1999 constitution or adopt a new constitution arising from the 2005 Conference.

He accused the military of deliberately creating states to “serve their own interests rather than the interest of the people” arguing that if Nigeria achieve the parity of nine states per zone, “It will go a long way of satisfying the yearnings of the people.”

He also said that the recommendations for state creation was arrived at to address the aspirations of ethnic-nationalities or people who have been dominated even before the British came to Nigeria.

The National Conference came to an end with delegates agreeing to change the document name formally known as the Draft Constitution to Proposed Amendment to 1999 Constitution, through a majority voice vote.

Northern delegates had rejected the Draft Constitution, saying it was a ploy to legitimize the third term agenda. While Southern delegates, on their part had said that it was unfortunate as there was nothing in the report that was not adopted by the entire conference through consensus.

The National Conference, which began on March 17, 2014, was formally declared closed by President Goodluck Jonathan on Thursday, August 21, 2014.

There were about 492 delegates that represented a cross-section of Nigerians, including the professional bodies.

Culled from www.channelstv.com