“There are two camps at this Conference, two warring camps. So far we are busy trying to array our troops.”
In this interview with PREMIUM TIMES, Femi Okunrounmu, a delegate and Chairman of the defunct Presidential Advisory Committee on National Dialogue, which packaged the ongoing National Conference, speaks on the proceedings of the Confab, the challenges that confronted his Committee, President Goodluck Jonathan’s agenda, the Yoruba agenda etc. Excerpts:
PT: About four weeks after, are you satisfied with the proceedings of the National Conference so far?
Ans: In a way I’m satisfied with the proceedings. All we have been doing since we came is that the two camps are trying to array their forces. That is the military language I will use. There are two camps at this Conference, two warring camps. So far we are busy trying to array our troops. The conflict and confrontation is yet to begin. The two camps are champions of the status quo, those who do not anything to change, who benefit from the status quo and those who want a change, real change so that Nigeria can move forward in an atmosphere of peace and unity and harmonious progress where everybody can, using the word of President Jonathan, be an equal stakeholder. Those are the two forces that are arraying to oppose themselves.
PT: Did you Committee envisage all of this?
Ans: Of course! Right from the word go! Even that was the battle in my Committee too. That is the battle of Nigeria.
PT: So there were people in your Committee that wanted the status quo to remain?
Ans: That is the reality of Nigeria.
PT: Now, given this scenario, do you expect any change from this Conference?
Ans: No matter the resistance, there is bound to be some changes.
PT: The tone of some delegates during the debate on President Goodluck Jonathan’s address suggested they will resist change and they appear to be more in number than those who want change. What is your take on this?
Ans: I’m glad you said ‘appear’. Appearances can be deceitful.
PT: How do you think this Conference will end?
Ans: We shall have a very happy Conference. We shall reach compromises on critical issues. I believe we are going to reach compromises on critical issues.
PT: Are those the same critical issues you had in the 2005 Conference that made it end the way it did.
Ans: In 2005, there was a basic difference. In 2005, the Obasanjo government was fully behind those who did not want change. They had the force of government behind them. Those of us who wanted change were swimming against the tide. This time, President Jonathan is neutral; he has given us full mandate to go and talk about Nigeria and chart a way forward for Nigeria. President Jonathan has no vested interest, one way or the other.
PT: In your heart of heart, do you believe President Jonathan has no hidden agenda?
I believe he has no agenda other than harmonious unity of Nigeria. What many of us have been championing in the last two decades is the need to restructure Nigeria because there are many people who want Nigeria restructured. It is an agenda we should all embrace. It is a progressive agenda.
PT: Do you know that if this Conference fails your Committee has failed?
My Committee has succeeded in the sense that we have brought this Conference together. The very fact that this Conference is holding is a big success for my Committee. You must remember that when my Committee was set up, the North was against it. The South West governors were against it. But because of the serious work that my Committee did – we mounted serious campaign, serious mobilisation of the public and serious enlightenment – at the end, even the APC governors who were initially opposed to it began to scramble to send delegates. That is the measure of our success of my Committee. Everybody wanted to be a member of the Conference.
PT: Are you surprised that APC is not attending the Conference?
Abstract: It is only two persons. As of today, there are 497 delegates. The political parties that have representatives at the National Assembly are to send two members each. It is only APC that did not send its two members.
PT: Apart from APC, NBA did not send its one representative.
Ans: They (NBA) are here. There are so many lawyers here.
PT: Yes, but they didn’t come as a corporate body?
Ans: Even the Lagos branch chairman is here. What else?
PT: You represent South West ethnic nationalities, what is the Yoruba agenda at this Conference?
Ans: The Yoruba want the nation restructured, where every section of this country will have equal stake in the Nigerian project, where there is no first class citizenship, where there is no second class citizenship, where there is no marginalisation of any people and where one section will not determine the fate of the whole country and holding the rest to ransom. That is number one. Secondly, we want devolution of power. The centre is too strong. A lot of powers should go to the federating units though the federating units are too small to manage the powers. The federal government should surrender some powers to the federating units that are large enough to manage those powers. That is why we go for regionalism. Regionalism may not be the correct word, but we can go to the six geo-political zones as the region. We can even go to the 12 states created by Gowon. The states were large enough to handle the powers to be devolved. Then of course we will go to resource management and control. These are not Yoruba issues per se. These are issues that will redesign Nigeria and make all of us happy.
