The Patriots, a group of eminent Nigerians, on Thursday met with President Goodluck Jonathan on the state of the nation.
It was gathered that at the meeting
which was held behind closed doors in the President’s office in Abuja,
the group, led by a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Prof. Ben Nwabueze,
renewed its call for the convocation of a national conference.
A 13-page memorandum covering issues
such as the need for a people’s constitution, the expansion of the
agenda for national transformation to include economic emancipation as
well as good governance, was presented by The Patriots to the President.
Nwabueze, who took over the leadership
of the group from the first Nigerian SAN, the late Chief Rotimi
Williams, told State House correspondents after the meeting that
Jonathan must shun the urge to seek reelection in 2015 and
concentrate on his transformation agenda.
The legal icon insisted that it was
practically impossible for the President to combine efforts aimed at
national transformation with contesting election.
He said although the President was
eligible to contest in 2015, he could become an instant national hero if
he summoned enough courage not to do so.
Nwabueze said, “That is not the purpose
of our meeting today(Thursday),but that is my view and I still maintain
that view. I still believe that the problem of this country is national
transformation;that you cannot combine national transformation with
contesting election.
“The two are so different because once
you get involved in electioneering, you undermine your authority to lead
the nation for national transformation and I said if I were the
President, I would restrict myself to serving the nation,
transforming this country and creating a new Nigeria. These would be
my concern and I would go down in history as a hero.
“So, if Mr. President does that, he
would become an instant hero in this country; but it is for him to
choose. If I were him, I would choose to become a hero to lead the
country into transformation and abandon the ambition of a second term.
That is what I said and I still stand by it and that is what I would do
if I were the President of this country, but unfortunately, I’m not.”
On Jonathan’s eligibility to participate
in the election, he said, “That is not an issue. Mr. President is
eligible, nobody is questioning his eligibility, the President is
eligible. What makes him ineligible? Nothing, he is eligible, that is a
personal decision for him to take.”
On the purpose of the meeting, Nwabueze
said he and members of the group told the President that the nation
was in dire need of transformation.
He said The Patriots position
was that the desired transformation could only be achieved through a
national conference of the about 389 ethnic nationalities in the
country.
Nwabueze said the conference which
should be used to discuss how Nigerians could live together in peace and
unity must hold before the 2015 general elections.
While arguing that the 1999 Constitution
is a schedule to Decree 24, the legal luminary said the constitution
would disappear once the decree is repealed.
He said, “If you read Section 1(1) of
the decree, they are all preambles to that Decree and the 1999
Constitution that you are talking about is a schedule to Decree 24.
“Repeal the decree and the constitution
will disappear and you enact a brand new constitution which would derive
its authorities from the people, that was what was done in 1963, when
we adopted the Republican Constitution to replace the Independent
Constitution.
“That 1960 Constitution was also a
schedule to British Order-In -Council just as the 1999 Constitution isa
schedule to the Decree 24. In 1963, we abolished the schedule under
Section 2 of the Order-in-Council and made a new Constitution called the
Republican constitution. That is what we should do now, abolish the
schedule and relieve yourself entirely free to make the people’s
constitution.”
Reacting to The Patriots’ call
for a national conference, the President said his administration had
no objection to Nigerians coming together to discuss how they would
continue to live together in peace and unity.
Jonathan, in a statement by his
spokesman, Dr. Reuben Abati, said although he believed that the issue
of Nigerians coming together to discuss their future was not out of
place, he was constrained by the fact that the constitution had given
that responsibility to the National Assembly.
The President told the group that there
had been constant discussions within government on how to create an
acceptable and workable platform for a national dialogue that would
reinforce the ties that bind the country’s many ethnic nationalities and
ensure that their diversity continued to be a source of strength and
greatness.
“The limitation we have is that the
constitution appears to have given that responsibility to the National
Assembly. I have also been discussing the matter with the leadership of
the National Assembly. We want a situation where everyone will key into
the process and agree on the way forward,” he said.
He thanked The Patriots for acknowledging the Federal Government’s efforts to implement his administration’s agenda for national transformation.
“As a government, we are totally
committed to transforming this country. Positive things are being done
and by the grace of God, we will get to where we ought to be as a
nation,” Jonathan added.
The Patriots delegation
included Chief Ayo Adebanjo, Chief Solomon Asemota, Chief Chris Okoye,
Chief Bola Kuforiji-Olubi, Air Commodore Dan Suleiman (retd.), Prof.
Kimse Okoko and Mr. Michael Orobator.
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