By Daniel Gumm

WARRI — President Goodluck Jonathan’s decision to convoke a National Conference has been described as the most courageous step ever taken by any Nigerian leader, particularly in the quest to tackle the ‘national question.’

Speaking to Vanguard, yesterday, National President of Itsekiri National Youths Council, INYC, Mr. David Tonwe, said: “With this announcement by the President, our organisation is convinced that Nigeria is now on the threshold of addressing the lingering ‘national question’.'”

He explained that “it is further based on the assumption that those that will be saddled with the responsibility of organising the proposed dialogue will be utilitarian and honest, resisting and pruning themselves of the demands and pressures from political parties, sectional and ethnic interests, and the usual desire of national and regional majority ethnic groups to lord it over others and force their respective interests on the minority ethnic groups.”

The Itsekiri youth leader called on the advisory committee to recommend that participation should be based on ethnic representations, irrespective of claimed or imaginary demographic statues with “the principle of equality of all ethnic nations taken sine qua non.”

According to Tonwe: “If population strength (real or imaginary) of ethnic groups will have any role to play in the determination of the number of delegates from the different ethnic nations, then the financial contributions to the national pause from the lands of the different ethnic nations must then come into play as one of the criteria for determining the number of delegates that will represent the different ethnic groups when the proposed conference kicks off.”