NOW, all eyes are on the opening of the 2014 National Conference, which has been dubbed by some Nigerians as “Jonathan’s” Confab. But it does not really matter what appellation it is given, what is of paramount interest to most Nigerians is what it is out to achieve.

National Chairman of the Progressive Peoples Alliance (PPA), Mr. Peter Ameh, has described as unfair the domination of the forthcoming National Conference by the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and four other political parties.

Given the prominent role the Itsekiri ethnic nationality play in the socio economic well-being of the country, it was a shock to many Itsekiris that not one of them was nominated among the 492 delegates to the conference.

There will be display of tempers, outpouring of invectives, recriminations and lamentations.
There have been consultations across the country as the South-west is making spirited efforts to reach out to the South-east, South-south and the Middle Belt to build a consensus.
For the Jonathan administration, the turn around by the opposition may have saved the conference from credibility problem since the Yoruba have been the champion of national dialogue.

IF Nigerians had taken the prescriptions of the late sage, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, on fiscal federalism, regionalism and devolution of power to the federating units, the country would have frog-jumped the unending search for a people’s constitution and the attendant socio-economic and political retardation.

The National Conference is also important because, for the first time in the political history of the country, we have a member of one of the minority groups serving as President of the nation.

It is a good development. There is nothing wrong in dialoguing especially in democracy, but my fear is that some of the delegates going to the conference may not see themselves as federalists. I want to urge them to see themselves as federalists and not as regional leaders or militants who want to get things they want 100 per cent.

It is a welcome, visionary and positive step taken by President Goodluck Jonathan at this time in the history of our country. Besides the seeming resentment in some quarters, I am happy that the vast majority of Nigerians are embracing it and willing to participate.

AFTER initial discordant tunes in some quarters, all sections and segments of the polity are now poised for the forthcoming National Conference. Leaders of the ethnic nationalities are taking the lead to fashion out water-tight agenda to be presented at the confab.

I am forced to conclude that most people who have been lying about this tend to be myopic, and this is nothing but calculated dissemblance, to lead this nation further into confusion. Certain folk, are using misinformation, dis-information, agit-prop tactics to misguide Nigerians.

Many people were enthusiastic about the proposed National Conference when it was first announced by the President of Nigeria, mainly because they strongly believed Nigeria needed to move from the rot in which it is stuck. They were also aware of all the options facing the nation in convoking such a conference, as well as the risks the nation runs as it might degenerate into unintended consequences

In this interview, Senator Femi Okurounmu, Chairman, Presidential Advisory Committee on National Conference, clears the air on what he describes as misconceptions as well as deliberate and malicious criticisms of President Goodluck Jonathan’s person. The senator comes across as a very passionate individual. But who wouldn’t be, especially when the works of your hand are being assailed without remorse?

As controversy continues to trail the proposed National Conference, Fred Agbeyegbe, a lawyer and President of Movement for New Nigeria and Itsekiri National Congress, in this interview, expresses disappointment with the recommendations of the Okurounmu Committee which, according to him, fall short of using national dialogue to correct the master/servant relationship among ethnic groups in Nigeria.

The President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria Dr, Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, GCFR, during his Independence Day broadcast on October 1,2013 informed Nigerians that he had set up a 13-Member Presidential Advisory Committee on National Dialogue under Senator Dr. Femi Okurounmu. The Committee which was inaugurated on 7th October 2013 was mandated to advise Government on the framework of a national dialogue by consulting widely with Nigerians. It was asked to come up with an appropriate name/nomenclature for the proposed national dialogue. The Committee was given seven (7) terms of reference and was asked to submit its report in six (6) weeks.

Afenifere Renewal Group, ARG, has called on President Goodluck Jonathan to immediately make public the recommendations of the Presidential Committee on National Dialogue, which was submitted, Wednesday.