Eminent Nigerians Call For National ConferenceGua

EMINENT Nigerians Saturday in Enugu said the country is faced with collapse, reiterating the need for a national conference before the 2015 general elections.

They insisted, at the 14th annual conference of Igbo Youth Movement (IYM), that the country has manifested several signs of a failed state, and urgent steps are needed to save it.

At the event were constitutional lawyer, Prof. Ben Nwabueze; former Anambra State Governor, Dr Chukwuemeka Ezeife; General Alanni Akinrinade; Chief Solomon Asemota; Senator Ben Obi; Chief Mike Orabator; Col Ben Gbulie and Col Joe Achuzia (rtd), among others.

Nwabueze said: “This country is on the verge of becoming a failed state. There are so many failed states in Africa and Nigeria is on the verge of getting that status.

“Before now, we didn’t know about kidnapping, but it has become a way of life. Did we know about bombings before? But today, churches, schools, offices are being bombed daily. The worst is that the bombers are not coming from outside the country; we are bombing ourselves.

“A nation that cannot provide a credible election for its people is a failed state; in 2003, 2007 and 2011, we had no credible elections; yet we are talking about democracy.”

He continued: “A country that cannot secure social and economic rights for her people is a failed state. Read chapter two of Nigeria’s constitution and you will understand what I am talking about; they are not leaders but looters.”

He said to move away from the current situation, a national conference should be organised very quickly, emphasising that the conference should not be seen as a way to destabilise Nigeria.

“Let us come together and deliberate; it will lead to peace; it will lead to a constitution whose source of authority is the people. We can’t have any substitute for the people. We are serious about it; we are working to achieve it and we shall succeed,” he said.

----------Lawrence Njoku, Enugu/Guardian Nigeria