THE MODALITIES AND LOGISTICS FOR A SOVEREIGN NATIONAL CONFERENCE IN NIGERIA

The Sovereign National Conference (SNC) is not a cure-all panacea. It is a beginning. It will bring all ethnic nationalities to the discussion table where a no-holds barred discussion of the terms of our union will be (re)negotiated.

Below are my proposed modalities and logistics to give effect to the SNC in practical terms:

A. Legality/Constitutionality:

- The Presidency will send an Executive Bill to convole the SNC to the National Assembly.
- The National Assembly will pass the Sovereign National Assembly Convocation and Related Matters Act.
- All the decisions of the SNC will be subject to ratification by a national referendum through a collegiate voting system so that the larger tribes will not subvert the wishes of the smaller tribes.
- The Referendum will be conducted by INEC and subject to Local and International Observers' participation.
- The ratified decisions will form the basis of a new and true Constitution of the Peoples of Nigeria.
- Any ethnic nationality that chooses to opt out of Nigeria will be permitted to do so peacefully.

B. Selection/Election of Representatives at the SNC:
- Representation shall be only from Ethnic Nationalities: 10 persons per ethnic national no matter its official population figure. The tribe shall select or elect its representatives freely as it deems fit but with clear proof of acceptance by majority members of the tribe.
- No card-carrying member of political parties shall participate in the SNC.
- There shall be no appointees of government.
- The Chairman of the SNC shall be a retired Chief Justice of Nigeria while the Deputy Chairman shall be a retired Justice of the Supreme Court. They shall be male and female. They shall have no voting right. They are merely moderators.
- The Secretariat of the SNC shall be the Office of the Clerk of the National Assembly.

C. Funding:
- The Federal Government shall fund the SNC as provided for by the SNC Convocation Act.
- Each Representative at the SNC will receive only a refund of travel costs and provided accommodation allowance of N60,000 per day which is more than sufficient for a Four-star Hotel in Abuja.
- A Sitting Honorarium of N250,000 flat shall be paid to each Representative for the entire duration of the SNC.

D. Duration:
The SNC shall convene for a three month period.

E. Transparency and Integrity of the SNC:
- To ensure the integrity of the SNC, all Representatives shall declare their assets and the Assets Declaration Form shall be published on the SNC website. The Assets Declaration Form shall be notarized and the bank accounts declared shall be attested to by the bankers of the Representative.
- The Chairman, Deputy Chairman and Secretary of the SNC shall similarly declare their assets as if they were Representatives.
- All issues for deliberation at the SNC shall be discussed publicly at plenary sessions of all the Representatives. There shall be no committees.
- A consensus need not be achieved on the issues discussed.
- All issues shall ve the subject of the national referendum.
- All sessions of the SNC shall be televised live by NTA Network using a new broadcast channel created specially for that purpose. All sessions shall be streamed live via the internet. Past sessions shall be archived and made accessible via the SNC website.
- The decisions of the SNC which are ratified by the National Referendum shall be final.
- The National Assembly shall adopt the ratified SNC decisions as law by incorporating into the New Constitution. The New Constitution shall NOT be subject to consent by State Houses of Assembly or assent by the President. This would be made clear as part of the SNC Convocation Act.

An SNC is feasible and imperative.

But most members of the political class (despite religion, section or tribe and including many in the opposition who love to mouth "Sovereign National Conference") are really satisfied with the status quo. They are deluded thinking that Nigeria's problems are not really fundamental and that palliatives will stop the agitation of various groups in the country.

A restructured Nigeria based on the outcome of an SNC would take away the gravy tray from the political elite. Sadly, most human beings do not change because they see the light but because they feel the heat. May that heat not be cataclysmic!

GOD BLESS NIGERIA!


Eghes Eyieyien,
Lagos.

FOR A SOVEREIGN NATIONAL CONFERENCE

I was against a Sovereign National Conference (SNC) because I felt the National Assembly has legitimacy and could amend the Constitution to effect the fundamental changes we require without recourse to an extra-legislative SNC. I have changed my mind. I was wrong. With the activities of Boko Haram and the prevailing tension in our country, I realise now that true prosperity, enduring peace, unity, justice and equity will continue to elude Nigeria until the terms of Nigeria's nationhood are discussed openly, freely and duly renegotiated by the federating nationalities.

Firstly, the membership of NASS is presently unduly skewed to the north-west geo-political zone based on the false population census figures of the last 60 years so other zones are not fairly represented in NASS.

Secondly, most of the present members of NASS have proved to be no different from their greedy and corrupt predecessors and so cannot be trusted to deal with controversial issues such as true fiscal federalism, resource control based on derivation, a unicameral legislature etc. without compromising because of filthy lucre.

Consequently, I now identify myself with the call for a Sovereign National Conference. I still believe in Nigeria. Our existence as a country was God's sovereign act not Lord Lugard's idea. However, we can only build a nation where truth, justice, equity and prosperity reign if we are courageous enough to convene an SNC and assure our children's future is not futher jeopardised as citizens of Nigeria. As we celebrate our 52nd Independence Anniversary, the time is ripe to emplace the constitutional machinery to duly give effect to a Sovereign National Conference.

God bless Nigeria!

PRESIDENT JONATHAN SHOULD SACK SANUSI NOW!

...

"Sanusi behaved as if he was the de facto President of Nigeria. He had cashed in on the weakness of the Jonathan administration to run his own parallel government...It is strange how a man of such sartorial tastes ended up in banking and not showbiz...The profession he chose [is] not for vainglorious and adventurous rabble-rousers." ~ Bashorun Dele Momodu



After reading Dele Momodu's article which he aptly titled " The Bully Called Sanusi" published in his back page column in the Saturday, 22nd September, 2012, edition of Thisday newspaper, the urgency to sack Sanusi Lamido Sanusi as the CBN Governor dawned on me.

Sanusi has outlived his usefulness in that hallowed office! His arrogance, infantile flippancy, ineptitude and incompetence should no longer be countenanced. Why he has stayed in office this long despite his folly and foibles is a mystery.

Nigeria needs a new CBN Governor like YESTERDAY! My recommendation for the position is Mr. Ballama Manu. He was the Executive Director, Operations, NDIC; former, Executive Director, Union Bank; former Chairman of Federal Inland Revenue Service; and former Interim Chairman of the Nigeria Stock Exchange. He would make a great CBN Governor. By the way, he is from Yobe State and a Muslim. If the CBN Governor must be a northern Muslim, there are of course very many others who are imminently qualified: a person like Alh. Ado Wanka (MD of Unity Bank) and Mohammed K. Ahmad (Director General of the Pension Commission) readily come to mind.

But this is not even about section or religion. I am a NON-TRIBALISED (as distinct from "de-tribalised"!) Nigerian. My marriage, close friends, business associates and employees bear testimony to this fact.

Sanusi is an Old Boy of my alma mater (King's College, Lagos) and I used to be his fan. I supported his appointment as the CBN Governor and also spoke publicly in favour his controversial removal of the eight bank MDs. I was on Channels TV's live programme, Sunrise (with Chamberlain Usoh and Suleiman Aledeh as hosts), pushing his suitability for the post the day he appeared before the Senate for his confirmation hearing. I was also on Channels TV's live programme, Business Morning (with Boason Omofaye as the presenter at the time) defending his take-over of the eight banks and the sack of their MDs.

So what happened? Sanusi's imposition of his wrong-headed, illegal, unconstitutional, Malaysia-style Islamic Banking policy exposed him as an Islamist. I subsequently also became aware of his inglorious role in the infamous Kano religious riot which culminated in the beheading of Gideon Akaluka in 1996 and for which he was incarcerated for two years in Sokoto Prison by the government of Gen. Sani Abacha. This vital factual information is, understandable not disclosed in any of his profiles. The Senate was misled by late President Umaru Yar'adua (who ensured that this information was not highlighted in his Security Report) to confirm him as the CBN Governor. I have challenged Sanusi publicly to come clean on this issue or sue me if I have maligned him!

Moreover, his incompetence, profligacy (he now wants CBN to be sponsoring the Super Eagles!! LOL!!) and inane monetary policies have damaged the financial services sector and badly affected our nation's economy.

President Goodluck Jonathan should sack this guy before he does even more damage! It has now reached a crisis point. And the time to act is NOW!!

God bless Nigeria!