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Predicting
The Outcome Of The National Political Reforms’ Conference By
Paul
Mamza All is set they say, for the proposed national conference. The President had succeeded in bulldozing his ways without minding voice of reasoning and intense dissents by about sixty- four members of house of representatives challenging the constitutionality of the proposed political reforms conference. The lack of genuineness of steps taken so far had tendered serious suspicions and the end-result is predictable. The final report like the un-relentless creative histrionics of the Oputa National Reconciliation Committee Recommendations it is likely to suffer ignorance, the old who predominated the membership will re-enact the old tricks of replaying ambiguities that had perpetually held the nation to ransom by offering weak threads of the unity, nerves will be tempted with high temperatures and the national psyche will once again be deadlocked with a fat rap of a hiatus. These entire instances are stage – managed for a particular purpose. It is only those at the periphery of the true picture of the script writing that are carried away by the disposition of its surface intents. There’s
little hope that representations are punctual with the current feelings
of an urge for the departure from the many enticements of vanities
created by bad leaderships that has been upgraded to statecraft. The
proposed national conference can be likened to an express ticket to a
logical scandal arching for a victim of rationality and
rationalizations. It is another Jamboree of a carnival of wreck of our
scarce resources through some profound shenaniganism. Already there are
protestations in many quarters that it is as discriminating as the very
problems it intends to address. The nation again is moving in the cycle
of its undoing turning more promptitude of elegant undoing. For those
that want to hear we are cajoled into the labyrinth of new moral
deformation that is an emerging misfortune. Anyone that expects justice
in an unjust society like ours today is a day –dreamer. The Borno
Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) had protested the list of
nominees representing the state in the proposed National Conference,
said The Borno
case of uproar is surprising to me, considering the state’s religion-
tolerant status since time immemorial and my belief in some of the issue
of the newly–born Senator Ali Modu Sheriff’s regime that attracted
my attention (being an indigene of the state) in offering hopes of
reforms. I had avoided the temptation of judging the new regime in The proposed national conference is not different from the 2003 national elections both in concepts and approaches – very selective and pre meditated. It is yet another civilian equivalent of a military coup de‘tat. Like military coup, it had sealed the fate of democratic minds. The preponderance of the clan of P.D.P ruling party it made it a P.D.P affair, a one–man show to be executed by his party faithful in the name of national dialogue. If a right name is to be given an offspring in order to carry the trait of his father, the proposed ‘national dialogue’ is nothing but a national monologue; for Obasanjo, of Obasanjo and by Obasanjo. The various tendencies have already been forcing its ways out prematurely. How can rights be fought for, when equal rights are trampled upon at rehearsal stage? More so the so-called representatives are to decide the future of the country? It is a shabby arrangement with all the caricatures of moral reprehensions. No matter how perfect is the constitution if a rule of law is not installed, the imperfections in the system will prevail. Instead of changing document, we desire changing ourselves for moral reformations. For examples all the solutions to our problems are already in the archives, all the necessary policy mission directions are documented. We only need to retrieve and implement these documents. Without strong will and abide by fundamental laws of the land on the part of leadership, governance will be helpless and hapless. The issue of
corruption is central to these fundamental defaults. We can pontificate
of issue of the structure of government and governance, the military,
the police, sustainable development and environment, elections and
variety of issues that are harmful to our corporate existence and good
governance, we can even overhaul the entire structure of government and
governance but without overhauling our mind sets which is cultured on
corruption, we will be chasing shadows and moving in circles. Corruption
here does not mean only stealing public funds but not doing the right
thing at the right time within the ambit of law and order. We can design
all the enabling laws but without people to observe them, makes the law
impotent. A non–corrupt politician or leader under democratic setup is
one that abide by the fundamental ideals of democracy that encourages
justice, fairness, equity and rule of law. If the proposed national
conference is to divert attention and diffuse tension in the land, the
conveners should be explicit in their intentions but to guise it’s
capitulation around searching for solutions to the multifaceted problem
of the nation is to state the obvious a blatant lie. As the nation
awaits the proposed national conference, Daily Sun of The death of
our father is the will of Allah. But we are suffering". How can our
system encourage selflessness in leadership when core values are not
appreciated and extolled. The total collapse of our value system had
nothing to do with visiting talk-shops but revisiting our conscience.
Let this conference be a National Political reformation conference and
not a National Political reforms conference, so that after the
conference, both the convener and convenes will change their attitudes,
once and for all. Only then, can we be convinced that there was a
conference, for now I am pessimistic about its outcome. I stand to be
corrected. Mamza
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