A political analyst, Dr Adetokunbo Pearse, has opposed calls for all ethnic groups in Nigeria to be represented at the national conference, saying such representation would bring the idea of tribalism into the deliberations.
The conference modalities had specified that 492 delegates would be attending the conference, a number that some Nigerians say is not a true representation of the over 700 ethnic nationalities.
But Mr Pearse, on Wednesday, insisted that the composition of 492 delegates was broad and would be enough to represent all ethnic groups.
“You want a conference where some ethnic groups with about 2,000 people will be represented? “You can only have a conference of representation. You will have a representation of different groups across the board; unions, women, youths, academia and religious groups amongst others.
“From what I have seen, it is very broad,” he told Channels Television.
He compared the conference with the National Assembly, pointing out that all ethnic groups were not represented at the National Assembly.
Side-Tracking Ethnic Groups
The Chairman of a socio-political group, The Patriots, Professor Ben Nwabueze, had on Tuesday criticised the Nigerian government for side-tracking ethnic groups whom he described as “the real stakeholders with the lowest number of representation”.
In his opinion, Nigeria cannot hope to resolve its challenges with misplaced priorities.
A popular saying reads: “The words of elders are the words of wisdom,” but Mr Pearse thinks otherwise.
“I am not one of those people who believe that all the words of our elders are words of wisdom. The point he is making is hinging on something that is dangerous. People will begin to think whether Nigeria should hold as a unit and there might be calls for the division of the country. “The professor is taking us back to the days of tribalism. This is supposed to be one nation. There is no end to people who will say that there are being discriminated against,” he emphasised.
No Go Area Clause
The conference modalities also specified that the issue of ‘National Unity’ is a ‘no go area’, a clause the Presidential Advisory Committee on National Conference said it added after it discovered that majority of Nigerians wanted the country to remain as one indivisible entity.
Dr Pearse supported the clause, saying that there are other issues needing more attention than the issue of national unity.
“Every issue should be discussed except that Nigeria should be divided. Issues about new structure for the country, about whether we should go back to a parliamentary system of government could be discussed. You can go there to say that the six geo-political zones should be the structure of the country. You cannot go to the conference and say Nigeria is a failed state and that we should break up,” Dr Pearse explained.
He pointed out that a true Nigerian should be able to represent the interest of any community in the nation not minding the tribe he is from.
“It does not take me anything, as a Yoruba person, to represent the Igbo community. The problem is that an Igbo person feels that I cannot represent his interest because I am not from there. We are a nation.
“I can present my opinion in the interest of people living with disability and it does not mean that because I am not disabled I cannot speak for them. Why do you want ethnic representation where out of the 492 people, many are coming from different groups; women, youths and men,” the political analyst said
He pointed out that the conference would provide an opportunity for Nigerians to look at ways of improving the workings of the nation.
According to him, there are challenges that the nation was dealing with on a daily basis that should be addressed.
“Differences of all sorts exit in every nation. You can’t satisfy everyone in the conference. The most important thing is to ensure that the discussion will centre on key issues that concern all of us in the nation and very sensitive. Issues like devolution of powers, concerns that some ethnic groups are being dominated and the revenue sharing formula should be looked into,” he pointed out.
Dr Pearse insisted that when issues of ethnic nationalities’ representation are emphasised, it would become the focus of the conference, stressing that, “that is not the way we want to go”.
