National Confab: There Will Be Consensus On Key Issues — Osoba

Former Governor of Ogun State and Chieftain of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Chief Segun Osoba, yesterday, said the north was afraid of devolution of power from the centre due to alleged fears that they would be short-changed in the scheme of things.

He however, assured that there was no need for any section of the country to be afraid of devolution of powers, since the present system of government in the country had failed, indicating ''that an alternative system is required to harness the full potentials of the country and deliver better and quality standard of living to the people.''

Osoba said that devolution of power from the centre was the only way to get the country back on the track of progress and development. The former governor spoke during the N850 million fund-raising dinner for the Building of Editor's Plaza held at Transcorp Hilton Hotel, Abuja yesterday. The Federal Government donated N50 million towards the project.

This was even as President Goodluck Jonathan described the Nigerian press as one of the freest in the world. According to him, ''such fear does not arise since the present system of government being practised in the country had failed the people of Nigeria.'' He also said that there will be consensus on some key issues at the ongoing national conference contrary to popular belief, that such feat would not be achieved.

Osoba, who was giving highlights of the proceedings at the conference said, ''though, some groups from the North are afraid of regionalism, permutations and body movements among the delegates show that they may no longer need 75 per cent votes to agree on some key issues like devolution of power from the centre and the system of government.''

He assured those opposed to regionalism and devolution of power that the National Conference would ensure ''that the present indices for revenue sharing is sustained, so that nobody would feel short-changed.'' His words, "About 75 per cent of us in that conference know ourselves, and we are sure that there will not be the need for 75 per cent consensus to arrive at certain key decisions. I know virtually everybody in that conference, so do many others.

''We have done our home work. I tell you, there will be partly consensus for some key issues on devolution and some other key issues because most of us believe there must be devolution of power. Most of us have been in government before and what we ask is, why should somebody sit in Abuja and determine how primary education in Yobe, Yenogoa and, in Benin will be run and which teacher should teach the local language? ''For us, that is an impossibility because primary school education has nothing to do with the Federal Government; primary education is cultural.

''It is only a grass root person that can teach a child his language, culture and values. It is a waste of money for someone to be in Abuja and determine the kind of building to be done in the primary school in my village; the culture is not the same. The system of building is not also the same. ''There must be devolution. Some people are scared of regionalism, especially our brothers from the Northern part of the country.

They feel it will be used to short change the North… "The reason why only the Lagos sea port is working and others scattered across the country are not working is because we have not provided the infrastructure. ''When we go back to regional system, let the regions create states as much as they like; let them create as many local governments as they like. But we can continue sharing revenue based on the same indices, so that nobody in the North will be shortchanged. But it is unfair for some states to be apportioned more local governments than their peers like in the case of Lagos and Kano with 20 and 44 local governments respectively."

While assuring on the determination of the delegates to deliver on their mandate, Osoba said, it was time for Nigerians to determine the best system of government to adopt between the parliamentary system or the system currently in use, semi presidential system to be able to move forward. "We have to determine whether the parliamentary system or what we have now, semi presidential system which one is better. The powers of the President are too much, we need to revisit all these.

Every government, every constitution is dynamic. All these indices are what we are going to look into at the conference and I am sure we shall come up with the consensus that all of us will be proud of. "Some people have said the conference will fail, but I assure you that it will not fail. With your support we shall not fail Nigerians.

We will do our best to make sure that the outcome of the conference is the type that will move Nigeria forward," he added. Also commenting on the suggestion by some of the delegates that rapists should be castrated, Osoba said, "instead of castrating rapists, we should ban them for life from politics and all political appointments and in addition give them dishonourable awards."

Also speaking the Edo State Governor, Comrade Adams Oshiomole, appealed to the delegates to work for the unity and progress of Nigeria, since they have no other country they can call our own. ''My only appeal is that the delegates should work for the unity and progress of Nigeria since we do not have another country we can call our own,'' he said and called for review of the status of some delegates calling for secession, ''to be certain that,'' they do not put fire in the house to consume others.

He challenged the elder statesmen in the conference to rise up in defence of national interests by speaking for the people of Federal Republic of Nigeria, who have no other place to go. "If indeed, as some of them have said that they have refuge aside Nigeria, to which they can run to, any such person, I believe his status should be reviewed because those of us who can not run, we want to be certain so that those who can run do not put fire in the house, such that those of us who can not run do not find ourselves being smoked inside.

"Those who have the privilege and who have had the privilege to preside over this nation at the national level, they can not be described as ethnic champions, they should speak for national audience. Let us leave ethnic things to those who have been prevailing in their domains, so that those who have responsibility beyond their domain; who have identified with our great compatriots, should speak for the people of Federal Republic of Nigeria, who have no other place to go.

"Let us recognize, that every country is dealing with its own challenges. Some are doing more of the talks, others are doing more of the work. I hope we are able to do both. For me, this is the best country in the world. Those who have noting to contribute can go, those of us who have to contribute can remain here.

This country is far much more than some total of all of the republics that we talk about." In his remarks, President Goodluck Jonathan, represented by Information Minister, Labaran Maku described the Nigerian press as one of the freest in the world, saying that his administration had created the conducive atmosphere for the media to operate freely.

Jonathan then asked the Nigerian Guild of Editors to uphold the unity of the country in their editorial contents to make the country the true giant of Africa. "I urge you to uphold the unity of this nation. One thing we must uphold is the unity of this nation. Every African nation is looking up to Nigeria for leadership.

Nigeria is a common inheritance of all Africans. We must admit that Nigeria has done so much for Africa. The unity of Africa depends on Nigeria. That is why we must not run Nigeria down. "The Nigerian press represents the best, the freest in the continent today. And everywhere around the continent, we are looked upon as a leader in this profession.

President Jonathan is most media friendly president since Shehu Shagari in terms of the freedom the media today have to perform their trade. Not only has this administration supported the media but created the atmosphere for them to operate. This is because we have come up with the idea of using media to lead the freedom of our country. Freedom of the press is part of our heritage from our freedom fighters.

''The atmosphere is very free to the extent that even the UN coordinator Agency made a pronouncement last year that the Nigerian media are very free and sometimes freer than some advanced countries. This is because we have come with a tradition of the media leading the course of democracy. Before independence, throughout the military, a lot of Nigerians depended on the print media to express their views. We have to accept the way we are.

This freedom did not just come over night, it is something we have fought for, and today adds to part of what this country recognizes as a heritage everywhere around the continent. I urge us to continue deepening this freedom we have with sense of responsibility. "We need to celebrate Nigeria because not everything is bad in Nigeria. This country has suffered breakdown as a result of impatience of the military.

This present democracy is working much better than any military (regime) we saw. I appeal to the media to defend Nigeria by reporting it in good light in order to fire up the imagination of the people," he said. Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan in his comments said that it was ''necessary that they (Guild of Editors) have their own secretariat.

Without a secretariat, they can not run the organization properly. We will help them to raise fund because part of it will be given out for rent instead of always going cap in hand for fund. They will have their fund to use. Secondly, it will also give them a stable place where you can easily look for them.