SANI ZORO, former national president of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), is a delegate at the national conference where he represents the union. He speaks to Assistant Editor (North), CHUKS EHIRIM, on his appeal to his counterparts from the South South zone on the need for compromise on major issues for the country to move on.
Drawing the curtains on the confab
Sani Zoro
I want to believe that we have tried beyond expectation, in the sense that because of the circumstance of the conference and the contentious nature of the issues tabled, it was largely anticipated by Nigerians that there were going to be acrimonies and conflicts arising among the conferees. So far so good, in the sense that most of the amendments and recommendations have been laid to rest in the atmosphere of conviviality, solidarity as well as maturity.
On the issue that remains unresolved, which is as contentious as it is, I feel that the leadership of the conference should not stampede us into arriving at a decision here and now. The history of all conferences, whether in Nigeria or outside, suggests that there are issues that may remain unresolved and which you push back to the authorities that convened the conference. That is done.
Second, since we had agreed right from the word go, I believe that a resort to voting will only hurt, divide and bring stratification among the delegates. But time heals. If we allow a few more days or some weeks, I can assure you that some power-brokers, who have been promoting meetings and consultations, will come up with an agreed formula just like in the case of the Land (Use) Tenure Act. The way it was passed was even an anti-climax. But it had raised dust and caused ripples among delegates in the past.
After some time, after a lot of introspections, amendments were made and it was passed. I personally will not want this conference to crash. The conferees who are from the president’s geo-political zone, which is the South South, and who must realise that they are in the eye of the storm, on this particular issue of increase in derivation principle in their favour, it appears to me, I mean from all indications, that they are the ones that must work hard to save this conference.
So, if it boils down that the conference will suffer a set-back, they must know that, more than any other zone, they must make sure that this thing succeeds, because if it succeeds, the people from the South South will be the ones to claim, more than people from any other ethnic nationality, that the president has posted a legacy.
The legacy will be shared, more by them than people from other parts of the country because the national conference, as it is now, is a policy decision; it is the agenda of the President of Nigeria who, incidentally, is from the Niger Delta. So I believe they should double their efforts in the spirit of ‘give and take’ and in the spirit of handholding, to make sure that this conference comes to a successful conclusion, instead of crashing at the last minute because of an issue that has to do with them, more than any other group of people.
Past conferences ending in stalemate and South South getting fair deal from the centre
Well, the fact of the matter is, according to what we have been told, the delegates from the South South are all agreed on 18 per cent derivation. That is an increase of five per cent. After all, we are not sure whether they are not the ones who are instigating other groups to undo the same thing they had publicly agreed on. Why I say so is that this thing is coming up as a package negotiated, in return for the support of the Northern Delegates Forum, for instance. I am not a delegate from any governmental body; I represent the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ).
But one of the major blocs that are in negotiation with them is the Northern Delegates Forum. The Northern people said they were in agreement with the 18 per cent; that is, with an increase of five per cent, provided that a special fund which they call, Stabilisation, Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Fund, will be set up, with five per cent of total funds coming out from derivation, to address the crisis that has engulfed the Northern parts of the country, at least in the last four years, but with particular reference to the NorthEast zone. According to the presentation by Professor Ibrahim Gambari, who chaired the tripartite negotiation, the North East part of the country is to get either two-and-half or three per cent while North Central or North West will share one per cent each.
Personally, I believe that this is a good decision, in the sense that there is precedence. In the case of Niger Delta, there are more than six intervention funds addressing the issues there. For instance, we are all aware of the Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs, the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), the Amnesty Programme, then there is the five per cent Upstream that is deducted from the Federation Account and ploughed into the Niger Delta infrastructure development. There is the Special Content, with its headquarters located in Yenagoa (Bayelsa State). There is also one other.
But be that as it may, most of these programmes were initiated by the late President Umaru Yar’Adua, who was from another part of the country. He decided to address it because he believed that there was the need to address crisis or the injustice or imbalance in governance. So we thought that if the president we now have in place, coming from another part of the country, will replicate that same principle, feel with serious concern the crisis of another nature – insurgency – which has devastated another part of the country, it won’t be a bad idea. I think, politically speaking, it will be unwise for the Jonathan presidency to end without a Jonathan plan for the North East, or if you like, the Northern part of the country.
This is simply because the same president had empanelled three different committees, either investigating the root of the insurgency or how to address it – I am talking about the report of the committee led by Lemu and the most recent one by Gen. Sabo, which investigated the disappearance of the Chibok School Girls – and their reports are on the shelf. His government has not acted on them.
Adjourning confab over resource control, intervention funds and other issues
In responding to all these issues, I always want to disengage myself from my geo-political environment and think and act as a journalist because that one will enable me to be as fair and objective as possible. You see, trading blames by politicians is part of politics the world over.
That is the raw material they use to hoodwink people or to canvass points of view by using primordial sentiments, to pit individuals and groups against each other. However, for me, I will rather go for the global best practices. That is what obtains in countries that are far more developed than we are. Once elections are over and government is formed, that government in power focuses on development or on the agenda that brought it to office, which means less politicking.
But these issues that you have brought up, wherein, like you said, some people are alleging that Northerners had vowed to make the country ungovernable, amount to campaigns after elections. I think campaigns after election shouldn’t be. I think we are actually losing time or have actually lost time. At the end of the day, President Goodluck Jonathan, or any other president for that matter, is going to be rated on their deliverables, not on the basis of allegations that have not been proved.
For instance, if somebody says there are people who have vowed to make this country ungovernable, in what ways can you prove that they have sabotaged the government? If they have sabotaged the government in any way, why don’t you bring them to book? Why don’t you prosecute them because you are not allowed to sabotage the government simply because your man has not come to power or because the man you do not like is in power? This is treasonable.
