Tuesday 7 February 2012

How to save Nigeria – Eminent citizens

DIALOGUE—From left: Chief Edwin Clark, Imam Abdulrahman Ahmad, Chief Missioner of Ansar udeen Muslim Group, and Alhaji Balarabe Musa, former Governor of Kaduna State, during the Eminent National Leaders of Thought Dialogue on The State of The Nation, yesterday in Lagos. Photo: Bunmi Azeez.
Eminent citizens, yesterday, took a critical look at the state of affairs in the country and returned a grim verdict: Nigeria is on the brink of collapse and needs to be saved.
Drawn from the six geo-political zones of the country, the citizens, including politicians, lawyers, activists, religious leaders, monarchs and members of the academia were unanimous in condemning corruption, insecurity, poor state of infrastructure and inability of successive governments to develop the country.  They all agreed that the country, as a matter of urgency, must find a winning formula to improve on the fortune of the citizenry, 70 per cent of whom live below the poverty line.
However, they were divided on how to save the sinking ship of state. While some canvassed convocation of a Sovereign National Conference (SNC) to restructure the country into a true federal state, others said a national conference would be sufficient. There were also some who feared that a national dialogue would lead to the disintegration of the country.

They would rather that people utilise the opportunity offered by the National Assembly to bring about the desired changes in the Constitution. Yet, another group averred that constitution-making was not the problem of the common man. Rather, it is provision of dearly needed amenities- roads, power, education, healthcare, water, jobs, security, etc.
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