On the Occasion of the Submission of the National Conference Report
PROTOCOLS
1. Mr
Chairman, very distinguished delegates, it is with all gladness that I
address you this day. After nearly five months endeavour to find the
appropriate verb for the noun of our country within the syntax of human
experience, you have brought to a grateful Nation, the report of the
2014 National Conference....
2. I
want to congratulate the Chairman and his able team, the Delegates, all
Nigerians and indeed everyone who has contributed one way or the other
to the successful convocation and conclusion of the Conference.
3. I
also congratulate the Presidential Advisory Committee which developed
the framework for the Conference after travelling around the country. We
cannot afford to take for granted the efforts and commitment that the
delegates and the leaders put into the Conference to make it a success.
The patriotic zeal was evident in the inputs of the delegates into the
dialogue and how these have now formed the basis of the report.
4. On
behalf of all Nigerians, let me thank you most sincerely for your hard
work. Your tireless efforts aimed at coming up with recommendations to
chart a path of peaceful coexistence, sustainable development, justice
and progress as we march into our second centenary shall not be in vain.
5. To my mind, one of
the main reasons for which the Conference was convoked was fully
achieved: that is, to create a platform for a genuine and sincere
dialogue among Nigerians. Even in moments when things seemed ready to
boil over, it was evident that the Delegates were only disagreeing to
agree.
6. It
is now very clear that as Nigerians, we have devised a way of
addressing and resolving our differences amicably: we dialogue and
dialogue until we agree! This is most heart-warming indeed!..
7. My
dear brothers and sisters, I am not unmindful that there were delegates
who were in this hall when I inaugurated this conference who today are
not part of this closing event as the cold hands of death have snatched
them. I pray that Almighty God will grant eternal repose to the souls of
our departed patriots and protect all the families they have left
behind. They would be proud of what you, their living colleagues, have
done to end what we started together.
8. On
the occasion of the 53rd Independence Anniversary of Nigeria last year,
I made a promise to set a National Conversation in motion in order to
advance the course of nation-building. The agitation had been there for a
while and we could no longer ignore it or delay the process. I was
motivated by a genuine desire to make our country a better place where
we can build consensus in the evolution of a New Nigeria....
9. When
I was inaugurating the Presidential Advisory Committee in December last
year, I made it very clear to the committee that it was a sincere and
fundamental undertaking, aimed at realistically examining and genuinely
resolving, longstanding impediments to our cohesion and harmonious
development as a truly united Nation....
10. At
the inauguration of the National Conference in March, I told you the
Delegates our expectations. I did say that I expected participants to
patriotically articulate and synthesize our people's thoughts, views and
recommendations for a stronger, more united, peaceful and politically
stable Nigeria.
11. I
urged the participants to forge the broadest possible national
consensus in the process. I also warned that we should not to be under
any illusions about the task ahead because we would be confronted with
complex and emotive issues.....
12. I am very satisfied
that the Delegates navigated these obstacles in a very mature manner.
There were those who set out to input ulterior motives to our modest
efforts at reshaping and strengthening the foundations of our nationhood
to deliver better political cohesion and greater development agenda.
The naysayers raised false alarms over some phantom hidden agenda and
called to question our sincerity and did everything possible to derail
this noble project....
13. The
success of this conference has proved the cynics wrong in many
respects. Those who dismissed the entire conference ab initio as a
"diversion" have been proved wrong as what you achieved has contrary to
their forecast diverted our country only from the wrong road to the
right direction....
14. They
said the conference would end in a deadlock as Nigeria had reached a
point where the constituent parts could no longer agree on any issue. We
exploded that myth by suggesting that you should arrive at your
decisions by consensus or 75% majority threshold.
15. That
was the first challenge you had at this conference when it appeared you
were going to break up. There were suggestions that we should intervene
as government to "save" the conference at that dicey moment but I
insisted that beyond the inauguration we were not going to intrude into
the conference in any manner. We kept our promise....
16. One
of the many reasons for our non-interference is this: we have at the
conference, 492 delegates and six conference officials who all in their
individual rights are qualified to lead our great country and if they
were unable to agree on how to take decisions, we would be in real
trouble! Acknowledging the quality and patriotic content of the
delegates, I was confident, the right thing will be done
17. I
understand, there were a few outstanding issues yet. That you did not
agree on all issues shows the sincerity of the discourse. Nobody was at
the Conference to be politically correct. People spoke passionately and
argued strongly in favour of what they genuinely believed in. As a
result, there were bound to be strong disagreements.
18. If
everybody agreed on every issue, the debate would not only be lacking
in quality and passion, it would also be said to have been
stage-managed. What we should worry about now is not that there were
disagreements in one or two items, but how to manage these disagreements
such that nobody walks away feeling short-changed and bitter. It is a
major challenge in nation-building as experienced by the biggest
democracies in the world. You managed them well and came out tall,
fellow citizens. ...
19. I
must congratulate you! You not only worked out a compromise but you
never had to divide the house to take over 600 resolutions which I
understand you passed at this conference. You have indeed built a new
architecture of negotiation based on trustful give-and-take that is
going to be a permanent reference point in our national life....
20. There
were many other moments of anxiety at the conference with avalanche of
headlines about possible "walkouts" and "show-downs". However with your
sense of maturity and abiding presence of God who put this country
together, what we have today is a walk-in and a show-up!..
21. In my inauguration speech on March 17, 2014, I enjoined you as follows:
"We need a new mind and a
new spirit of oneness and national unity. The time has come to stop
seeing Nigeria as a country of many groups and regions. We have been
divinely brought together under one roof. We must begin to see ourselves
as one community. We are joined together by similar hopes and dreams as
well as similar problems and challenges. What affects one part of the
community affects the other."..
22.I'm greatly delighted
that you worked that out in practical terms by your patriotic
demonstration of the truism that "though tribe and tongue may differ, in
brotherhood we stand"...
23. The
result of the conference has shown that we are not enemies, neither are
we antagonists, no matter our religion, region, state, and tongue. This
Conference has reinforced what I have always believed:that Nigeria is
here for our collective good...
24. Mr
Chairman, distinguished delegates, there is a wisdom saying that if two
siblings went to the inner recess to dialogue and they are grinning
from ear-to-ear when they are done, truth must have been in short supply
in their discussions. However, no matter the bitter truth they shared
behind closed doors, holding hands when they emerge and not disowning
each other is the hallmark of blood being thicker than water...
25. This
dialogue reflects the current issues in the light of the
socio-political evolution of the world. I did say before that we cannot
proffer yesterday's solutions to today’s Nigeria's problems. The
challenges we faced at Independence or even at the beginning of this
democratic experience in 1999 are not the same challenges we face today.
26.The discourse
reflected our latest challenges. We shall send the relevant aspects of
your recommendations to the Council of State and the National Assembly
for incorporation into the Constitution of the Federal Republic of
Nigeria. On our part, we shall act on those aspects required of us in
the Executive...
27. Let
me reaffirm this: Nobody has a monopoly of knowledge. We who are in
government need to feed from the thoughts of those who elected us into
power. You have done your patriotic duty, we the elected, must now do
ours.
28. As
I receive the report of your painstaking deliberations, let me assure
that your work is not going be a waste of time and resources. We shall
do all we can to ensure the implementation of your recommendations which
have come out of consensus and not by divisions....
29. In
this regard I appeal to all arms of government and the people of
Nigeria to be ready to play the different roles that the volumes of
reports you have produced would assign to you. It is my hope that with
what you have done, our country is on the right road to getting the job
of nation building done...\
30. The
report of the National Conference, coming 100 years after the
Amalgamation, promises to be a landmark in our history. I have always
believed that dialogue is a better way of driving change in the
community and I am happy that this dialogue has gone very well. With the
far-reaching recommendations touching on several areas of our national
life, I am convinced that this will be a major turning point for
Nigeria...
31. We
have gone through many challenges in our first centenary, now is the
time to hit the track and take our proper lane for the race of progress.
Our moment for national rebirth is here. We have to rekindle hope not
only within our country but in the entire African continent where
collectively our leadership is acknowledged...
32. Distinguished
ladies and gentlemen, in every governance index, we are making
progress. In 2009, our life expectancy was forty seven years, it has now
risen to fifty-two. We were spending over a trillion Naira importing
food four years ago, it is now down to a little over six hundred billion
Naira and still falling! The size of our economy has grown.
33. We
are improving on our infrastructure and now well on our way to
self-sufficiency in energy security. We are focusing on education with a
view to banishing illiteracy from our country. We have revived our
railways and our airports are undergoing massive repositioning. Our
sports men and women are now hungrier for laurels and we are
recalibrating our security forces to meet the challenges of newer
security threat that was brought to us! ..
34. Very
distinguished delegates, this administration has made the sanctity of
the ballot a cardinal focus. Our successes in polls in different states
in recent past have shown we are making substantial progress in the
direction of making the polls attractive to all categories of citizens
in our land so that our best and brightest would not continue to shun
the electoral process. Our goal is that Nigeria must quickly arrive at
the point where every vote is not only counted but counts. It is
free,fair and credible elections that we crave....
35. Now
is the time that we put behind us all the drawbacks that have inhibited
us from fulfilling our manifest destiny and realizing our full
potentials. We must steadily arrive at the juncture where strife,
conflicts and mistrusts would become distant echoes of our past. We must
make every inch of our country a space for joyous habitation. Our
country must enter a new season of harmony, prosperity and happiness
with justice abiding in every hamlet, community and our country. It is
the dawn of a new day in Nigeria and the new nation is at the door
accompanied by its great men and women, young and old....
36. All
those who have predicted the disintegration of our country at the end
of our first centenary would wish they chose another country when the
possibilities of the new vision for Nigeria are actualised. In place of
disintegration we shall have integration. In place of bitterness and
spilling of blood, we shall have sweetness and healing in our land.
Henceforth, our country shall become like a running water that
approaches a rock, rather than stopping it takes a curve and flows on...
37. Mr
Chairman, we arrived at this point with praise to God and gladness in
our hearts. I once again congratulate you and your wonderful team and
all of you the distinguished delegates, for the great job that you have
done in these five months. I would like to implore you all to continue
to make yourselves available for service to the nation as that is the
hallmark of every patriot.
38. We are grateful!
39. On this note, I hereby accept the report and declare the 2014 National Conference closed to the glory of our Almighty God.
No comments:
Post a Comment