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| Jonathan |
President Goodluck Jonathan on Thursday night held a meeting
with some select leaders from three geo-political zones of South-east,
South-south and South-west at the presidential villa, Abuja. Sources at the
meeting said the state of the nation topped the agenda at the meeting.
It was gathered that former Minister of Information, Chief
Edwin Clark led the South-south delegation to the meeting. Other leaders from
the South-south at the meeting were the former governor of Delta State, Felix
Ibru; former Senator Bassey Ewa Henshaw and the former military governor of
Akwa Ibom State, Idongesit Nkana among others.
From the south-east were First Republic minister, Chief
Mbazulike Amaechi and former governor of
old Anambra State, Chief Chukwuemeka Ezeife.
The south-west delegation was led by Bishop Ayo Gbonigi and
former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Chief Olu Falae.
Clark told THISDAY that the meeting also explored the
modalities for the possible convocation of a national conference. Such
conference, he said, would not seek to split the country but would rather set
pre-conditions for peaceful co-existence. “We are talking about a national
conference. A conference whereby Nigerians will meet to discuss the basis of
unity in this country and also to look into our constitution and decide whether
it is the best instrument we have for this country. We are not talking about
the sovereign national conference.
“We believe that the National Assembly cannot do it alone.
We believe that if there is a national conference which is constituted by
representatives from over 250 ethnic nationalities in this country, they will
be able to produce a document to form the basis of their unity.”
Another South-south politician that attended the meeting
told THISDAY: "We went to pay homage to the President and asked him not to
be distracted by the politics of the members of the National Assembly. We also
received briefings on the state of the nation, especially the challenges of the
insecurity in the country."
It was gathered that the meeting between the President and
the Southern leaders also discussed the Bakassi issue and why Nigeria did not
appeal the judgement.
"The President took time to explain to the southern
leaders why the federal government did not appeal the ICJ judgement as being
clamoured for.
"The President explained that though he gave his words
at the United Nations that that Nigeria will abide by rule of law as it affects
the country and its relationship with other countries. But that when he
returned from the United Nations meeting, he met the resolutions of the two
arms of National Assembly mandating Nigeria to appeal.
"He explained to us that he immediately set up a
committee of experts, who met severally and came up with the recommendations
that there was nothing new that should make Nigeria appeal the ICJ
judgement."
"The President told us that the committee reported that
the National Assembly was merely playing to the gallery and politicking. The
President explained to us that if Nigeria had appealed to the ICJ and loses
again, that it would create an image problem and that Nigeria will be seen as a
country that couldn’t abide by international commitments. Accordingly, he told
us that it was in the overall interest of Nigeria that the ICJ judgement be
left alone."
The source said that the President assured the southern
leaders that his administration was not deliberately avoiding the resolutions
of the National Assembly and "assured us that he holds the National
Assembly in high esteem."
The southern leaders, the source said, told the President
not to be distracted by the National Assembly and advised him to be focused.
"We also told him to ensure that there was a substantial improvement in
the standard of living of Nigerians.
"We did not discuss the politics of the 2015, but we
assured him of our continued support in the governance of this country. We
reassured our faith in the continued unity of Nigeria, despite discordant tunes
by some Nigerians," the source said.
Also, he said that the President briefed the southern
leaders on the challenges of insecurity in the country, especially the Boko
Haram crisis.
According to the source, "the southern leaders were
satisfied with the efforts of the federal government to tackle the security
insurgence.
"We also discussed the recent flooding in the country
and called on the President to tackle the issue pointedly, the source said.
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