National Dialogue is a 'Welcome Development'; Governor Aliyu says

Reactions continue to pour in over the planned convocation of a National Dialogue by the Federal Government of Nigeria; which by all status is a presumed acceptance of the widely clamoured Sovereign National Conference where stakeholders believe the destiny and future of Nigeria must be discussed. Apparently, while this sounded soothing during the Independence Broadcast, similar acts had been done in the past with no positive outcome.

All the past sittings and dialogues had resulted into flagrant waste of tax payers funds with nothing to show concretely. The worries of Nigerians are really simple: How well will this address the extremely tensed polity which arose from ethnic and religious sentiments but found succour in politics where a region will claim it has the right to almost always rule and another will believe the collective wealth of the nation is theirs? How well will this Dialogue lead Nigeria back to the part of true federalism and even abrogate the military-sponsored unitary constitution of 1999?

No doubt, true federalism or a genuine, viable and strong federal structure is the only panacea but the question is are Nigerian leaders true to that course? The region whose sole interest is to rule appears to be skeptical of such an arrangement according to public opinions while the region whose interest is to secure the black gold as well as the region of the learned are in favour of the Dialogue; though that is the best for the entity called Nigeria. The fear of some is being allayed by the Governor of Niger state while speaking in Minna.

Governor Babangida Aliyu of Niger described the plan by the Federal Government to convene a national dialogue to discuss the future of the nation as "a welcome development". The remark was made by him while he was inaugurating the SURE-P mass transport scheme for the 25 Local Government Areas in Niger state. He said the planned dialogue would ensure justice for all segments of the country.

"Mr president has constituted an advisory committee on national dialogue.We should not be afraid to discuss our future and our present situation; how we came about where we are and how we want to move from that place. Nobody should be afraid to discuss it, we should not be afraid of whatever may be the outcome of the conference."

Governor Aliyu expressed optimism that Nigeria would emerge stronger and remain one indivisible entity at the end of the conference. "Let us not be afraid of going to discuss with fellow Nigerians on how to move the country forward and ensure that we have justice in our body polity and in our society. So we welcome this desire and plan for the national dialogue," he said.

How this National Dialogue will lead to true federalism and move away from this unitary system is the main headache of well-meaning Nigerians. True federalism was the basis of Nigeria which ensured the developments of the regions immediately after independence. Since the discovery of the black gold, those who benefited immensely and massively from true federalism during the era of agriculture quickly changed the status quo again to suit their gluttonous cravings.