Aregbesola totally on point here even as I personally doubt we will see a National conference under a Party that would readily embrace chaos, terrorism, genocide and anarchy , to keep central control of wealth, rather than provide Nigerians with total freedom to negotiate better and more suitable terms for our union.

http://www.punchng.com/news/opponents-of-national-conference-enemies-of-nigeria-aregbesola/

[b]Opponents of national conference, enemies of Nigeria – Aregbesola[/b]
February 6, 2012 by Sunday Aborisade 26 Comments
Osun State Governor, Rauf Aregbesola

Osun State Governor Rauf Aregbesola, has labelled opponents of the Sovereign National Conference being advocated by some politicians and human rights activists enemies of the country.

Aregbesola stated this on Saturday at the golden anniversary celebration of the Anglican Grammar School, Arigidi Akoko, Ondo State where he inaugurated some projects and a N50m development fund for his alma mater.

The governor insisted that the convocation of the SNC remained the best way to determine the continued existence of Nigeria.

He said, “We must embark immediately on sovereign National Conference. While we are the same in our essential humanity, we are different as a people – with different, history, world view, cultural practices and I daresay at different levels of civilisation.

“These differences are showing every day and posing a grave danger to our union. Sovereign national conference is not and has never been a call for the dissolution of Nigeria.

“What is necessary and which we are asking for is the negotiation of the terms of our union. Those who foreclosed the negotiation of our union are the real enemies of the country.

“We must commence this national conference without delay if we are to save the country from inevitable untoward consequences.”

Aregbesola added, “We are a plural society with many nations within the Nigerian nation. On many occasions in the past, we have got to the brink and miraculously returned. We have thus stretched our luck too far to the point of taking it for granted.

“Are we not daring fate? We may have gone beyond the tolerance threshold and if care is not taken, we stand the grave risk of plunging the nation into a catastrophe by obdurately clinging to a system that is beyond salvage.”

National conference will only mask the real issues.

they should refrain from managing democracy ie patching and stiching the system.
we need to tell the nigerian story as it is then create a democratic nigeria.

Let our SW brothers be in the forefront for this Sovereignty National conference, At least let them champion a good course for once

It's long overdue.
Let's hope, when the ruling forces finally agree, they will allow the views of the men on the street to count, rather than those of various political interest groups.
We don't want to exchange slavemasters.

kunlekunle:

they should refrain from managing democracy ie patching and stiching the system.
we need to tell the nigerian story as it is then create a democratic nigeria.

You get it. Either we have modern nigeria or no nigeria.

Rightly on point!!

juman:

You get it. Either [size=18pt]we have modern nigeria or no nigeria.
[/size]

Well said Aregbesola. It's beyond my grasp as to why the government of the day has decided not to heed to the call for a sovereign national conference.

juman:

You get it. Either [size=20pt]we have modern Nigeria or no Nigeria.[/size]

Gbam. . . . . . . ,

Will those who had swear to defend Nigeria with their blood allow this Conference to hold? I believe we would find solution to our problem soon.

Thank you your excellency.
If only the benefactors of this current faulty system will give this SNC a chance.
Especially because DAVID MARK and his co treasury looters in the so call national assembly believe they will have no relivance, which ofcourse they dont have now if we have this conference.

Also i like your comment about we having deferent level of civilisation.

though we may not be understood in the real content but we south westerns have gone beyond the per pacy of mediocrity we see when others are myopically distorted and we DO NOT romance the politics of mediocrity of hypocrisy let the truth be told

Spot on my rascally friend, AregbeRascal. Spot on!

I couldn't agree less on this point. Without National Conference anytime soon, we might be heading towards National Conflagration, either way, change is coming. .  .

frankcimc:

Will those who had swear to defend Nigeria with their blood allow this Conference to hold? I believe we would find solution to our problem soon.

This is the crux of the matter. The fact is that those speaking about defending the unity of Nigerians , in the face of current developments, are fraudsters who only want to maintain the status quo. No one is more empowered than David Mark to push for a re-negotiation of the terms of our unity to account for present day reality. The fact is that the likes of Mark, IBB, OBj, Anenih et al love the current arrangement favouring elitism, continuous historical priviledge for a select few, garish bigmanism, "winner takes all" mentality and the hideously unfair control of Nigeria's wealth for use by a very small percentage of folks. There is not an iota of social equity or devotion to leadership for the common man in those folks.

Ordinary Nigerians are being duped by their wealthy 'local champions'. There is no basis , in factual context, for "our oil" or "we feed Nigeria" arguments when[b] majority of Nigerians[/b] (perhaps as many as 90% or more) benefit very little from the Nation's oil wealth. All these feudalistic claims should be levelled at the elite ruling class, from all corners of Nigeria, and not fellow ordinary Nigerians who enjoy similar levels of poverty and , if we are politically sophisticated, should ordinarily be allies whether they are from an oil producing State or not.

The only folks benefitting from Nigeria's oil wealth, and indeed other sources of national income, are those involved with Governance. Will it take Nigerians a million years to gain the sophistication to see that? We are better off challenging the status quo that condemns most Nigerian, regardless of their State of origin, to common poverty and dearth of development instead of feudalistically viewing other ordinary Nigerians as our enemies. Our callous and greedy leaders, from all Nigerian States, are the enemies. We must seek to force them to give us a better deal. Aregbesola is correct here.

kayci_d77:

Let our SW brothers be in the forefront for this Sovereignty National conference, At least let them champion a good course for once

Rejig your memory. The SW always have.
This is what the SE/SS should fight for instead of empty secession threats

Gbawe:

This is the crux of the matter. The fact is that those speaking about defending the unity of Nigerians , in the face of current developments, are fraudsters who only want to maintain the status quo. No one is more empowered than David Mark to push for a re-negotiation of the terms of our unity to account for present day reality. The fact is that the likes of Mark, IBB, OBj, Anenih et al love the current arrangement favouring elitism, continuous historical priviledge for a select few, garish bigmanism, "winner takes all" mentality and the hideously unfair control of Nigeria's wealth for use by a very small percentage of folks. There is not an iota of social equity or devotion to leadership for the common man in those folks.

Ordinary Nigerians are being duped by their wealthy 'local champions'. There is no basis , in factual context, for "our oil" or "we feed Nigeria" arguments when majority of Nigerians benefit little from the Nation's oil wealth. All these feudalistic claims should be levelled at the elite ruling class, from all corners of Nigeria, and not fellow ordinary Nigerians who enjoy similar levels of poverty whether they are from an oil producing State or not.

The only folks benefitting from Nigeria's oil wealth, and indeed other sources of national income, are those involved with Governance. Will it take Nigerians a million years to gain the sophistication to see that? We are better off challenging the status quo that condemns most Nigerian, regardless of their State of origin, to common poverty and dearth of development instead of feudalistically viewing other ordinary Nigerians as our enemies. Our callous and greedy leaders, from all Nigerian States, are the enemies. We must seek to force them to give us a better deal. Aregbesola is correct here.

So on point Gbawe.
Only wish the ethnic secessionists will reason this way for their instigators& by extension Masters are in on the booty alongside those muting ethnic expressions.

obowunmi:

National conference will only mask the real issues.

No. Not if there is genuine sincerity. Do I think Nigeria must seperate? No. What I believe passionately is that we must look at the conditions of our union honestly and craft ways that will ensure every State and region can develop at a pace commensurate with their readiness to work hard, embrace genuine democracy and commit unwaveringly to promoting the ideals of letting merit run society via a consistent rejection of the old order of cronyism and favouritism.

There are no "real issues" that cannot be resolved if folks approach the discussion table with genuine search for solutions instead of with a 'jeun-jeun' agenda.

I wonder why notable personalities such as Lagos State Governor Raji Fashola, Nobel Laureate Wole Soyinka, Mallam Adamu Ciroma, Finance Minister Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala and Petroleum Minister Diezani Alison-Madueke, who were billed to speak at the event, were conspicuously absent and no reason was given for their absence.

Soyinka and Ciroma were billed to speak for the South-West and North-East geo-political zones while Fashola was listed as the chief host.

I suppose the named people above are enemies of Nigeria. SMH

Next thing you will hear, Jonathan will say the National Conference has been convened by his administration.
This is the sickest government in the history of this country.

obowunmi

National conference will only mask the real issues.

@^^ Please what are the real issues?
Why are we so afraid to talk or have a conversation as a people? What is it that we are afraid of?

Gbawe

Ordinary Nigerians are being duped by their wealthy 'local champions'. There is no basis , in factual context, for[b] "our oil" [/b]or "we feed Nigeria" [/b]arguments when majority of Nigerians (perhaps as many as 90% or more) benefit very little from the Nation's oil wealth. All these feudalistic claims should be levelled at the elite ruling class, from all corners of Nigeria, and not fellow ordinary Nigerians who enjoy similar levels of poverty and , if we are politically sophisticated, should ordinarily be allies whether they are from an oil producing State or not.

[b]The only folks benefitting from Nigeria's oil wealth, and indeed other sources of national income, are those involved with Governance. Will it take Nigerians a million years to gain the sophistication to see that? We are better off challenging the status quo that condemns most Nigerian, regardless of their State of origin, to common poverty and dearth of development instead of feudalistically viewing other ordinary Nigerians as our enemies. Our callous and greedy leaders, from all Nigerian States, are the enemies. We must seek to force them to give us a better deal. Aregbesola is correct here.

@^^ Gosh . Gbam+1000. You are a genius. You really give me some hope in our people.

Gbawe:

This is the crux of the matter. The fact is that those speaking about defending the unity of Nigerians , in the face of current developments, are fraudsters who only want to maintain the status quo. No one is more empowered than David Mark to push for a re-negotiation of the terms of our unity to account for present day reality. The fact is that the likes of Mark, IBB, OBj, Anenih et al love the current arrangement favouring elitism, continuous historical priviledge for a select few, garish bigmanism, "winner takes all" mentality and the hideously unfair control of Nigeria's wealth for use by a very small percentage of folks. There is not an iota of social equity or devotion to leadership for the common man in those folks.

Ordinary Nigerians are being duped by their wealthy 'local champions'. There is no basis , in factual context, for "our oil" or "we feed Nigeria" arguments when[b] majority of Nigerians[/b] (perhaps as many as 90% or more) benefit very little from the Nation's oil wealth. All these feudalistic claims should be levelled at the elite ruling class, from all corners of Nigeria, and not fellow ordinary Nigerians who enjoy similar levels of poverty and , if we are politically sophisticated, should ordinarily be allies whether they are from an oil producing State or not.

The only folks benefitting from Nigeria's oil wealth, and indeed other sources of national income, are those involved with Governance. Will it take Nigerians a million years to gain the sophistication to see that? We are better off challenging the status quo that condemns most Nigerian, regardless of their State of origin, to common poverty and dearth of development instead of feudalistically viewing other ordinary Nigerians as our enemies. Our callous and greedy leaders, from all Nigerian States, are the enemies. We must seek to force them to give us a better deal. Aregbesola is correct here.

+8

ochukoccna

So on point Gbawe.
Only wish the ethnic secessionists will reason this way for their instigators& by extension Masters are in on the booty alongside those muting ethnic expressions.

@^^ If you are a true "democrat", nothing should be off limit for discussion or "sacred". if any group want to breakaway or secede so be it. What is so special or exceptional about anyone wanting to discuss secession or union?. The most important issue is "let's talk" or have a conversation. We should not preclude anything at all, otherwise it defeats the purpose of a true honest conversation for national unity, progress or otherwise if we so wish. Nothing should be held sacred to talk about.

ochukoccna:

Rejig your memory. The SW always have.
This is what the SE/SS should fight for instead of empty secession threats

Are you not proud of yourself

Those opposing the idea of a national conference on the grounds that we've held such futile conferences in the past are justified.
Nigerians love talking and arguing(pointlessly), and that's the objective of those proposing the idea of a national conference. They're only trying to seek national relevance through the conference. The idea of a national conference in 2012 is analogous, how come its only in Nigeria we hear the term "national conference".

Good point[img]http://www.50centloseweight.com[/img]

401kk

Those opposing the idea of a national conference on the grounds that we've held such futile conferences in the past are justified.
Nigerians love talking and arguing(pointlessly), and that's the objective of those proposing the idea of a national conference. They're only trying to seek national relevance through the conference. The idea of a national conference in 2012 is analogous, how come its only in Nigeria we hear the term "national conference".

@^^ When exactly did Nigerians ever had a "National Conference/conversation"? Talking and arguing(pointlessly) as you put it, is preferable than not "talking"/"arguing" at all .
If it is only in Nigeria you hear of the term "National conference", then it is because we have a "peculiar" problem that other people(countries) do not have in abundance like us. For starters we have a handful of quasi terrorist groups operating in Nigeria(BH, MEND, Massob, OPC, and uncaring/unpatriotic ruling clique/lootocracy. Perhaps, all of these anomalies are natural/normal to you just like our bad roads and extra-judicial killings by our "police" men/women . It is obvious that a lot of Nigerians have internalised suffering/pain as normal attributes of a developing society instead of questioning/expecting the best from our so called "leaders". Ethiopia actually had a "national" conference to decide the future/cohesive nature of their country hence Eritrea broke away after many years of fighting. "National" conference does not necessarily imply "dissolution" or Break-up of the country(Nigeria). Nevertheless, if some sections want to break away so be it. What is so special or sacred about us being together or not? Presently, we are killing and hating each other like we are "enemies" at war, yet we do not have the guts to discus our fears and union which was imposed on us by our past colonial master.Are we so cowardly and dumb to have a conversation? What is our fear(s)? Are we so lazy to even contemplate/discus our inherent problems as a people?

ochukoccna:

Rejig your memory. The SW always have.
This is what the SE/SS should fight for instead of empty secession threats

Every man got the right to decide his own destiny, not a most to live together in thesame country

Aregbe on point

there's absolutely no basis for a national confab. Unless we want to create a talkshow for retired politicians and spent forces.
We have a National Assembly elected by the people. Any body intent on proposing a change should prevail on his representative in the house or Senate to push it.
What will be the criteria for selecting members of the confab? Aregbesola should shut up and face his bad work in Osun.