Delegates vote on derivation, others as consensus fails

IT is now obvious that moves by the leadership of the on going National Conference to cultivate the desired compromise leading to the consensus required, to pass the amended recommendations from the report of its Committee on Devolution of Power, have failed.     The committee chaired by Victor Attah and Ibrahim Coomasie had submitted some recommendations that have further widened the North-South dichotomy and also polarised the regions, such that after two days of negotiations, reconciliatory meetings and horse-trading, no compromise has been  reached, as each delegate insists their individual beliefs, regional interest and sectional considerations must sail through.
    The issues of resource control, derivation principle, revenue sharing and the development and exploitation of mineral resources nationwide among others form the fulcrum of the report.
After critical assessment and valid inputs from the delegates, the report needs to be passed on with the appropriate amendments for final recommendations.

2015 Is The Cause Of Insecurity in Nigeria – Sultan

The Sultan of Sokoto and president-general, Nigeria Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA), Alhaji Sa’ad Abubakar III, said yesterday that the devastating degree of insecurity in Nigeria was simply high-power politics ahead of 2015 political offices. This was just as the traditional-cum-religious leader fingered politicians as the main problem of Nigeria and added that every Nigerian should see himself/herself as a leader who is in the business of ensuring we live in peace.
“We must all come together to fight insecurity,” the Sultan stated, adding that Nigerians should learn to separate politics from religion. “As religious leaders, we must be apolitical, but we must also show concern for our leaders who rule us.”
The Sultan asked: “All of us claim to be very religious but the question now remains, are we doing what our religions say? Let’s take a look at where we are coming from.”
Frowning at recent developments where Muslim leaders are always being criticized for not doing enough to curtail insurgency in Nigeria, the Sultan urged people to do research and advise them on what else they should do, since people don’t seem to be satisfied with their open condemnation of the acts of insurgency in the country.
The Sultan lamented that it has gone so bad that anywhere they see a northerner, whether a Christian or a Muslim, he is termed a Boko Haram member.
Doing a census to determine how many Nigerians from other regions reside in one’s domain is simply a waste of time, he said, because “God has a reason for bringing us together and, as such, we should appreciate staying together at all times without discrimination”.
“Certain meetings are very important in our lives as leaders. Though all of us are leaders in one way or the other, it should be noted that what we say, do or do not say as leaders matters.
“All of us are in the same boat of ensuring a safe country; therefore, all of us are stakeholders when it comes to helping one another.
“As for those who are saying we should not dialogue with insurgents, I believe that there are issues we must all face. We read, watch and see all what happened elsewhere. All of us are adults; we read what you journalists write, watch on the television screen or listen to the radio; and there is nowhere in the world where the use of force has ended anything related to insurgency. There is nowhere in the world that it has ever worked out.
“We are shedding too much blood of the innocent people who know nothing about leadership, enjoy nothing about the government but suffer the same pain as we do. But we should understand that those causing insurgency in Nigeria are not spirits; they are there. People should understand that Danfodiyo Jihad never forced people to join Islam; he only transformed the way those that claimed to be Muslims were practising the religion. Religion is so important in our lives but it is important for us to come together to collectively tackle the issue of insecurity.”
On the part of the Nigeria security and the velocity of the Boko Haram insurgency, Sultan said, “Nigerian security agents are doing their best, just that they have not been used to that before; therefore, we have to pity the condition which the Nigerian security operates. And we have to collectively pray for the end of the insurgency. However, besides the prayers, we must get up and be doing something. We must come together to fight insecurity and, as such, young people have to be nurtured for a better tomorrow to be able to discard provocation.”