Afenifere Asks Jonathan To Publish Report Of National Dialogue C’ttee

DR. FEMI OKUROUNMU PRESENTING THE REPORT OF THE PRESIDENTIAL COMMITTEE ON NATIONAL DIALOGUE TO PRESIDENT GOODLUCK JONATHAN ON WEDNESDAY

Afenifere Renewal Group, ARG, has urged President Goodluck Jonathan to immediately make public the recommendations of the Presidential Committee on National Dialogue, which was submitted on Wednesday.

In a statement signed by the group’s Publicity Secretary, Mr. Kunle Famoriyo, Thursday, ARG said making the report a public document was the only way President Jonathan’s wish to organize the conference could continue to enjoy the support of Nigerians.

“Nigerians have supported the call for the conference and participated fully in the public sessions. Many travelled far distances to participate in the conference. One of them was the late Babarinde Omojola, who never returned home but died after making his presentation in Akure,” the statement said.

“The only way to respect and honour the sacrifices Nigerians made towards the successful completion of the committee’s task is to publicise the report”.

The Yoruba socio-political group warned that it would not be coerced into taking part in a national conference whose modalities and terms were skewed against the interest of its people.

“Certainly, we will only support the proposed conference for as long as it is transparently planned,” the group continued in the statement.

“Our demand is to see Nigeria restructured into a truly federalist country with viable and autonomous federating units. We are convinced this is what majority of Nigerians want, as our wide consultations have shown”.

ARG also said that the conference, when finally convened, would succeed and produce the desired outcome only if it was a conference of Nigerian ethnic nationalities.

“We, therefore, plead with President Jonathan not to put the cart before the horse as he did when he announced that he has instructed the Minister of Finance to make budgetary preparation for the conference. It is good to make financial preparation for the conference but we insist that the first thing to do after the submission of the report is to make its content public”.

The group also noted that the outcome of the proposed conference would either make or mar Mr. Jonathan’s tenure.