In his recent interviews, Prince of Nigeria, Rev Chris Okotie repeatedly maintained the position that our nation's development objectives would be difficult to realise in view of the political direction of the country under the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). Perhaps the tempo of activities in governance bears him out.Okotie, Chairman/Founder of the Fresh Democratic Party (FRESH), has declared that what the nation needs is not the improvised, sectoral reforms of the banking sector, the economy, and parts of the Constitution dealing with critical issues like revenue allocation, state creation, etc. Rather, he wants a holistic approach, which involves wholesale, comprehensive reform of the entire socio-political and economic process, which could only be done by a Sovereign National Conference, SNC, because of its far-reaching impact on the nation.For instance, it has been argued that the funding of elections is a problem area. The huge resources needed to run for political office makes it difficult for men of modest means to aspire for even local government council offices.If candidates do not need large sums of money to fund elections, the political landscape would assume a different colouration altogether. We'd begin to see resourceful, vibrant young men and women of vision, whose main assets are proactive ideas that are relevant to our circumstances. Unlike today's scenario where the political space is crowded by a lot of people who are there because of high return on capital invested.The Reverend hit the bull's eye when he averred that a genuine war against corruption would shake the political establishment and doubts if the present government would be able to deal with it. His suggestion that only a sovereign national conference would be in a better stead to tackle it because it would have a Pan-Nigeria institutional dimension to it. Corruption today, is at the heart of the Nigerian State. The capacity to root it out is beyond what any sitting government can do. It requires the direct involvement of all political stakeholders in the nation.Also, abuse of office is the twin brother of corruption. It involves nepotism, ethnicity, wrong application of federal character and zoning, creation of bureaucratic bottlenecks to extort money in the dispensation of public service; predatory practices in public procurement, poor maintenance culture, vandalisation of public property, inflation of contracts and reward of political patronage, etc. These are fundamental issues that government, which itself is a beneficiary of these illegal practice, is morally hamstrung to combat effectively.A sovereign national conference will be able to address these issues dispassionately and produce the consensus needed to run honest, strong and progressive government that could deliver the dividends of democracy.However, President Goodluck Jonathan disagrees. He told his interviewers during his 100 days media chat that there had been some national dialogues in the past, but that what was needed is to harmonise the conclusions reached. Which is why he recently ordered a review of all pending reports of commissions of enquiries so that white papers could be issued on them.The president didn't think SNC was needed at this time. Instead, a constitution review is preferred as a more viable alternative to an SNC, which could overheat the polity because, the past grievances of ethnic nationalities and other contentious issues would definitely come up for discussion.Every President since Chief Olusegun Obasanjo has avoided an SNC for fear it could become a platform for balkanisation of the country. However, they missed the point, because that's not the objective of the conference. Stakeholders across the nation want to negotiate the terms of the union and address structural and fundamental issues that encourage corruption, ethnicity, sectarian violence, economic disequilibrium, imbalances and stagnation of the country.The present adhoc reforms being carried out in different segments would not produce any fundamental change, because other key components are begging for reforms as well, but are being neglected. There's need for linkages. The banking industry needs as much reform as the security apparatus, or the transport sector or education, health, the prisons and many others, especially roads, and agriculture.However, Okotie believes this is not the time for politicking, because the steady decline of the Nigerian nation remains a big challenge. Thus, Okotie's unrelenting request to liberate Nigerians from the bondage of poverty, ethnic chauvinism and religious bigotry, believing that Nigeria with its vast human and material resources has no business with poverty but for corruption, which has become a way of life for most Nigerian people. He states, "Our leaders and those in authority are totally insensitive to the feelings, comfort and sufferings of their fellow citizens. That's why they resist change. The citizens on the other hand, being subdued to long-term oppression, glory in the diabolic and suppress ourselves by worshiping nonentities. We now prefer palliatives rather than cure; we have parasitism and have elevated it to a way of life while the political class entertains vaulting and limitless ambition. "Unless there is a new way of thinking, a paradigm shift, that is to say, except the old breed politicians make way for the younger generation, we may continue to wander in the political and socio-economic wilderness without finding our bearing as a nation. "As for my take for reviving the nation's economy, I believe that the issue of endowment fidelity must be addressed, i.e. a commitment to the natural resources that God has placed in our land. Despite the selfishness and parochial tendencies of our leaders, there is still enough to be derived from agriculture, taxation and education. There is still enough for us to build a great nation." "For me, change has begun and that change is inevitable. I want you to know that I have in the past fifteen years, been studying the concept of governance and I have come away realising that all we need is focused leadership. Throughout history, God has always changed mankind through leadership,' Okotie concluded.No doubt, leadership is our major problem. Once we get the right leader, this nation would make a great leap forward like China has done. 'Olusesan wrote in from Aba, Abia State.
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