Jonathan’s National Conference: Obasanjo’s Third Term Ambition Killed Similar Conference – Gani Adams

Gani Adams, the national coordinator of the Oodua People’s Congress (OPC), has suggested that President Goodluck Jonathan’s attempt to convoke a national conference must be instructed by the failure of a similar initiative undertaken by former President Olusegun Obasanjo in 2005.
Mr. Adams stated that the selfish interests of politicians infiltrated the objectives of Mr. Obasanjo’s National Political Reforms conference, compromising the committee’s goals. He added that Mr. Obasanjo’s illicit plan to use the conference to achieve his third-term political interest finally ruined the initiative.

In a statement released yesterday by the OPC, Mr. Adams commended President Goodluck Jonathan’s intent in setting up a committee to work out the modalities for a national conference. He added that such a forum would be an appropriate platform to address issues of ethnic grudges and terrorism in Nigeria.

“I think we should praise President Jonathan for setting up a committee for a National Conference. I sincerely believe that the conference will proffer solutions to most of the problems that have prevented the country from developing,” the statement said.

The OPC leader said he was optimistic that the conference would help address some of the major problems besetting Nigeria. “At the conference, issues like the Boko Haram, how we would live together and how to move our nation forward would come up for discussion,” he said. But he added a note of caution: “I also want to advise the committee to be very careful with the job they have been given. They should see this as a national service and a call to serve the fatherland.”

Mr. Adams called on the committee “to learn from the mistakes of the National Political Reforms conference set up by former President Olusegun Obasanjo in 2005.” According to him, the committee members should be “committed and faithful to their oath of office,” adding that they should ensure that they are not used “by selfish political elements to attain selfish goals.” He warned that “political figures outside or within the government” might seek “to hijack discussions at the conference at the expense of the people of Nigeria.”

The OPC leader also counseled President Jonathan to distance his interest in the impending 2015 elections from the activities of the committee, reminding him that the agenda of his political benefactor, Obasanjo, killed the National Political Reforms conference in 2005.

He stated that Mr. Jonathan must demonstrate that he is “courageous enough to ensure that he does not allow his own personal desire to influence whatever decision that would be taken at the conference. As we approach the 2015 general election, let the president be honest enough to differentiate his ambition from the activities of the committee. We should remember that the alleged third term [plot] of President Obasanjo played a huge part in the failure of the national political reform conference he convened.”