Report by Tuomoh M. Yakubu.
Most of the 20 Committees set up by the leadership of the 2014 National Conference in Abuja to deliberate intensively on critical national issues are in the final stage of sitting and have started collating reports from their Sub-Committees which will be used to guide the various Committees in their reports and recommendations at the plenary when they converge.
Officials of some relevant Government Institutions, Public Officers have been routinely invited to brief the 2014 National Conference standing Committees and help give information about their activities and provide answers where needed.
The Committees were: Committee on Foreign Policy and Diaspora Matters,Committee on Land Tenure and National Boundary, Committee on Public and Revenue, Committee on Power, Committee on Public Service, Committee on Trade and Investment among others.
On Wednesday, Committee on Foreign Policy and Diaspora Matters, chaired by Prof. Ibrahim Agboola Gambari, reviewed reports from the five Sub-Committees set up by the Committee on Foreign Policy and Diaspora Matters namely; Diaspora Matters, Major Issues, Concepts on Foreign Policy, Nigerians Participation in International Organization and Legal & Treaties.
The Committee had as its focus on the review of Technical Aid Corps Program, Promotion of Peace, human rights, justice and Racial Equality within the International System, Domestication of Treaties, Nigeria and International Peacekeeping Operations, Diaspora Matters, Role/Participation in International Organization, Role of Foreign Missions in Nigeria’s Domestic among others.
Highlights of the Sub-Committee recommendations touched on the need for a proper Voting System for Nigerians in Diaspora, Training and Re-training of Officers in Foreign Countries, Prison Exchange and Transfer, Welfare of Nigerians in major Foreign Policies, Conducive Domestic Environment, Synergy between relevant agencies for better productivity.
The Committee on Foreign Policy and Diaspora Matters, met with the Director of the Technical Aids Corps, Dr. Pius Oshunyekanmi, who briefed members of the Corps activities and its impact on the Nation’s Foreign Policy. He solicited for the intervention of the Committee to help build a platform for Nigerians in Diaspora integration into the Nations Academic System.
Meanwhile, the acting Director General of PENCOM, Chinelo Anohu Amazu, was invited to appear before the Committee on Public Service where she suggested a system being put in place where pensioners get their due( payment) directly instead of going through lodgement in an account which is prone to abuse.
The Head of Strategy Planning, Mr. Jimoh Okon, who represented the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), showed his concern over the activities of oil thieves whose activities not only affects Nigeria alone but has international dimension.
The NNPC representative who was invited to the Committee on Power sitting also said, our Nation over rely on it natural resources especially oil and gas as source of income. He reiterated the need for the use of energy to create wealth for the people rather than as a means of rent collection.
Due to the heavy workload assigned to the various Committees and the short time frame given to them, also the participation of some Delegates in World Economic Forum holding in Abuja from Monday May 5th to Thursday May 8th the Committees sittings have been extended to Monday May 12th to Thursday May 15th for conclusion of Committee work.
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