Chief Duro Aikulola is the Chairman of the pan-Yoruba socio-cultural group, Afenifere, in Ogun State. In this interview with FEMI OYEWESO, he speaks on the proposed national conference, insisting that there should be no-go areas. Excerpts:
President Goodluck Jonathan has set up an advisory committee on national conference. How do you feel with the development?
Well, the latest development with national conference or whatever conference they call it is a welcome development. As a matter of fact, it has been long that we have been yearning for it.
I know it takes a lot of courage for a person like Jonathan to accept to conduct a national conference; it is long overdue and this is one of those things that will really give a permanent solution to the problems in this country, because of the multi-ethnic society that we live in. It is an opportunity for people to now sit at a round table conference and decide how and why we have to live together. So, it is a welcome development.
On the appointment of Senator Femi Okunrounmu, I think it is a round peg in a round hole. He has always been a crusader for this national conference even while he was in the Senate. So, it was one of the policies of the Afenifere. It's not just a type of policy coined out; we have discovered that this is one of the permanent solutions to our problems. If two people are to live together in a room, there must be a kind of modules as to why and how they will live together, so that they wouldn't inconvenience each other.
How do you feel with the composition of the committee?
It is well composed, no error! From the look of things, it is okay, it doesn't need too much people to be on that committee otherwise, they wouldn't bring out anything.
What do you expect that should be the priority of this committee?
There are so many problems confronting the country, it is when they have started that they will continue to discover all that they have to touch. It is too early now to start preempting them. That some people are marginalised, that some people are in need of a new state; that is just part of the whole thing, the main problem is there.
There are so many things that is lacking in this country, we all know that. Like the census, we have never been able to conduct a successful census in this country. We don't even known how many mouth we feed. So, how do you budget properly when you don't even know how many people you are budgeting for? So, you can see that so many things are still wrong in so many places.
They have to set out the modalities of what they want to do and I know these people that are there now are competent.
Do you think there should be no-go areas for the conference?
There shouldn't be any no-go area; they should open the doors wide for them to enter and go out. There should not be any no-go area at all. Actually, this is first of its kind in this country, people have agitated for this thing for so long, and some people have been trying to kill it, now that it is surfacing, I think the President should summon enough courage to go through it and see that it is carried out and some of these recommendations are implemented too.
It is advisory in a way but at the same time, it is key to our future development.
There shouldn't be any no-go area, but they should be careful so that this doesn't disintegrate the country.
What will be your suggestion in ensuring that the Okurounmu-led committee really has a good outing?
Government should be able to give them enough muscle to be able to operate that is why I said they should leave their doors wide open. It has to be an open something so that some people don't ambush it somewhere along the line, which is our fear.
How will you advice the President on the execution of the recommendations?
He must not allow people to sabotage it. That is the important thing. He has taken the courage to set it up, he must see to the end of it.
Also, the committee has to make a very wide consultation. Okunronmu is an experience lawmaker and somebody who is well familiar with challenges confronting Nigeria as a nation, his committee will have to make very wide consultations and he knows where to go. I'm sure he knows how to go about it. They have to ensure that every ethnic group is protected in that document and they have to be fair to all concern.
You see, if there has been sincerity of purpose we will not have all these problems. For instance, if anybody will say Kano is bigger than Lagos, how many local governments came out of Kano now and Lagos remain the same since all these years? That is not fair.
If we don't allow certain ethnic groups to oppress the other; if we are fair to all concerned, everything will work well. For instance, if I want to use my own weight to oppress yours and you are not averse to that, there will be problem.
So, Okunronmu committee has to travel wide, make wide consultations so that they don't make mistakes and the President should have enough courage to follow and complete this assignment that will even promote his image, if he cares, that might turn round whatever image he already had.
Source: There should be no-go areas –Afenifere chairman (http://nationalmirroronline.net/new/there-should-be-no-go-areas-afenifere-chairman/)