Afenifere commends Mark on national confab, says it’s inevitable

[Mirror]

Pan-Yoruba socio-political organisation, the Afenifere Renewal Group, ARG, yesterday described as commendable the comments credited to the Senate President, Senator David Mark that a national conference is now desirable in the country.

The group said Mark's submission "shows that our leaders now appear to be toeing the line of good judgement with respect to the convocation of a Sovereign National Conference."

This was contained in a press release signed by its Media/Publicity Secretary, Mr. Kunle Famoriyo, and made available to journalists in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital.

The statement reads in part; "Senate President David Mark's speech, which he delivered to open the new legislative session on Tuesday was to an extent gratifying, marking a major detour from the one he delivered at the Nigerian Bar Association's conference a few weeks ago.

"Mark not only agreed that SNC is possible under the 1999 Constitution, he saw it as a way for Nigeria to stop playing the ostrich and to "confront structural distortions." Our leaders now appear to be toeing the line of good judgement with respect to the convocation of a sovereign national conference.

"However, ARG has some reservations as we still consider Mark's proposal for a national conference as piecemeal. First, we condemn Mark's morbid obsession for the false inviolability of 1999 Constitution, a recurring theme in his speech.

"We wish to restate, for the umpteenth time, that Nigerians are not made for the law and as such, their fate cannot be sealed, as Mark wants it, by the Constitution.

"His job will be more fruitful if he directs the affairs of his office by the conviction that the National Assembly represents the people and not the constitution.

"We also found it distasteful for Senator Mark to condescendingly regard leaders of ethnic nationalities as 'an unpredictable mass,' a description that shows he still bears vestiges of military dictatorship, even after more than a decade as the custodian of the nation's democratic institution.

"ARG believes the constitution derives its powers from the sovereignty of the people and not the other way round as Mark would want us to believe. Another wrong notion in his speech was his claim that a sovereign national conference is a sectional agenda instead of national panacea.

"We do not believe that SNC will serve Yoruba interest the most. In fact, the Ijaws stands to benefit more, but of what use is prosperity when there is no peace?

"Mark's proposed conference also stripped it of its God-given sovereignty. He offered no reason for this democratic robbery other than his morbid fear that doing so can lead to fragmentation of the country.

"However, the current situation in the country is such that the constituent ethnic nations do not need Mark's sermon to agree to stay together as a nation and he cannot stop them if they decide to part ways.

"Needless to say that there is no need for such fears, even the foretold 2015 collapse comes to naught, if the Mark-led National Assembly has been using its constitutional powers to ensure democracy works for the masses and that transparency and good governance prevails.

"Instead, our lawmakers hold the global prize of highest paid legislators and their greed for constituency projects have allowed myriads of executive recklessness go unchecked.

"ARG believes that the lot of this country will not change for good until we find the courage to summon all ethnic nations to the table of brotherhood to fashion out a new constitution as the current effort at constitutional review is a futile exercise that can never foster our nationhood."

National Mirror

[Folami David]

I think he really deserves the commendation!