Nwabueze on familiar terrain

cartoon of the day,Nwabueze on familiar terrain

Not even the harshest critics of Professor Ben
Nwabueze, Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), would deny the fact that he has the courage to speak out his mind, no matter the odds. In fact, not many in his age, 82, still possess the strength and vigour to articulate their views. Some who do, are known to have taken the pacifist path in approaching contentious issues, obviously not to ruffle feathers. But not so for the former Secretary General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, apex Igbo socio-cultural organisation.
Rather, he has in fact, severally in the current dispensation, raised his voice against certain policies that seem not to be in favour of the Nigerian masses. Incidentally, Nwabueze’s crusade against impunity is not a sudden engagement. It went back to the hazy days of the military dictatorship.
He had then, under the auspices of The Patriots, an organisation that he had put together with like minds, occasionally spoken against some unpopular policies in the land. The group had in addition to criticising some government actions, proffered suggestions on how to reengineer the nation.
Nwabueze has not departed from that tradition, even with the onset of democracy. A radical of sort, he has in presenting his views, often taken positions that government apologists have found discomforting.
With the build-up for 2015 Presidential Election gradually gathering steam, and analysts insinuating that the body language of President Goodluck Jonathan indicates he would seek re-election, the elder statesman has reiterated his earlier call on him to toe the path of honour and not offer himself for another term.  Though the President has not openly declared an agenda for a second term, his acolytes in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) are known to be bent on him taking another shot at the office.
Nwabueze, who led a delegation of The Patriots on a courtesy call to the President last week, however reiterated his call on him to jettison the idea of seeking re-election. Although he said their visit was not about 2015, he insisted that Jonathan would become an “instant hero” if he dumps any 2015 ambition and focuses instead on national transformation.
“I still believe that the paramount problem of this country is national transformation; that you cannot combine national transformation with contesting election. The two are different because once you get involved in the election campaigns you undermine your authority to lead the nation for national transformation. And I said, if I were the President of Nigeria, that I would restrict myself to serving the nation, in transforming this country, creating a new Nigeria, and creating a new society. That would be my concern and I would go down in history as a hero. “So, if Mr. President does that, he would become an instant hero to this country. But it is for him to choose,” Nwabueze stressed.
On the thorny issue of a national conference, he argued that the country was in dire need of the exercise before the 2015general elections. According to him, the country’s 389 ethnic nationalities need to sit at a conference table to discuss “how to live together as one country in peace, in stability, in security as one country with the aim of achieving national unity”, stressing that although the National Assembly is in the process of amending the constitution, it should not prevent a national conference and emergence of a people’s constitution.  “Power to alter is not as important as power to abolish what you are altering and to replace it completely, and we say no. In this country, we need the people’s Constitution whose source of authority derives directly from the people, he says.
Ambassador Kunle Adeshokan, President Coalition for Yoruba Autonomy (COYA) shares this view. He argues that even if the word sovereign should be substituted for people, the various ethnic nationalities of Nigerian need to renegotiate their togetherness.