Implementation of National Confab Report Will Make Buhari a Hero - Tony Uranta

Barely a month to the change of government at the national level and in some states, the Executive Secretary, Nigeria National Summit, Group (NNSG), Tony Uranta, in his interview with journalists, sets agenda for the President-elect, General Muhammadu Buhari (rtd), urging him not to discard the recommendations in the Confab Report.

As to what we expect of the general when he assumes office, the first thing he has to do is let us learn to stop calling him ‘General’. He has to shed that toga of him being the military whether benevolent, autocratic or brutal dictator. He has to become a truly democratic civilian President in the new Nigeria where peace, democracy, rule of law and respect for other people’s sensibility has to take control. We expect him, most of all, to focus on the restructuring of Nigeria. You will remember that the Yoruba’s Afenifere and a great deal of people supported President Jonathan not because they liked his face, not because they necessarily liked his politics, but because they like the fact that he is committed to restructuring this nation as it is needed and necessary if it is to sustainably continue as a united, progressive Nigeria. One of the biggest platforms on which he now created this ethos of restructuring is the platform of the National Conference.

Many of us, who were supportive of the National Conference and its recommendations, have been calling for the implementation of the recommendations of the Conference. If all that General Buhari does is to implement the National Conference’s recommendations, the President-elect would be a hero. But, he has already begun to win my heart by announcing that he will not nominate or appoint anybody into public office who has not sworn to declare his assets in Court, not just to the Code of Conduct Bureau. People should note the elements here: if you lied to the code of Conduct Bureau, you could be indicted and sanctioned, these are maybe’s. But if you swear to a falsehood in Court you are liable to be prosecuted for perjury. What Geneal Buhari has therefore said is that he would only use people who are ready for us (Nigerians) to shine searchlights on them to confirm that whatever they say in Court as concerning their past is true.

I believe that means he may be serious about appointing only non-corrupt Nigerians into office. I don’t know how many non-corrupt politicians we have in the county, but then he has said that even his transition committee will be filled with technocrats, so maybe he is going to lead this country with technocrats, which could be a welcome development. (Leadership)