Ex-President, Sultan, others ask FG to convene peace summit
Former President Olusegun Obasanjo; Suntan of Sokoto, Alhaji Muhmmad Abubakar; President Christian Association of Nigeria, Olasupo Ayokunle; Aare Ona Kakanfo of Yorubaland, Gani Adams; a founding member of the Arewa Consultative Forum, Alhaji Tanki Yakassai and an Islamic Cleric , Sheikh Ahmad Gumi, called on the Federal Government to immediately convene a national reconciliation conference to douse tension in the country.
The leaders were joined by regional groups such as the Northern Forum, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, the Middle Belt Forum, Afenifere, the Arewa Consultative Forum and others.
The Stakeholders also called on the government to act sincerely as an unbiased arbiter to address insecurity in the country headlong.
The stakeholders made their position known in a joint communique titled, “Inclusive security dialogue, a meeting of select stakeholders to unbundle barriers’, which was made available to journalists in Abuja on Wednesday.
According to communique, the dialogue was convened as a strategy to understand conflict dynamics in Nigeria.
“A national reconciliation conference that allows the principles of fairness, equity and justice with am immediate consideration of legitimate agitations and a collective effort to de-escalate the conflict and violence across the nation can no longer be ignored.
The 1999 Constitution is oligo-military in nature and does not represent our collective interest, it needs to be renegotiated. A constitutional review process enabling peace and social cohesion is necessary. Government shall, therefore, provide an environment where a new constitution from the representatives of the people by the people and for the people will emerge”.
The stakeholders also called on the government to “act sincerely as an unbiased arbiter to address insecurity headlong as the high prevalence of violent crisis, kidnapping and fatal attacks in Nigeria are driven largely by social injustice and failed economy”.
The communique added, “The mosque, the church and traditional worshippers must as a matter of morality step up to the responsibility of contributing to the collective reengineering and moral rearmament urgently needed to salvage our nation, in fulfilling their roles as religious leaders and pulpit managers.
