Tejiri Ebikeme/Francis Sadhere
A legal practitioner, Barrister Robinson Ariyo has described the ongoing National Conference as a failed project, saying it started on a wrong note.
He described as unfair, how some ethnic nationalities in the country had more representation in the national confab while others do not have a single representation.
Barrister Ariyo who eyes the Warri South Constituency I of Delta State House of Assembly in 2015 elections said; “The National Conference started on a failed note. How will you explain a situation whereby some ethnic groups in the country have more than enough representatives while some do not even have a single nominee. The process is unjust and there is no way the outcome is going to be just.”
The Human Rights activist said one of the key items in the national conference should have been resource control because that topic had been on the front burner for a very long time.
He said; “I was of the opinion that one of the key items to be discussed at the National Conference ought to have been resource control. We are living in a society where we depend solely on oil. The Itsekiris have the largest chunk of oil deposit in the Niger Delta region, but we are not recognized when it comes to national matters. Take for example the exclusion of the Itsekiris at the national conference. The exclusion was unfortunate.”
The development consultant also lamented the non-chalant attitude of Nigerians toward elections, noting that most people do not care about what their government representatives do while in government
According to him, people do not get to know and interact with their representatives after campaigns and elections, a situation he described as absurd.
While attributing the high level of insecurity in the country to lack of unemployment, Barrister Ariyo added that one of the ways whereby unemployment could be reduced was to engage corporate organization, saying that they owe their host communities a lot of social responsibilities.
He also blamed the high level of corruption in the country to the level of importance placed on money by both the politicians and the electorates and stressed the need to discourage violence.
While noting that violence cannot solve any problem in a civilized community, he appealed to Nigerians to always be on the lookout for electoral malpractice being carried out by politicians and their thugs, noting that people should use their handsets and other gadgets to report irregularities during the 2015 general elections.
