Former president, Goodluck Jonathan has revealed the steps he took to
deal with Ethnic tensions during his time as president of Nigeria.
Jonathan said that he convened a National conference in 2014 to douse
the rising ethnic tensions across the country. He made this revelation
while delivering a speech at the opening panel of the Dialogue of
Civilizations, Multipolarity and Dialogue in Regional and Global
Developments,’ Rhodes Forum’s 15th Anniversary Summit in Greece on
Friday.
He said; “When I was in office as President, I championed the cause for
good governance, transparent elections and peaceful power transfers,
because I also believed that at the heart of the dialogue for a more
peaceful world, is the need to cultivate a culture of democracy and good
governance at the national levels. This is a good way to reduce local
tensions that could blossom into global crisis.
In Nigeria, through a process of dialogue, we arrived at an amnesty
programme that brought an end to the crisis in the Niger Delta, an
oil-rich region in my country that accounts for all the oil wells that
remain the mainstay of Nigeria’s economy.
Sometime in 2014, I had a thought in my mind. Nigeria is easily the most
ethnically and religiously heterogeneous society in Africa, and one of
the most diverse nations in the world.
Many times, these different ethnic groups are pulling in diverse
directions that as a leader, you may experience genuine fears that the
centre may not hold. At that time, I asked myself, how can I as
President, help build a more harmonious union in Nigeria. One based on
the words of our National Anthem which ends with ‘to build a nation
where peace and justice shall reign’.
To address this I convened a National Conference where the various
ethnic groups and other stakeholders deliberated for five months on the
future of the country. They had the mandate to discuss and advise the
Government on all matters pertaining to our nationhood, except the
sovereignty of the country.
On Thursday, August 21, 2014, I received the report. Our general
elections came up six months after the national conference. The
confidence and national goodwill the conference inspired, helped bring
down the tension during and after the general elections. It was a
confidence-boosting outcome, despite the predictions by some
international bodies that Nigeria was going to disintegrate in 2015.”
President Buhari administration said it will not be implementing the resolutions of the 2014 Confab.
