By Vera Wisdom-Bassey
The General Overseer of the Foursquare Gospel Church Rev. Sam Aboyeji has called on the Leaders of Nigeria, Federal, State and the local Areas to go back to the 2014 National Conference, “tagged 2014 CONFAB” which was set up by immediate past former President Goodluck Jonathan where some recommendations on how Nigeria can be restructured to achieve greater success, and have a wholistic, complete solution as a nation are.
The 620 recommendations of the Confab on restructuring touched virtually all aspects of the socio-economic and political challenges besetting the country such as resource control, fiscal federalism, devolution of power, creation of states, forms of government, revenue allocation, ethnic nationalities and minority question, and resolution of the herdsmen and farmers’ crises. If we are to bring the people that gathered at the Confab back to have another conference we may not have all of them to discuss issues again.
Speaking to the audience, Aboyeji while giving his closing remark of the 9th Public Lecture held at the church auditorium, on the theme “A Nation at war with itself, the way out?” he encouraged the people to take home with them “the 2014 Confab that is where the solution of Nigeria lies.
The guest speaker, Prof Akin Oyebode while giving his lecture called on Nigerian youths not to loss hope that there is future still for them in Nigeria. The issues of leaving Nigeria is not appropriate, they should take heart, they should not believe that running away from the country is the solution to Nigeria’s problem or their own problems. “Staying in Nigeria you have a name and have a reputation, not where you go to and you colour is being reminded you off. While calling on the government to hand over power to the young ones they have dignified characters, and that he has more faith in the young people.
Also, the Chairman of the occasion Prof. Bolaji Akinyemi, CFR, made reference to the past leaders we have had in the likes of Gowan, Atiku, Buhari, Tinubu, Donald Duke, among others that they were youth that took over leadership at their young age, but then he advised the Nigerian youth of today to be happy “nothing that is new in the country today” by leaving the country is not the solution, because during their time it was “Andrew checking out of the country”. and today is brain drain.
Still calling on the youth, he said Nigeria is not going anywhere without them, “it is only here that you are somebody, therefore where-ever you are come home, he decried.