By Richard Abu and Ignatius Okorocha
From today, President Muhammadu Buhari and other elder statesmen will meet at two separate fora to discuss the future of Nigeria.
The first event slated for Abuja, will be attended by President Buhari, former President Olusegun Obasanjo and other African leaders from today to Wednesday to proffer solutions to the nation’s political challenges ahead of the 2019 general elections.
The second occasion will be attended by Nobel laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka, Prof. Ben Nwabueze, Malam Adamu Ciroma, the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) President, Mr. Ayuba Waba, public affairs analyst, Prof. Pat Utomi, Col Abubaka Umar, former Minister of Education, Oby Ezekwesili, and former Governor of Cross River State, Mr. Donald Duke.
Operating under the aegis of National Leaders of Thought, they will address the citizens on the future of Nigeria at the Grand National Summit 2018 on Wednesday
Buhari and Obasanjo, according to the organisers, will speak at a three-day National Political Summit, organised by Save Democracy Africa, at the International Conference Centre (ICC), Abuja.
At a press conference in Abuja yesterday, the Chairman of Save Democracy Africa, Prof. Gregory Ikechukwe Ibe, explained that the meeting would provide a platform for the participants to proffer solutions to the challenges facing the country.
Ibe who doubles as the proprietor of Gregory University Uturu, in Abia State, said that President Buhari would be the chief guest of honour, while Obasanjo would be the father of the day. The Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki, would be the special guest of honour.
He said that the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Yakubu Dogara, would be the chairman of the summit, while the guest speaker would be the President of the Republic of Ghana, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo.
Ibe added that the speakers would include state governors, elder statesmen/leaders of geopolitical zones, as well as the national chairmen of political parties.
Nigeria Intervention Movement (NIM), a Rainbow Coalition of new breed political forces and movements, mobilising towards a paradigm shift within Nigeria’s political configuration, announced that its summit has received a major boost from eminent national leaders and front line political activists who are expected to intervene in the political future of Nigeria.
In a statement, the spokesman of the Grand National Summit 2018, Mallam Naseer Kura, Sunday said that other prominent Nigerians expected at the event are Air Commodore Dan Suleiman (rtd), Senator Shehu Sani, and Dr. Olu Agunloye.
According to Kura, the former Defence Minister, Gen. Theopilus Danjuma, Dr. Paul Unongo, Chief Edwin Clark, among other leaders, have been invited to address the nation at the historic national convergence, a�?which is designed to bring together both old and new generation of political leaders in Nigeria, for the first time, towards finding an appropriate political road map for Nigeria’s troubled democracy, while facilitating a grand political coalition of fresh breed political leaders ahead of the 2019 electionsa�?.
He said: a�?For the avoidance of doubt, these elders and leaders, given their experiences in the political affairs of the country, as well as their past roles in the life of the country, have been invited to address Nigeria’s past, in order to provide a veritable political compass for emerging fresh breed leaders in navigating the future for the country.
a�?The grand summit, promises to be a very fertile ground to breed national understanding and reconciliationa�? and is a serious intervention to re set the future of Nigeria’s constitutional democracy which presently skewed against the majority of Nigerians, especially young emerging political leaders.
a�?Some of the burning issues rocking the political fabric of the country to be agreed and sorted out at the summit, are review of the Nigerian Constitution, referendum, equitable political structure, popular democratic system of government suitable for the country, sovereignty of the Nigerian peoples, peoples’ right to self-determination, 2019 general elections and the options for the masses, among othersa�?.
The event will be co-chaired by Dr. Olisa Agbakoba (SAN) and Dr. Abduljalil Tafawa Balewa and is expected to come out with a communique on the future of Nigeria with the theme: a�?Birthing an equitable and prosperous democratic Nigeria at a special interactive session with media editors on Thursdaya�?.
Buhari, OBJ, Soyinka, Nwabueze, others meet on Nigeriaa��s future
