The Conference Secretariat ought to publish the telephone numbers ,
e-mails and even biodata of all the delegates as well as key officials
to be downloaded by any interested person .
DR OLATUNJI OMOWUMI
+2348035037714
On 3/22/14, hadizamustapha@hotmail.com<hadizamustapha@hotmail.com> wrote:
>
>
> Many thanks Prof for this and for your volunteership to be a virtual
> delegate. I am a little disappointed that you insinuated that you would have
> taken the 12million and not return it to chase as was done by "only 2" out
> of the 492 delegates, so far.
>
> At 12million, I think Nigerians, at least those on this list, deserve to
> have the emails and even telephone numbers of delegates, so that they can
> from time to time make their voices heard. Point them to the right
> direction. My friend says, "the right skeletons", but this is not an
> inquisition or is it?
>
> Have a nice conference week!
> Hadiza.Hadiza.</div>
> Sent from my BlackBerry® smartphone
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Mobolaji Aluko <alukome@gmail.com>
> Sender: usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com
> Date: Sat, 22 Mar 2014 20:16:12
> To: USAAfrica Dialogue<USAAfricaDialogue@googlegroups.com>; NaijaPolitics
> e-Group<NaijaPolitics@yahoogroups.com>;
> naijaintellects<naijaintellects@googlegroups.com>; ekiti
> ekitigroups<ekitipanupo@yahoogroups.com>; OmoOdua<OmoOdua@yahoogroups.com>;
> Ra'ayi<Raayiriga@yahoogroups.com>; Yan Arewa<YanArewa@yahoogroups.com>;
> nigerianid@yahoogroups.com<nigerianID@yahoogroups.com>;
> NiDAN<nidan-group@googlegroups.com>
> Reply-To: usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com
> Subject: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Sunday Musings: The Aim of The
> National
> Conference - by Bolaji Aluko
>
> ___________________________________________________________________
>
> *Sunday Musings: The Aim of The National Conference*
>
>
> *by*
>
>
> *Mobolaji E. Aluko, PhD*
>
> *Alukome@gmail.com<Alukome@gmail.com>*
>
>
>
> *Sunday March 23, 2014*
>
>
>
> ___________________________________________________________________
>
>
>
>
> *Introduction*
>
>
> Nigeria's 2014 National Conference began in earnest in Abuja on Monday,
> March 17, and the jostlings, posturings and hectorings of and between
> delegates are already with us.
>
>
> According to the website of the National Conference
>
>
> http://nigerianationalconference2014.org/aim#.Uyzk8vmwL-k
>
>
> QUOTE
>
>
> *Aim*
>
>
> *The National Conference* *is a national project, a sincere and fundamental
> undertaking, aimed at realistically examining and genuinely resolving,
> long-standing impediments to our cohesion and harmonious development as a
> truly United Nation.*
>
>
> UNQUOTE
>
>
> This rather simple statement of purpose is pregnant with implications,
> which we now intend to explore back to front.
>
>
>
> *Nationhood*
>
>
> Is Nigeria a nation or a country of nations. If i is nation what are its
> shared values of language, culture, religion, dress, history etc.? If is
> a country of nations, do the ethnic nationalities constitute those nations,
> or must we look for some other constellations? Should we then strive to
> build one "United Nation" from this country of nations INTENTIONALLY, or
> will that just HAPPEN willy-nilly under constitutional tinkering and over
> time? Is Nigeria so unique that we have no lessons to learn from similar
> nations or countries once in our shoes?
>
>
> One trusts that these knotty questions will be asked and addressed early on
> in the National Conference.
>
>
>
>
> *Development*
>
>
> Proceeding from cradle to grave, the intelligent human being expects secure
> and steady progress in life - materially, spiritually -with societal
> protection at youth and in old age, and the assurance of education, jobs
> and personal dignity in the middle ages. The USA Declaration of
> Independence encapsulates it well in a universal mantra: " *We hold these
> truths to be self-evident, that **all men are created equal
> <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/All_men_are_created_equal>, that they are
> endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these
> are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness*. ----"
>
>
> So despite all of the usual indices of development- GDP, GNP, External
> Reserves, inflation rates, total budget figures, even HDI - one should be
> able to ask whether inequality is being reduced in the country, Nigerians
> are living fuller (and longer) lives, are free to move about in the country
> to practice their religion, culture, vocation and avocation, and in general
> are happier this year than last. The Reagan age-old test first propounded
> in November 1980 is simple enough for evaluating leaders: "(under this
> leader) Are you better off this year than (when he took office)?" Is there
> justice in the land - both in the courts and on the streets - without
> which there can be no peace, harmony or cohesion?
>
>
> One trusts that these knotty questions will be asked and addressed early on
> in the National Conference.
>
>
>
>
> *Impediments*
>
>
> Nigeria, with a checkered pre-colonial, colonial and post-colonial history,
> with 160 million people and 400 ethnic groups, with an intersecting venn
> diagram of religious (Christian, Muslim, Traditionalist) worshippers,
> spread over almost 1 million square kilometers of arable and resource-rich
> land in 36 states and a federal territory that sweeps from the coastal
> swamps of the Niger-Delta to the Sahelian desert of Jigawa, has inherent
> impediments to linear development. Yet these long-standing obstacles are
> the very seeds of opportunity that a visionary leader - or better yet, a
> committee or comity of leaders - can take advantage of. Seizing this
> advantage will be the ultimate genius of Nigerian leadership, and one hopes
> that the National Conference will address it.
>
>
>
>
> *Resolution*
>
>
> Posing these knotty questions and outlining the challenges are not simply
> for academic purpose, but rather in order to consider ways to make our
> Nigeria "a more perfect union", echoing the US Constitution preamble of
> 1787, and Obama's speech of 1980. It may sound trite, but the evaluation
> of strengths, weakness, opportunities and threats - a SWOT analysis - of
> the Nigerian state followed by realistic and genuine steps to move the
> state forward into the next century should really be what this Conference
> is about.
>
>
>
>
> *National Project*
>
>
> This is indeed - or should be - a currently-pregnant national project, not
> a presidential project, not a National Assembly project. Will the baby be
> aborted (as in Obasanjo's Constitutional Conference), still-born (as in
> Babangida's Constitutional Conference), short-lived (as in Abacha's
> Constitutional Conference), or hidden before deployment (as in Abdusalami's
> Constitution) - or nurtured post-partum until the next Centenary? None of
> those elite "military" Constitutions were put to democratic popular test
> via a Referendum, and one hopes that in these heady days of civilian
> democracy (or rule), it is that device that will, among other things,
> make the difference.
>
>
> We shall see.
>
>
>
> *Why I am a virtual delegate*
>
>
> Contrary to all expectations (!), my name was not mentioned among the 492
> delegates. After all, I am not an Elder Statesman yet, or a woman, or a
> retired government official, or a youth (although there are 50+ persons in
> my neighborhood who call themselves "youths." ) I no longer qualify for
> any of the Diaspora slots - and so on. I could have used the N12 million
> (?) for the three months sitting - on top of my VC-ship salary, I guess -
> and lobbied for an Ekiti, Southwest socio-political or even a free-lance
> government slot. However, the clincher for me was this: how would I have
> combined the work of that national service on-site in Abuja with my VC-ship
> in remote Otuoke, what with all kinds of threats of sanctions for not
> attending sessions - or for cussing people out in a jankara fashion?
>
>
>
> Inquiring minds want to know. Nevertheless, I have chosen myself to be a
> remote (virtual) delegate, harvesting the phone numbers and emails of as
> many of the delegates as I can (I know at least 60 of them fairly
> personally) and letting my voice br heard a la Baba Adam.
>
>
> And there you have it.
>
>
>
>
>
> Bolaji Aluko
>
>
> ___________________________________________________________________
>
> --
> You received this message because you are subscribed to the "USA-Africa
> Dialogue Series" moderated by Toyin Falola, University of Texas at Austin.
> For current archives, visit
> http://groups.google.com/group/USAAfricaDialogue
> For previous archives, visit
> http://www.utexas.edu/conferences/africa/ads/index.html
> To post to this group, send an email to
> USAAfricaDialogue@googlegroups.com
> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to USAAfricaDialogue-
> unsubscribe@googlegroups.com
> ---
> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups
> "USA Africa Dialogue Series" group.
> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an
> email to usaafricadialogue+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com.
> For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
>
> --
> You received this message because you are subscribed to the "USA-Africa
> Dialogue Series" moderated by Toyin Falola, University of Texas at Austin.
> For current archives, visit
> http://groups.google.com/group/USAAfricaDialogue
> For previous archives, visit
> http://www.utexas.edu/conferences/africa/ads/index.html
> To post to this group, send an email to
> USAAfricaDialogue@googlegroups.com
> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to USAAfricaDialogue-
> unsubscribe@googlegroups.com
> ---
> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups
> "USA Africa Dialogue Series" group.
> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an
> email to usaafricadialogue+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com.
> For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
>
--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the "USA-Africa Dialogue Series" moderated by Toyin Falola, University of Texas at Austin.
For current archives, visit http://groups.google.com/group/USAAfricaDialogue
For previous archives, visit http://www.utexas.edu/conferences/africa/ads/index.html
To post to this group, send an email to USAAfricaDialogue@googlegroups.com
To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to USAAfricaDialogue-
unsubscribe@googlegroups.com
---
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "USA Africa Dialogue Series" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to usaafricadialogue+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com.
For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
e-mails and even biodata of all the delegates as well as key officials
to be downloaded by any interested person .
DR OLATUNJI OMOWUMI
+2348035037714
On 3/22/14, hadizamustapha@hotmail.com<hadizamustapha@hotmail.com> wrote:
>
>
> Many thanks Prof for this and for your volunteership to be a virtual
> delegate. I am a little disappointed that you insinuated that you would have
> taken the 12million and not return it to chase as was done by "only 2" out
> of the 492 delegates, so far.
>
> At 12million, I think Nigerians, at least those on this list, deserve to
> have the emails and even telephone numbers of delegates, so that they can
> from time to time make their voices heard. Point them to the right
> direction. My friend says, "the right skeletons", but this is not an
> inquisition or is it?
>
> Have a nice conference week!
> Hadiza.Hadiza.</div>
> Sent from my BlackBerry® smartphone
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Mobolaji Aluko <alukome@gmail.com>
> Sender: usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com
> Date: Sat, 22 Mar 2014 20:16:12
> To: USAAfrica Dialogue<USAAfricaDialogue@googlegroups.com>; NaijaPolitics
> e-Group<NaijaPolitics@yahoogroups.com>;
> naijaintellects<naijaintellects@googlegroups.com>; ekiti
> ekitigroups<ekitipanupo@yahoogroups.com>; OmoOdua<OmoOdua@yahoogroups.com>;
> Ra'ayi<Raayiriga@yahoogroups.com>; Yan Arewa<YanArewa@yahoogroups.com>;
> nigerianid@yahoogroups.com<nigerianID@yahoogroups.com>;
> NiDAN<nidan-group@googlegroups.com>
> Reply-To: usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com
> Subject: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Sunday Musings: The Aim of The
> National
> Conference - by Bolaji Aluko
>
> ___________________________________________________________________
>
> *Sunday Musings: The Aim of The National Conference*
>
>
> *by*
>
>
> *Mobolaji E. Aluko, PhD*
>
> *Alukome@gmail.com<Alukome@gmail.com>*
>
>
>
> *Sunday March 23, 2014*
>
>
>
> ___________________________________________________________________
>
>
>
>
> *Introduction*
>
>
> Nigeria's 2014 National Conference began in earnest in Abuja on Monday,
> March 17, and the jostlings, posturings and hectorings of and between
> delegates are already with us.
>
>
> According to the website of the National Conference
>
>
> http://nigerianationalconference2014.org/aim#.Uyzk8vmwL-k
>
>
> QUOTE
>
>
> *Aim*
>
>
> *The National Conference* *is a national project, a sincere and fundamental
> undertaking, aimed at realistically examining and genuinely resolving,
> long-standing impediments to our cohesion and harmonious development as a
> truly United Nation.*
>
>
> UNQUOTE
>
>
> This rather simple statement of purpose is pregnant with implications,
> which we now intend to explore back to front.
>
>
>
> *Nationhood*
>
>
> Is Nigeria a nation or a country of nations. If i is nation what are its
> shared values of language, culture, religion, dress, history etc.? If is
> a country of nations, do the ethnic nationalities constitute those nations,
> or must we look for some other constellations? Should we then strive to
> build one "United Nation" from this country of nations INTENTIONALLY, or
> will that just HAPPEN willy-nilly under constitutional tinkering and over
> time? Is Nigeria so unique that we have no lessons to learn from similar
> nations or countries once in our shoes?
>
>
> One trusts that these knotty questions will be asked and addressed early on
> in the National Conference.
>
>
>
>
> *Development*
>
>
> Proceeding from cradle to grave, the intelligent human being expects secure
> and steady progress in life - materially, spiritually -with societal
> protection at youth and in old age, and the assurance of education, jobs
> and personal dignity in the middle ages. The USA Declaration of
> Independence encapsulates it well in a universal mantra: " *We hold these
> truths to be self-evident, that **all men are created equal
> <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/All_men_are_created_equal>, that they are
> endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these
> are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness*. ----"
>
>
> So despite all of the usual indices of development- GDP, GNP, External
> Reserves, inflation rates, total budget figures, even HDI - one should be
> able to ask whether inequality is being reduced in the country, Nigerians
> are living fuller (and longer) lives, are free to move about in the country
> to practice their religion, culture, vocation and avocation, and in general
> are happier this year than last. The Reagan age-old test first propounded
> in November 1980 is simple enough for evaluating leaders: "(under this
> leader) Are you better off this year than (when he took office)?" Is there
> justice in the land - both in the courts and on the streets - without
> which there can be no peace, harmony or cohesion?
>
>
> One trusts that these knotty questions will be asked and addressed early on
> in the National Conference.
>
>
>
>
> *Impediments*
>
>
> Nigeria, with a checkered pre-colonial, colonial and post-colonial history,
> with 160 million people and 400 ethnic groups, with an intersecting venn
> diagram of religious (Christian, Muslim, Traditionalist) worshippers,
> spread over almost 1 million square kilometers of arable and resource-rich
> land in 36 states and a federal territory that sweeps from the coastal
> swamps of the Niger-Delta to the Sahelian desert of Jigawa, has inherent
> impediments to linear development. Yet these long-standing obstacles are
> the very seeds of opportunity that a visionary leader - or better yet, a
> committee or comity of leaders - can take advantage of. Seizing this
> advantage will be the ultimate genius of Nigerian leadership, and one hopes
> that the National Conference will address it.
>
>
>
>
> *Resolution*
>
>
> Posing these knotty questions and outlining the challenges are not simply
> for academic purpose, but rather in order to consider ways to make our
> Nigeria "a more perfect union", echoing the US Constitution preamble of
> 1787, and Obama's speech of 1980. It may sound trite, but the evaluation
> of strengths, weakness, opportunities and threats - a SWOT analysis - of
> the Nigerian state followed by realistic and genuine steps to move the
> state forward into the next century should really be what this Conference
> is about.
>
>
>
>
> *National Project*
>
>
> This is indeed - or should be - a currently-pregnant national project, not
> a presidential project, not a National Assembly project. Will the baby be
> aborted (as in Obasanjo's Constitutional Conference), still-born (as in
> Babangida's Constitutional Conference), short-lived (as in Abacha's
> Constitutional Conference), or hidden before deployment (as in Abdusalami's
> Constitution) - or nurtured post-partum until the next Centenary? None of
> those elite "military" Constitutions were put to democratic popular test
> via a Referendum, and one hopes that in these heady days of civilian
> democracy (or rule), it is that device that will, among other things,
> make the difference.
>
>
> We shall see.
>
>
>
> *Why I am a virtual delegate*
>
>
> Contrary to all expectations (!), my name was not mentioned among the 492
> delegates. After all, I am not an Elder Statesman yet, or a woman, or a
> retired government official, or a youth (although there are 50+ persons in
> my neighborhood who call themselves "youths." ) I no longer qualify for
> any of the Diaspora slots - and so on. I could have used the N12 million
> (?) for the three months sitting - on top of my VC-ship salary, I guess -
> and lobbied for an Ekiti, Southwest socio-political or even a free-lance
> government slot. However, the clincher for me was this: how would I have
> combined the work of that national service on-site in Abuja with my VC-ship
> in remote Otuoke, what with all kinds of threats of sanctions for not
> attending sessions - or for cussing people out in a jankara fashion?
>
>
>
> Inquiring minds want to know. Nevertheless, I have chosen myself to be a
> remote (virtual) delegate, harvesting the phone numbers and emails of as
> many of the delegates as I can (I know at least 60 of them fairly
> personally) and letting my voice br heard a la Baba Adam.
>
>
> And there you have it.
>
>
>
>
>
> Bolaji Aluko
>
>
> ___________________________________________________________________
>
> --
> You received this message because you are subscribed to the "USA-Africa
> Dialogue Series" moderated by Toyin Falola, University of Texas at Austin.
> For current archives, visit
> http://groups.google.com/group/USAAfricaDialogue
> For previous archives, visit
> http://www.utexas.edu/conferences/africa/ads/index.html
> To post to this group, send an email to
> USAAfricaDialogue@googlegroups.com
> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to USAAfricaDialogue-
> unsubscribe@googlegroups.com
> ---
> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups
> "USA Africa Dialogue Series" group.
> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an
> email to usaafricadialogue+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com.
> For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
>
> --
> You received this message because you are subscribed to the "USA-Africa
> Dialogue Series" moderated by Toyin Falola, University of Texas at Austin.
> For current archives, visit
> http://groups.google.com/group/USAAfricaDialogue
> For previous archives, visit
> http://www.utexas.edu/conferences/africa/ads/index.html
> To post to this group, send an email to
> USAAfricaDialogue@googlegroups.com
> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to USAAfricaDialogue-
> unsubscribe@googlegroups.com
> ---
> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups
> "USA Africa Dialogue Series" group.
> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an
> email to usaafricadialogue+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com.
> For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
>
--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the "USA-Africa Dialogue Series" moderated by Toyin Falola, University of Texas at Austin.
For current archives, visit http://groups.google.com/group/USAAfricaDialogue
For previous archives, visit http://www.utexas.edu/conferences/africa/ads/index.html
To post to this group, send an email to USAAfricaDialogue@googlegroups.com
To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to USAAfricaDialogue-
unsubscribe@googlegroups.com
---
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "USA Africa Dialogue Series" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to usaafricadialogue+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com.
For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.