Presidential candidate of the Young Progressives Party, YPP, in the last general election, Professor Kingsley Moghalu, has called on President Muhammadu Buhari to stop playing the ostrich and take a root-cause approach to solving Nigeria’s problems.
To do this, he said, the president should urgently set up a Truth and Reconciliation Commission as a first step to stabilise Nigeria and begin the process of national healing and reconciliation.
This is as he declared that it had become obvious that Nigeria is at war with itself and in a troubled search for nationhood.
Moghalu made the call on Tuesday in a statement he personally signed and made available to FrontPage.
He said while he believed in the viability of a united Nigeria anchored on equity and justice, as a leader, he did not believe in a surface approach to issues.
“I do not believe in playing the ostrich. I believe in a root-cause approach to solving problems,” he said.
While condemning the spate of violence in the South East of the country, he pointed out that it was clear that the federal government of Nigeria had not adopted a root-cause approach to the agitations for secession in different parts of Nigeria, in particular the Southeast and the Southwest, and the security implications of the agitations.
The five points suggested for the resolution of the nation’s problem to the federal government are:
- President Muhammadu Buhari should as a matter of urgency establish a Truth and Reconciliation Commission comprised of seven independent members of high reputation and relevant expertise, one from each geopolitical zone, and one international member assigned from the United Nations or from South Africa, both entities of which have extensive experience in TRC matters, with a six-month mandate to examine specifically the events of January 1966 to January 1970, invite witnesses, survivors and critical players still alive to make statements, and make findings and recommendations that will promote national reconciliation by turning historical memory into a positive force for mutual forgiveness and nation-building;
- President Buhari should invite all secessionist agitation movements to a national dialogue in order to give them a hearing with a view to addressing credible, verifiable grievances;
- Concrete actions towards the establishment of an Constituent Assembly to begin the framing of a new Constitution, with legislative support from the National Assembly, should be initiated jointly by the Presidency in collaboration with the National Assembly and representatives of ethnic nationalities, traditional rulers, the clergy, and civil society;
- President Buhari should appoint a panel of historians, with equal representation from the northern and southern parts of Nigeria to review and agree on a curriculum of contemporary national history, including the Nigerian Civil War, to be taught in primary and secondary institutions from the specific perspective of lessons learned, national healing and reconciliation;
- Establish May 30 as a national holiday to remember the millions that died in the Nigerian civil war.
