Group Canvasses Intra-Party Collaboration

By AMONE AJILA

A group going by the name The Compass has expressed support for calls by some Nigerians for the Federal Government headed by President Muhammadu Buhari to run an all-inclusive administration in order to promote national unity and enthrone economic development.

Preisdent Buhari

The Compass made its position known in the text of a press briefing to members of the Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ) in Jos, the Plateau State capital recently at the national secretariat of the group. The text was read by Dr. Daniel D. Kokong, National Chairman of The Compass flanked by some EXCO members.

According to Dr Kokong, “The Compass is a forum of like-minds in Nigeria desirous of implementing and institutionalizing good governance and therefore promotes economic prosperity in Nigeria for Nigerians through researching on how other countries overcame their challenges and suggest same to our political leaders.”

Dr Kokong, Flanked by other National members of the Group

He said after brainstorming, the group came up with the idea of a need for inclusive governance as recently enunciated by a one-time Governor of Sokoto State, Alhaji Attahiru Dalhatu Bafarawa, in an open letter he wrote to President Muhammadu Buhari and which was carried extensively by local, national and international media.

According to the group, if adopted, Bafarawa’s suggestion that other parties should be invited to form a government of national unity would not only douse political tension and mutual suspicion which are inimical to progress, but would ultimately promote national unity and cohesion and pave the way for tackling the teething problems staring the nation in the face.

It will be recalled that in Bafarawa’s letter to President Buhari, he cited the cases of former leaders of the country who entered into alliance with parties other than their own, such as Shehu Aliyu Shagari’s National Party of Nigeria (NPN) in 1979 during which the then Nigeria People’s Party (NPP) was allowed to produce the Speaker of the House of Representatives in the person of Chief Edwin Ume Ezeoke, while later in 1983 Senator John Wash Pam also of the NPP emerged Deputy Senate President.

Bafarawa also recalled that in former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s era, similar alliances were entered into between the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the opposition parties, where ministers, special advisers and board appointments were made from members of the opposition and strong working ties established with state governors, irrespective of party affiliation.

Eulogizing Bafarawa, the Compass said, “For Bafarawa to place advertorial in international, national and local publications to get Mr. President’s attention is an indication of his personality as a patriotic Nigerian par excellence and a hero of democracy and the masses. His efforts need applause and commendations especially in a situation where most leaders are mute even when the nation is in recession. In the words of Dr. Martin Luther King (Jr), “… in the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies but the silence of our friends…”

Nigeria, the group posited, is in dire need of politicians like Bafarawa; people who are grassroots politicians, honest, transparent and God-fearing. They further described the ex-governor as “a politician with a pedigree, a politician that lives with and knows the daily needs of his people, a politician who wants the genuine unity and development of Nigeria, a bold, courageous and a go-getter, detribalized gentleman and a humble and pleasant personality that is highly revered within and outside Nigeria at such trying times of the nation as this.”

The Compass expressed deep concern over Nigeria’s inability to occupy her rightful place in the comity of nations. “In that regard, she (The Compass) intends to organize workshops, conferences, seminars and symposia to discuss how countries like Brazil, India, Singapore, Hong Kong, Dubai (UAE) and a host of others were able to move from grace. Experts will be invited across the globe to present their perspectives and ways for rapid socio-economic development of our nation. World leaders will also be invited to give keynote addresses,” the group stressed.

The Compass, a non-governmental organization, is structured with a board of trustees, national working committee, national officers’ committee, national executive committee, national disciplinary committee, national zonal committees, state officers’ committee, state executive committee, state zonal committees and state working committee.

It is also composed of directorates that are expected to drive the group, and they include research and strategy; security and intelligence; news media and publicity; women and youth development; planning and nation building; international relations and diplomacy; peace building and conflict resolution; and interfaith and religious affairs.

The Compass ended its briefing by soliciting the assistance and professional acumen of ladies and gentlemen of the press to publicize its activities and join hands in the search for key world leaders that would assist in the achievement of its objectives.

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