87% of Nigerians support national conference

Nigeria's leading survey and polling company, NOIPolls Ltd, on Tuesday said that 87 percent of Nigerians were in support of the proposed national conference.

 

The latest weekly poll results released by NOIPolls in Abuja showed that another 27 percent were of the opinion that "it will bring progress and development to Nigeria" while 21 percent believe it will bring unity. Nineteen per cent of Nigerians interviewed also claimed that it would bring about peace in the country. Other features of the result also showed that 13 percent are against the proposed national conference while 35 percent of Nigerian said the conference "is a waste of time and money".

 

Twenty-five percent of Nigerians also said that the exercise will be ineffective. According to the poll result, 79 percent of the respondents are of the opinion that the outcome of the national conference should be subjected to a referendum.

 

"It is interesting to highlight that respondents to the poll further suggested that the top three key stakeholders who should be part of the national conference are religious leaders (51 percent), traditional rulers (47 percent) and civil society organisations (37 percent)," the result says.

 

NOIPolls also noted in the National Conference Snap Poll conducted on Feb.10 that over the years, various advocacy and rights groups clamored for the constitution of a national conference. It said the essence of the advocacy for a national conference was best captured by the words of the late Chief Gani Fawehinmi, that "the root cause of our national tragedies is the fundamental defects that have always afflicted the process of determining every constitutional frame-work of the polity".

 

"Our constitutional arrangements since 1914 to date (2000) have never truly reflected the political, economic, social, cultural and religious realities of the country." The federal government had in January unveiled the modalities for the national conference scheduled to feature 492 delegates.