President Goodluck Jonathan
Nigerians both at home and in the Diaspora have been called upon to support the Presidential Advisory Committee (PAC) on National Conference recently constituted by President Goodluck Ebele Azikiwe Jonathan, GCFR.
Dr. Charles Ikedikwa Soeze made the call recently in a paper titled “National Conference and the way forward” at a seminar organized by Niger Delta Civil Society and Ethnic Nationalities Congress at Hotel Peggy, Airport Road, Warri.
Soeze, retired Director (Administration}/Head, Academic and Physical Planning (A&PP) of the Petroleum Training Institute (PTI) Effurun and currently Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Burlington Resources (BR) an upstream company in the petroleum industry specifically called on the PAC to look at the issue of fiscal federalism/resource control, state/regional police; equality among all federating units; autonomy for federating units; political corruption; poverty/infrastructural decay among others.
He was of the view that the revenue sharing formula be increased for all states in the Niger Delta Region because they are the goose that lay the golden eggs but living in abject poverty due to environmental degradation of the area as a result of oil exploration and exploitation.
The mass communication scholar cum public affairs analyst and commentator on national and international issues was of the view that members of the PAC would submit report that will place Nigeria in the right perspective because their nominations have no political undertone but based on their pedigree. Consequently, he called on Nigerians to desist from inflammatory statements towards that direction, Soeze concluded.
