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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 13 August 2021
The Conference of Nationalities organized in Nigeria by the Campaign for Democracy, and held on December 17-19, 1998, has come and gone with little impact either on the national consciousness or on the process of transition to democracy. At the outset, I should state that I have never been convinced that the type of national conference planned in Nigeria after the expiration of the regime of Sani Abacha was going to be as useful as the most successful Conferences Nationales pioneered in francophone Africa. From the particular example of a similar conference in the Republic of Benin, the weaknesses of the Nigerian parley can be crystallized. The choice of Benin is quite easy. The Conference Nationale there was a resounding success. That triumphant experiment is a much better yardstick for measuring the Nigerian effort than, say, the failed one in Togo, although the Togo case is not without humbling lessons for the Nigerian organizers of the Conference of Nationalities.
1. Kaima Declaration (communique of All Ijaw Youths Conference, Kaima, Nigeria, December 11, 1998).
2. Wole Soyinka, Radio Kudirat broadcast, January 1, 1999, http://nigerianscholars.africanqueen.com/opinion/soyinka.htm.
3. Beko Ransome-Kuti, “Conference of Nationalities,” Vanguard, http://www.afbis.com/vanguard/default.htm [transmitted December 6, 1998].
4. Ibid.
5. Nwajiaku, Kathryn, “The National Conferences in Benin and Togo Revisited,” Journal of Modern African Studies 32, no.3 (1994): 429–447 CrossRefGoogle Scholar.
6. Magnusson, Brace A., “The Democracy in Benin: Experiments in Institutional Reform,” in ed., Joseph, Richard, State, Conflict, and Democracy in Africa (Boulder, Colo, and London: Lynne Rienner Publishers, 1998)Google Scholar. In the case of Nigeria, the communique of the conference of nationalities called for a related approach: “The Sovereign National Conference (SNC) has become imperative and inescapable. It was, therefore, resolved that the nationalities should convene their own individual conferences, and that the SNC be the apex conference to harmonize the decisions of the nationalities conferences. This should be expedited before the crises become too expensive in time and casualties.” The problem is the assumption that the nationality groups were listening.
7. Heilbrunn, John R., “Social Origins of National Conferences in Benin and Togo,” Journal of Modern African Studies 31, no. 2: 277–299 Google Scholar; Nwajiaku, “The National Conferences.”
8. Anthony Enahoro, letter to Alliance for Democracy turning down their invitation to serve as presidential candidate.
9. See the site http://nigerianscholars.africanqueen.com/constitution.htm.
10. Nwajiaku, “The National Conferences,” 431.