By EricJames Ochigbo

The Director-General of National Institute for Legislative and Democratic Studies (NILDS), Prof. Abubakar Sulaiman, has called on elites to address the pressing developmental challenges confronting the country.

Sulaiman made the call at the opening of a survey validation workshop on Elite Consensus report in Abuja on Thursday.

He said that the workshop marked a significant step in the institute’s ongoing efforts to mobilise elite alignment on critical national issues.

According to him, it is part of a broader research initiative aimed at identifying strategies to strengthen consensus among Nigeria’s influential actors on key governance and developmental priorities.

The director-general cited events such as the 1989 anti-SAP riots, the 2012 #OccupyNigeria movement and the 2020 #EndSARS protests as evidence of mounting frustrations over the structure and direction of the Nigerian state.

He expressed the regret that while other countries had managed to progress through consensus-building and intellectual collaboration, Nigeria’s elite often remained divided along ethnic, religious and economic lines.

“As a research and capacity-building institution, our programmes and publications are backed by empirical data, and this workshop validates the results of a nationwide elite survey.

“The lack of elite agreement on national priorities, be it restructuring, devolution of power, financial autonomy for local governments or the creation of state police, has deepened the crisis of national consensus.

“This workshop aims to provide a roadmap that will help us surmount those challenges; if we can get the elite to work together by putting the country first, Nigeria may be able to serve as a model for other nations,” he said.

Sulaiman announced the NILDS’ plans to host a National Summit on Elite Consensus to convene a broader cross-section of elites from across the country to refine and adopt consensus strategies on national development.

In his remarks, the Chairman, NILDS Elite Consensus Development Committee, Prof. Attahiru Jega, said that a survey was conducted to understand the opinions, perceptions and perspectives of sampled Nigerian elites on consensus.

Jega said that it was to determine whether elite consensus was necessary and desirable in Nigeria and on what issues was consensus required and how to bring it about.

He said that rather than being fractious and conflict ridden, the elites should be united and have a consensus on certain, if not all key issues, to focus upon in governance for economic growth and socio-economic development of the country.

“The project is based on the assumption that Nigeria would tremendously benefit from efforts to get its elites to have consensus on key issues to pursue for sustainable development so that, regardless of which political party or segment of the national elites is in power, there would be a clear focus on governance in the long-term.

“This will mitigate the currently prevailing predisposition of elected elites in government to discard what the preceding ones have initiated merely for partisan and/or self-serving considerations,” he said.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the report from the survey recommends that constitutional provision on citizens’ rights should take priority over and above ‘indigene’ rights such that a Nigerian citizen enjoys his/her rights wherever he/she resides in Nigeria.

It recommended that the statutory immunity currently enjoyed by executive office holders should also be removed.

According to the report, laws should be amended to give priority to custodial sentences of not less than 10 years without state pardon or plea bargains, and death penalty for convicted corruption cases.

It also said that the cost of governance was identified by the respondents as a burden that needed to be reduced to the barest minimum.

Similarly, it suggested the need to embark on devolution of power by strengthening governance and development at the local and state levels.

The report also noted that since traditional leaders are playing a significant role in national development, they should be given a statutory role in addressing insecurity in the country. (NAN)(www.nannews.ng)

Edited by ‘Wale Sadeeq