THE 2014 NATIONAL CONFERENCE AND NATIONAL QUESTION: A CRITICAL ANALYSIS

Abstract

There  are  three  types  of  national  conference  namely:  non  sovereign  national conference, which tends to be accommodative of the status quo ante. Sovereign national   conference,   which   tends   to   threaten   the   status   quo   ante   and constitutional   conference.   While   the   first   type,   that   is,   (non   sovereignty) national  conference,  is  subject  to  higher  authority  and  operates  within  limited scope. The second type, sovereign national conference, as He word "sovereign'' suggests,  is  not  subject  to  any  higher  authority.  However,  the  outcome  of  the first  may  threaten  the  existing  power  structure,  by  rebalancing  it  on  new  but marginal  basis,  the  second  may  supplant  and  sweepaway  existing  order heralding   an   entirely   new   order.   The   third   type   as   the   name   denotes constitutional   conference   has   a   single   specified   limited   scope -making proposals   for   constitutional   changes   within   the   existing   constitutional framework. National question in the Nigerian context is about competition and conflicts  between  ethnic  nationalities  regarding  the  control  of  political  power and  resources  in  Nigeria.  This  work  therefore,  will  examine  the  relevance  of 2014  national  conference  held  in  Nigeria  visa  vis  the  three  types  of  national conference is already mentioned, and how they addressed the national question. The  research  methodology  that  will  be  used  in  this  work  are:  primary, secondary and historical. It is the finding in this work among other things that they  concluded  national  conference  in  Nigeria  seems  to  be  an  exercise  in futility. This is because it is more of party tussles especially between APC and PDP  without  considering  all  that  were  expended  to  carry  out  the  national conference.  The  moneywould  have  been  applied  to  other  sectors  of  the economy  which  would  have  improved  the  standard  of  living  in  Nigeria  despite economic  recessions.  Consequently,  the  results,  recommendations,  outcome  of the national conference was not implemented by the current government