Professor Is-haq Oloyede, Executive Secretary of the Nigeria Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA), was co-secretary of the National Political Reform Conference set up by former President Olusegun Obasanjo in 2005. In this interview, Oloyede, a Professor of Islamic Studies, says he sees no need for another conference when recommendations of previous conferences have not been considered.

We have had series of conferences in the past and the country is warming up towards another conference. What is your view about the proposal?
I am not sure that those who are proposing the conference and the policy makers are speaking the same language. I believe that there might be a completely different perception and understanding of the concept of the national conference by the two sides. My view is that I am strongly suspicious of the move not for political reason but for some more fundamental reasons. Allegations of perpetuation in office are too ordinary in terms of motives. I believe that one needs to examine critically the sudden change of mind. I also do not believe that a country should be at such a level that its fortune and fate can swing from zero to 100 as being suggested by that change of mind. If two or three persons can just change their mind and we go in one direction, then we need to be very careful so that we do not just join the boat without knowing the destination.

What prompted your suspicion?
Right from the first day of the announcement, I've expressed my opinion that something must be fishy somewhere and I have that premonition and I hope it's not correct. I also believe that this country is too big to be manipulated. When we talk about the motive, I believe it is too ordinary to ascribe such pedestrian motive as I've seen some of the people punching here and there about what would be the motive. If the motive is purely political, I've no problem with that but I believe that the motive might be deeper than that and that's why I am concerned.

So is the convocation of another national conference justified?
I don't see the reason. I believe the National Assembly has started the amendment process and what makes it more worrisome was the fact that Mr. President explained further that whatever is done at the conference would be passed to the National Assembly. So why waste time on the exercise, whoever is given the power to consider has the right to amend, approve and or reject. So if that is the case, why can't the National Assembly organise public hearing for people to make their input into the amendment process? That would be cheaper, quicker than a talk show that may end up being just wasteful.

The last conference held during former President Obasanjo's administration where you were co-secretary was believed to have been aborted...
(Cuts in)  It wasn't aborted. The conference was successfully completed and the reports were submitted and nothing to the best of my knowledge has been done about the implementation of the report, not even considering the content by the National Assembly up till now. So why are we starting another debate where there is a debate in place which we can build or amend and so on; when we have not even given consideration to what had earlier on been submitted. I think we might be going through a vicious cycle.

What were the key recommendations made during the last conference?
There were so many key recommendations. We have over 100 recommendations. Of course they are all important recommendations. 

Are you saying if those recommendations had been implemented, there wouldn't have been any need to organise another conference?
I don't know. You see Nigeria is such a complex and complicated country that some of the things you see, you don't even understand because there is a lot of insincerity behind some of these actions. I believe that if we study or if we subject the recommendations of the 2005 political conference to public debate, serialise the report, let people make their inputs and so on, that can be a starting point rather than starting again, some people will come and make the same recommendations, the same process, the money expended on the conference and the money to me is an unnecessary burden on the nation.

Some attribute the rationale for the conference to the security challenges in the country. Do you believe this is the case?
I think the security sub-committee of the political reform conference had made so many far-reaching recommendations that if we had considered them, maybe we would not be in this precarious security situation. So, starting again without knowing what was previously recommended is another sign of unseriousness on our part. If there is no dangerous ulterior motive behind it then we are definitely unserious. 

What were the fundamental recommendations you made then?
There were a lot of recommendations. The reports are there as submitted to the then President, it was submitted to the National Assembly and copies are available. It is a document that I believe is worthy of being subjected to public and open debate because there are so many far-reaching recommendations.

But would you suggest that the proposed conference be suspended?
Having announced the formation by the President of a country, it would be another level of unseriousness without any cogent reason to abort the process. But that doesn't stop us from making our own comments and candid opinion about it. The government has coercive power and can almost go scot-free with anything. But I believe that the citizens also have the right to make their input and that's exactly what we are doing. I do not see the President waking up tomorrow -  unless you want to make a jest of the whole system - to say, "I am no longer doing so." If the committee makes recommendations that are not agreeable to the government, then government might just put the whole thing in a cooler but I do not believe that those selected to do the job would not have been properly briefed. 

All these abracadabra that we are having, I am of the opinion that we are just dancing about. Those who plan the conference definitely must have had a goal and the process they want to follow. More than eight months ago, somebody told me that this conference would take place mid-2013 and I was thinking it was impossible. So when the announcement was made, the person called me and said, "What did I tell you?" So this means it was not a sudden change of mind. There must have been certain background and certain planning. In my view, we are just deceiving ourselves by thinking that it was not a pre-planned act. But let's see how far we can go.

What's the position of the Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs?
I know that Nigeria Supreme Council would be calling a meeting of the appropriate agencies of the council to discuss it and that is why I am hesitant in making further comments. I have expressed my opinion. I can continue to expatiate on the opinion but I want to believe that the Nigeria Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs would at the appropriate time make its position known to the public.

Would you now suggest that the previous recommendations be implemented rather than organising another conference?
I will not even talk about implementation. I think the right thing is to be considered. We have made some far-reaching recommendations that we ought to consider before thinking on another futile journey. You see, we were not elected and that is one of the jokes I see going around. There are people who are now parading themselves as leaders of one group or the other without the mandate of the people. I am a Yoruba man, a first class indigene of the heart of Yorubaland. Some of those people who are parading themselves as leaders of one group or the other never had my mandate and there was no place where we decided to choose them. You see somebody who is not in control of his home is now purporting to be controlling the whole Yoruba race. I think there is a problem. 

What should be the right modality?
I don't believe in the conference but if it is to take place, the planners would have the headache of formulating policies about the conference.

There are insinuations that the proposed conference is not unconnected with President Jonathan's second term ambition...
I do not see any crime in that. To me it is normal for politicians to canvass for votes. But to me they are non-issues as far as I am concerned. There are more fundamental issues than that. God determines who rules a country at a particular time. That is not part of my problem at all because I believe whoever Allah has destined to be there in 2015 is already determined and there is nothing anybody or any manipulation or anything can do about it. I believe, as far as I am concerned that is for politicians, I am not a politician. They can be arguing on that. But I think the issue is, we should not use the resources of this nation for sectional interest.