Prof. Kingsley Moghalu has recommended that President Muhammadu Buhari should establish a Truth and Reconciliation Committee to address current security and other challenges in Nigeria.
Moghalu, a former Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), made the recommendation at a news conference on Tuesday in Abuja while re-emphasizing his intention to contest the presidency in 2023, NAN reports.
He added that members of the committee, one from each geopolitical zone in the country, should be of high reputation and relevant expertise.
He added that one international member assigned from the United Nations or from South Africa should also be part of the committee.
Moghalu said the committee should be given a six-month mandate to examine, especially the events of January 1966 to January 1970, invite witnesses, survivors and critical players still alive to make statements.
Such persons, he said, should also make recommendations that would promote national reconciliation by turning historical memories into a positive force for mutual forgiveness and nation building.
“President Buhari should invite all secessionist agitation movements to a national dialogue in order to give them a hearing with a view to addressing credible, verifiable grievances.
“Concrete actions toward the establishment of a Constituent Assembly to begin framing a new Constitution, with legislative support from the National Assembly, should be initiated jointly by the presidency,” he said.
The presidential hopeful added that this should be done in collaboration with the national assembly and representatives of ethnic nationalities, traditional rulers, the clergy and civil society.
He also recommended the appointment of a panel of historians, with equal representation from the northern and southern parts of Nigeria, to review and agree on a curriculum of contemporary national history.
This, he said, should include the Nigerian Civil War, to be taught in primary and secondary institutions from the specific perspective of lessons learnt, national healing and reconciliation.
“To build our nation, we must confront our history and embrace reconciliation.
“I am making the recommendations as a contribution to stopping immediately, the current bleeding of our country, beyond my personal intervention.
”In my recent declaration of my interest to contest in the 2023 presidential election, I pledged to unify Nigeria,” he said.
This, he said, he intended to achieve through inclusive governance with a dream team from all over the country if given the opportunity.
