The Executive Chairman, Federal Character Commission, FCC, Dr Muheeba Dankaka, says social justice is indispensable and the panacea for building an enduring nation.
Dankaka spoke on Thursday in Owerri at a three-day retreat for FCC commissioners and senior officials of Imo government.
The theme of the retreat is entitled: “Building Cooperation for Equitable Service Delivery.”
Dankaka said that the primary aim of the commission was to ensure a strong, virile and an indivisible nation based on fairness, equity and justice.
She said it was also to promote national loyalty and foster a sense of belonging among Nigerians.
The Executive Chairman said when President Muhammadu Buhari inaugurated the Fifth Board of the commission in July 2020, it became expedient for it to put necessary machinery in place to prepare for the task ahead.
Dankaka said that one of the tasks was a capacity building structure that would prepare it for the tasks ahead.
She said that the retreat was aimed at conversing and reflecting in general the body polity and come up with workable templates on how the commission could contribute to the discourse on national stability being called to question in recent time.
Dankaka said the retreat offered an opportunity to discuss and deliberate on how the commission had fared and what needed to be done to meet the yearnings and aspirations of Nigerians.
“The practicality of the FCC task is a pivotal and herculean one that requires the participation of all stakeholders.
“Our primary view is to ensure a strong, virile and indivisible nation based on fairness, equity and justice, with a view to promoting national loyalty and fostering a sense of belonging amongst Nigerians.
“It is believed that social justice is indispensable for the building of an enduring nation and, therefore, we must thrive at all times in ensuring these basic tenents,” she said.
The FCC executive chairman listed the distinct mandates of the commission to include ensuring fair and equitable distribution of posts in the public services throughout the federation among the indigenes of the various states of the federation and the Federal Capital Territory.
She said it was also to ensure fair and equitable distribution of social services, economic amenities and infrastructure facilities among the federating units.
Dankaka said it was also to fashion out modalities and strategies on how to engage state governors to have state character commission.
According to her, the document on how the commission can assist states to establish similar organisations and work with her state offices to realise this will further enable the states to grow in harmony.
Gov. Hope Uzodimma, who declared the retreat open, said that FCC had become a critical instrument of national unity and integration as a nation with great diversity in language, culture and religion.
Uzodimma, represented by his deputy, Prof. Placid Njoku, enjoined members of the commission to ensure that no section of the country or her citizens were cheated in the management and distribution of the nation’s resources.
He said that Dankaka, as a woman, would display her motherly milk of human kindness and ensure a happy FCC for all in the country.
“The Federal Character Commission would fashion out modalities and strategies on how to engage state governors to have state character commissions,” he said.
The Chairman Retreat Planning Committee FCC, Dr Uche Diogu, said the retreat came at a time when the commission’s image had been brought to the public glare by some misunderstanding in its operational modalities.
Diogu, who is also a Federal Commissioner and member representing Imo State, said the essence of the retreat was to enable the commissioners to get acquainted with one another.
He said also it was for the commissioners to understand the dynamics of management of people and its concomitant effect on the mission and mandate of FCC.
NAN
