Permit me to begin this contribution with the words of Senator Femi Okorounmu who is the Chairman of the President's Advisory Commitee on the National Conference. In the February 12th edition of the National Mirror Newspaper he said the following about President Goodluck Jonathan-

I have immense respect for Senator Femi Okunromu, Professor Nwabueze (who has since dropped out), Col. Tony Nyiam, Mr. Tony Uranta, Senator Khariat Gwadabe and many of the other members of President Goodluck Jonathan's National Conference Advisory Commitee and I have interacted closely with some of them for the better part of the last 20 years. I can testify to the fact that those of them that I know are honest, decent, serious-minded and credible people who, though I may not agree with all the time, I have tremendous respect and deep affection for.

Last year on June 3rd 2012 there was a plane crash in Nigeria in which over 163 people were killed. The plane was owned by Dana Air. The day before that on June 2nd 2012 a Nigerian cargo plane owned by Kabo Air left our shores and flew to Accra, Ghana where it overshot the runway, crashed into the main road behind the airport and killed many Ghanaian motorists. What made this all the more tragic was the fact that Ghana had never experienced a plane crash at Kotoka International Airport before this incident. It is a pity that it had to be a Nigerian plane, with a Nigerian crew and cargo that had to break that enviable record.

Permit me to begin this contribution by quoting from a portion of an essay that I wrote on 26 September 2011 which was titled ''On Goodluck Jonathan, David and Goliath''. The portion reads as follows- ''A few days ago from the sacred pulpit of the hallowed chambers of the National Christian Centre in Abuja and in the prescence of the entire leadership of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan proclaimed as follows- 'I am not David....I am not a general.....I am not a lion....I will defeat the Goliaths in our land'.

I heard about the plane crash in Lagos today and I am in a state of utter shock and in the deepest pain. I lost numerous friends in that crash. I have said and written so much about plane crashes in Nigeria over the years and I have nothing more to say about it other than to extend my condolences to those that lost their loved ones. These things are predictable and avoidable but it appears that in the final analysis, in Nigeria, no-one really cares and no-one listens.

Other than the usual congratulations, platitudes, expressions of joy and offerings of thanks to God I believe that as we celebrate our nation's 53rd independence anniversary it is time for us to bare our minds in a candid and frank manner and to really sit down and think. During her election campaign just a couple of weeks ago, Angela Merkel, the Chancellor of Germany and the world's most powerful woman, said ''multiculturalism is dead in Germany''. In 2011 David Cameron, the Prime Minister of Great Britain, echoed the same sentiment when he asserted, in his first major speech as Prime Minister, that ''multiculturalism has failed in the United Kingdom''.

I just listened, with rapt attention, to the speech of Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu of Israel on the U.N. General Assembly floor. This was a magnificent speech which moved me to tears. Amongst many other things he made the following catergorical and clear assertions.

Permit me to begin this contribution by reproducing a portion of an essay that I wrote on 26 September 2011 which was titled ''On Goodluck Jonathan, David and Goliath''. The essay reads as follows.

There can be little doubt that the relocation of the 19 igbo destitutes from Lagos state a few months ago was a lawful exercise and that it was done in the interest of Lagos state. Consequently I do not believe that Governor Babatunde Raji Fashola ought to have tendered any form of apology whatsoever to the igbo for what he did.

Pa Ayo Adebanjo is one the greatest nationalists and elderstatesmen that we have ever had in Nigeria and he was amongst those that fought for our independence. He was a close associate of Chief Obafemi Awolowo, a key leader of NADECO and one of the most credible and consistent leaders that we have ever had in the south-west. He has been actively involved in politics since 1951 with the formation of the Action Group Youth Wing. He has dedicated his life to fighting for the cause of a better Nigeria, the establishment of true federalism, the restructuring of our country and for the convocation of a sovereign national conference. The following is his contribution to the igbo/yoruba debate that is still raging in the country.

(being a speech delivered by Chief Femi Fani-Kayode to the De Raufs Volunteer Group at Ife Town Hall, Ile-Ife, Osun State on 24th September 2013) Blessed be the name of the most high God, the God whose I am and the God whom I serve, blessed be His holy name forever.

(being part 2 of a speech delivered by Chief Femi Fani-Kayode to the De Raufs Volunteer Group at Ife Town Hall, Ile-Ife, Osun State on 24th September 2013)