The Okurounmu Advisory Committees work, presumably, is going on well, even though, it has encountered some socio-political difficulties here and there. That is the way it is supposed to be. As a developing country, I wish to raise some issues which I consider germane to our efforts to build a virile and progressive nation. We need civil rights laws to prevent ethnic discrimination at all our levels of daily operations as Nigerians in any part of the country. The civil rights that one enjoys in his local area, in any state, can not be abridged by any personal prejudice, local or state or any federal law in another. The second consideration is the right of Nigerians to well grounded Civil liberties. The civil liberties Nigerians should enjoy, as people living in a developing modern democracy, should be spelt out, starting with freedom from arbitrary or despotic control and arrest to the right to have positive enjoyment of various social, political or economic rights and privileges. Economic monopoly of certain industrial interests should be regulated by the government. This can be carefully spelt out by business interests attending the national conference. The issue of state police can be considered but its creation should not lead to the cancellation of federal police. It requires some ingenuity of experts in law enforcement to work out how it is going to work effectively because a criminal can commit a capital or some serious offence in a state and escape to another state. First, states need to pass laws that will recognize the power of other state police obligations as legal without prejudice, that is, every state must accept the power and duty obligations of state police in other states. There must be avenues for the state police to work effectively with all federal secret or security agencies to prevent any lapse which could inadvertently create security problems and inadequacies; the original bone of peoples concern that necessitated the call for state police. Will people to be employed as state police be limited to citizens of the particular state or people from other states could be engaged in the system.? How can discrimination, bothering on violation of ones civil right be prevented if the state police is only offered to citizens of each state? The appointment of the nations Attorney General needs to become apolitical in view of the observation of the ineffective role of the EFCC and the interventions of the Attorney General, which in most cases, are undesirable. Left to the present government, there is no doubt that former governor of Delta, James Ibori will continue to be free and gallivant through the streets of Nigerias capital cities to the amazement of helpless Nigerians. The Nigerian Bar Association needs to make some in-put to save the country from undue political influence at the expense of justice
Posted on: Sat, 02 Nov 2013 06:00:51 +0000