Again, Anyaoku Calls for Restructuring of Nigeria, Decries Bashing of Judiciary …As Justice Iyizoba wants more women in govt

Sunday Okobi

Former Secretary-General of the Commonwealth of Nations, Chief Emeka Anyaoku, has reiterated his unswerving stance that the only way out of the present challenges plaguing Nigeria is to restructure the country and possibly return to regional government system.

The elder statesman stated this on Thursday in Lagos at the launching of a book ('Contemporary Issues in Law and Society' in Iyizoba’s tribute) and the inauguration of the initiative of retired Justice of the Court of Appeal, Justice Chinwe Iyizoba, African Women Forum for Good Governance (AWFG), as the chairman of the occasion.

Anyaoku, who also lauded Justice Iyizoba as a distinguished lady who had a great and enviable career at the Bar, Bench, and academic environment, also decried what he termed as constant bashing of the judiciary, calling on the executive and the judiciary arms of government to guard the integrity and independence of the third arm of government.

According to him on whether Nigeria has the right government structure in place to lead the country out of the present state, “I believe that the government structure is sound, but how to operate it is the challenge the country is facing today. We have the structure that can cope with the challenges the country faces- insecurity, climate change, economy-but like I have always said, the present structure of the country is not efficient, and cannot successfully cope with the present challenges the country faces today.

“I have been advocating the restructuring of the architecture of governance of our country. This country was doing a lot better when it was a true federation of four regions; each region coping with its development, security, education and health facilities. We should return to the system because the present structure, in my view, is not likely to lead us to our destination.

Justice Chinwe Iyizoba

“Also, I am concerned at the current wave of criticism of our judiciary. I am however calling on the judiciary and the executive arm of government to do more to ensure they do not provide grounds for casting aspersions on the integrity and the independence of the judiciary.

On insecurity, he said the present government is going in the right direction by now advocating for community policing, which “I believe that the security challenges we face in this country would be effectively met if the different areas and states in Nigeria were to play more active part in securing the lives and property of their citizens.”

Anyaoku said Justice Iyizoba had a very distinguished career as a university teacher and she was the attorney-general before she went to the Bench. “She has acquainted herself very creditably and she is retiring with a glorious record behind her, so I am very happy to be here. She was also a very active judge, and now as she is going into retirement, she will write books and push her initiative-African Women Forum forward and go a long way with that,” he added.

In her remarks, the Justice Iyizoba, who was also celebrating her 70th birthday, insisted that the Nigerian judiciary is in excellent stead, as she, however, decried that they are a few persons in the sector who might have done things to taint the image of the judiciary, “but that does not mean the entire judiciary is bad. They are excellent materials as well as good judges and justices who write judgment that can stand the test of time, so that doesn’t mean we judge every Judge with what a few of them do.”

The former attorney-general of Enugu State urged women to show more interest in politics as they tend to be more accountable and compassionate, as she called them to unite in order to move the nation forward. She advocated for specific quota for women to participate in government by all arms and level of governments, added that this will bring good governance “which means that decisions will always be transparent in government and in alignment with the rule of law as accountability be entrenched in the system.”

Speaking on the newly established Africa Women's Forum For Good Governance (AWFG), she said it's not for profit rather it focuses on promoting the tenets of good governance in both public and private sector

In his speech, Nigerian Economist, Tony Elumelu, represented by Mrs. Onari Duke, stated that the private sector is the engine room of a country's economy and not the government.

Elumelu explained that private sectors create jobs and raise revenues for government through taxes and they should be supported with policies that would help them perform better.

"The private sectors must see themselves as solution providers rather than profit makers," he said, urging them to take advantage of the free-trade agreement and stand out among other countries.