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.
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