Agbakoba: Nigeria's Unity Not Sacrosanct
Declares N’Assembly has power to enact new constitution Calls for break-up of mafia in S’Court Says this current apex court is the worst he’s seen in 45 years
A former President of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Olisa Agbakoba, SAN, has said it was wrong to assume that Nigeria’s component units would like to stay together, saying the nation’s unity was not sacrosanct.
Agbakoba, who advocated a massive legislation and executive action, if President Tinubu wanted to achieve his ambitious goal to grow Nigeria’s GDP to $1 trillion in 7 years, said the National Assembly had the power to enact a new constitution.
The human rights activist and lawyer, who further called forthe break-up of what he described as mafia in the nation’s Supreme
Court, said the current apex court as constituted is the worst he has seen in his 45 years of practice.
According to Agbakoba, in a political arrangement such as Nigeria, it would be a terribly wrong assumption that the components units in the country would like to stay together, and that the question Nigerians must ask themselves included, “Do we want to be one? If the answer yes, How do will do so."
He noted that Nigerians had not actually sat down to ask that question that Bola Ige asked long ago, which was, “Do we really want to be one country? Therefore, when that question is answered in the positive, then the second question will be: what kind of country do we want?”
"It's not sacrosanct that we must be one country. If in being one country, you have all the killings you have. In Jos, in Abuja, everywhere. What's the point of being one country?
"So, governance is like someone, who wants to build a 10-story, 12-story building. He will call an architect, and the architect will see a bungalow and advise the developer that I can't put a structure on the bungalow.
“I need to have a new foundation. So, governance is about a foundation. And as I said at that lecture, a country that has been struggling with a foundation for 23 years cannot be a serious country.
"I can't build this house. I can't build Nigeria on the basis of a weak government structure. It is the most important and fundamental process if you want the country to grow. So,Nigeria's government structure is very weak. And I'll give about 10 examples of why this is so.
"If you have a wife fighting, you cannot have peace. And you cannot think about how to develop. So, if today somebody is blowing up somebody's head in Abuja, tomorrow it's in everywhere you go. And as I said at that lecture, we can learn lessons from history. Europe went through this process.”
The renowned constitutional lawyer maintained that Nigeria’s Governance structures were weak and needed to be strengthened through critical laws and policies.
He, therefore, urged the National
Assembly to adopt the recommendation of the late Constitutional lawyer, ProfessorBen Nwabueze and invoke section 41 and section 44 of the Constitution and give the nation a new constitution that would be embraced by all.
"All the National Assembly needs to do is detach the schedule from the Act and replace it with the new Constitution. The matter resolved rather than every new Assembly discussing the same issue because we can’t make economic and political progress if we have a discussion that’s lasting 23 years."
According to him, the Tinubu administration has a unique opportunity to articulate and drive an uncommon agenda for development, adding that the president needed to be specific, and time-bound in his implementation plan otherwise it would be all talk and no progress.
Agbakoba, who noted that the National Assembly was in the best position to work on it, urged the 10th Assembly to immediately address the problem of the survival of Nigeria.
He further stated that Nigeria could not resolve her insecurity problems by military solution.
His words: "Quote me. If we continue on this path to deploy the military, deploy resources, and I don't even know how much has been spent by the military in acquiring armaments, we can't win. It's a mistake. We cannot resolve our problem by military solution. It will not happen.
"You know that the Americans did all they could, bombing Cambodia, Vietnam, but they lost. The world's most powerful country was beaten by a ragtag Viet army. Why? Because the Viet fought an irregular war.
"So, military option will not give Nigeria peace. That you can take from me. If it happens in two years' time, I'll give you a free lunch. So the first thing we must do is to find a way to resolve our crisis."
The former NBA President also called for the involvement of traditional rulers in the draft of a new constitution, adding that they were the people that would shift Nigeria and give the country the political peace for development.
The legal icon, however, lamented that in his 45 years at the Bar, the nation's judiciary had never been as low as this.
He urged the National Assembly to break up what he called 'the mafia in the Supreme Court by legislating that appointment to the Supreme Court could come from the Bench, the Bar and the academia.
He said, "I think we have, what do you call legal failure. Many of you would realise that nothing works in this country. I mean, look at what happened in the elections. The judiciary has, in my 45 years, never been as low as this.
“Even the Supreme Court, Justice John Okoro, castigated the Appeal Court for a terrible judgment where they removed virtually everybody in the Plateau political system.
“All the law and all the constitution say is once you are 15 years, you’re qualified but the National Judicial Council and the Supreme Court judges have formed a mafia so that others don’t get there.
“This Supreme Court is, with the greatest respect, the worst Supreme Court I have seen in my 45 years of practice. It has to change and that is a challenge for the National Assembly is to enact a law that deals with judicial Administration.
"We can't grow if we have a weak judiciary. And therefore, the only way to grow is to break up this mafia in the Supreme Court. It's like saying, you know what, no woman in Nigeria shall be entitled to political office.
“That's what they have done to us in the judiciary. No lawyer is entitled to attain to the Supreme Court. It's only them. They created a mafia, blocked us out, and appoint themselves. Incestuous relationship. So, they can't be their best.
"So, I recommended to the National Assembly to understand the difference between administration of justice. That's where judges take notes and write. Versus judicial administration. In respect to judicial administration, the National Assembly can intervene.
“There's the Federal High Court Act, which sets out how judges should come to the court, how they should be composed. The only thing the Constitution says is you must be 15 years to be a Supreme Court judge. Nothing else.”
He stated that there should be a law governing the process of appointments of senior judges, adding that, “We can’t leave it to the National Judicial Council.”
He also recommended the unbundling of INEC, and urged the 10th National Assembly to enact the recommendations of the Uwais Panel.