Nigerian Bar Association, don demand end to killings across Nigeria
THE Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) and a former council member, Bowen University, Prof Dan Izegbaye, have called for cessation to the killings in parts of the federation.
The NBA regretted the rancour between the National Assembly and the executive arm of government, saying the development was hindering passage of the 2018 budget.
NBA president, Abubakar Balarabe Mahmoud (SAN), made the appeal at the open- ing of the 2018 NBA National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting in Kano.
Mahmoud, who specifically condemned the incessant killings in Adamawa, Taraba, Zamfara and Benue states, stated that the country was gradually delving into a state of anarchy.
His words: “We are deeply disturbed by the increasing cases of armed banditry and herdsmen’s attacks, leading to violence and loss of lives nationwide. The killings in Adamawa, Zamfara and Benue speak more of the absence or near absence of state institutions in these areas.
“NBA is calling on the federal and state governments to rise to the challenge by tackling the criminality in the country. The government must take proactive measures.”
Mahmoud expressed worries over the alleged refusal by President Muhammadu Buhari to approve the recommendations of the National Judicial Commission (NJC) on appointments of judges of the Court of Appeal and officers into the ministries, departments and agencies (MDAS), threatening action. Decrying what he described as poor quality of governance under the present administration, the NBA chief frowned on the supposed lack of synergy among agencies of governments, a development he insisted, had led to failure in performance of government business. On the upcoming 2019 general elections, Mahmoud advised the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), security agencies and relevant stakeholders to be neutral.
To Izegbaye, government must address the menace now before it engulfs the entire nation.
Delivering the 19th Founder’s Day lecture of Igbinedion University Okada, titled, Themoatand tower: history and pressure son community and Identity, he harped on the need for students to embrace self-reliance and social consciousness, just as he eulogised the founder and chancellor of the university, Chief Gabriel Igbinedion as a pioneer businessman in the country.
The don said there was an urgent need to check the activities of the herdsmen and the Boko Haram sect whom, he noted, share certain things in common.
He wondered why cattle should invade classrooms, describing the move as tantamount to the sect’s agelong head belief that western education was injurious and thus forbidden. The Acting Vice Chancellor, Prof. Deborah Odejimi, said alumni of the institution had excelled in all spheres of life both at home and abroad.