OTA/Nigeria: As Nigeria celebrates 61 years of nationhood, some lawyers have called for preservation of democratic principles as conceived by the founding fathers.
The immediate past Chairman of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Ota Branch, Mr Isaac Ogbah, congratulated the nation on its 61st independence celebration, and called for a deepened democracy.
According to Ogbah, Nigeria’s founding fathers dreamt of a country where all citizens are united irrespective of tribal and religious differences.
He expressed sadness that the laudable dream had appeared to be gradually eroding, saying that it must be salvaged.
“The founding fathers of this nation dreamt of a country where education would be a fundamental rights of the people and not a crime,” he said.
The lawyer added that the heroes past also desired a country that its citizens would be able to feed well and have jobs.
He added that the founding fathers longed for a country where there would be no marginalisation and where leadership would be in the interest of the governed.
“But with the present condition of Nigeria, are the dreams of the founding fathers realised”? he asked.
On the way forward, Ogbah urged governments to review the nation’s value system and further promote the rule of law.
“Government must fight every element of crime with all its might, beginning with holders of political offices.
“Citizens should be encouraged and mandated to be law-abiding, the youth should be trained for leadership because they are, indeed, the future of Nigeria,” he said.
Ogbah added that electoral laws should be revised regularly to give room for good leadership to foster development.
Commenting, a constitutional lawyer, Mr Spurgeon Ataene, described Nigeria at 61 years as “a mix of service, sacrifice, excellence, hope and mediocrity, nepotism, insecurity and disunity”.
He prayed for divine intervention in tackling the country’s challenges.
According to Ataene, the sacrifices and excellence and patriotic services of the nation’s past heroes should not be taken for granted or wasted.
“Today, all potential of this country are being undermined by ourselves and we are geometrically pressing self-destruct buttons,” he said.
The lawyer urged all Nigerians to join hands to build the nation.
He advised the Federal Government to its best to bring down prices of food stuffs and other commodities which, he said, had gone very high.
He also called on the government to intensify efforts to tackle insecurity.
He said that the country had all it would take to stand strong.
“The resources are there, the template for governance is there.
“A man or woman at 61 should have accomplished most of life’s ambitions or should have been wiser with experience of time and tragedy.
“May we embrace a complete reorientation, ” he prayed.
A former Secretary of the NBA, Lagos Branch , Mr Seth Amaefule, said that it was high time Nigeria adequately addressed its challenges.
“If Nigeria deals with the fundamentals, the rest will gradually fall in line.
He identified the fundamentals to include electoral and justice systems.
