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Tag: overhaul

  • Overhaul of ‘death’ sector

    This is a column that seeks to mould, shape societal values and to protect the interests of consumers, citizens and touch other broader relevant topics under the column: ‘TRUE VALUE 360’. It is an interactive column as suggestions, complaints; day to day experiences are welcome.

    This week’s edition is STARVATION AND THE COMMON MAN

    Some analysts have propounded various theories about Nigeria being an accident waiting to happen or an accident happened already or that we will break up by a particular date etcetera, etcetera but we thank God we are still standing today and will keep standing by His Grace. One of the reasons given is that Nigeria comprises of unlikely bedfellows occasioned by forced marriage of various tribes. Many issues are begging for attention but today we are looking at the topic: STARVATION AND THE COMMON MAN.

    There is a saying that a hungry man is an angry man. A hungry, angry man will never be reasonable in action and thoughts that is if he can think at all. Nigeria’s business economy to date is driven by government policies and because of the 2015 transition/ change of government process, a lot of business decisions were put on hold which had the ripple effect of making the year very hard on the citizenry. There is cash squeeze in the economy and investors are threading carefully to venture into new grounds; there has been massive disengagement in public and banking sector for various reasons, the private sector and small business enterprises are also not left out of the hopefully temporary financial and economic pains.

    Citizens without steady income have become desperate and have devised various deadly means to survive. Lagos in particular has been witnessing serious impunity in recent times. The masses get handouts or income from the middle class but the middle class are also broke at the moment, reason why the hungry masses are resorting to terrorizing citizens.

    Traffic jam in Lagos has reached an unprecedented scale and you cannot guess or predict the duration of trips to any destination in Lagos anymore.

    It is a common daily occurrence for citizens to be robbed in these traffic jams with individuals losing personal belongings such as handsets, windscreens, handbags etc in recent times. These acts are being perpetuated by petty thieves and idle touts who have no means of feeding; some of them will ordinarily not go this route but out of desperation they become criminals as unemployment rate is one of the major issues we have not been able to deal with.

    It is also common to find young men in their middle to late twenties ogling at women who are old enough to be their mothers and even grandmothers, not out of love interest but so as to get some extra feeding or survival income. These set abound everywhere from concerts, to salons, clubs and even on the streets. Our remaining values are being eroded at the twinkling of an eyelid; let us save our youths as they are our future.

    Yes, we are overwhelmed with various urgent issues, but this menace will only escalate if a temporary solution is not found immediately.

    If we cannot resort to the Bread and Circuses option, and it may be unrealistic to attain 80- 100% employment at the moment; we should endeavor to provide our own version of succor to the unemployed.  Provision of at least a meal per day (without the circus) should be considered for the unemployed in every local government either through the local government authorities or through a special agency that will ensure that the meals get to the right persons, the country can afford it. This will reduce crime rate and petty robbery. This will also create employment for new sets of personnel.

     

    Of course, I am not making a case for lawlessness or male prostitution here; to me it is an aberration, it is better to provide an immediate survival alternative than to leave the menace to come back to haunt us all. We already have enough on our hands in combating sophisticated crime, let’s not increase the number.

     

    Reactions are welcome.

  • Overhaul of ‘death’ sector

    Overhaul of ‘death’ sector

    This is a column that seeks to mould, shape societal values and to protect the interests of consumers, citizens and touch other broader relevant topics under the column: ‘TRUE VALUE 360’. It is an interactive column as suggestions, complaints; day to day experiences are welcome.

    This week’s edition is OVERHAUL OF ‘DEATH’ SECTOR

    Medical doctors in government hospitals from various state chapters in Nigeria have been embarking on strike otherwise known as industrial action on and off in Nigeria in the past decades, so the ongoing is not the first nor is it likely to be the last. What kind of calamity or curse is upon the nation that we ignore essential sectors such as health? What kind of evil, accursed leadership have we bestowed upon ourselves over time that we no longer care about human lives? Singular or plural, we cannot create a single breath of life, so why should we not have an effective health system to save lives. Crisis today, ditto tomorrow, the bottom line is somebody somewhere has pocketed funds meant to improve health services just like in other sectors. I cry for my beloved country, the health sector is fast becoming the death sector.

    As long as public servants are not accountable or prosecuted for actions or inactions, impunity will continue to reign indefinitely in the land. Few weeks back, there was no single bed for admission at the emergency wards in Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH), and patients were seen taking intravenous drips at the back of cars and pickups in the premises of LASUTH. If it were not so pathetic, it would have been funny; at first glance, I thought it was a scene from an over imaginative Nollywood director.

    The doctors, obeying the directive from their national headquarters, have shunned their duty posts leaving the bulk of the job to the nurses. The strike has crippled medical services in hospitals as patients and their relatives have continued to lament. Patients are then referred to private hospitals owned by same doctors on strike. Is this sabotage? Are these strikes illegal? Who is to blame? Are the doctors defying their oaths?

    Something must give way; heads MUST roll as so many lives have been lost courtesy of incessant strikes in our nation and inadequate management of medical facilities.

    Government on her part must provide enabling environment such as uninterrupted power supply, living wages, subsidised or free health services etc. Nothing stops Nigerian citizens from having health insurance if it is properly worked out. Health is one of the reasons Nigerians migrate abroad, refuse to come back and are subjected to various demeaning lifestyles just to stay abroad. Public servants must be banned from seeking health services abroad except on exceptional cases, this will allow us to look inwards and improve our health system.

    A negligent or corrupt health administrator is the same as a hard drug pusher, they are both leading human brings to slow but steady death closer than their God ordained time. Only, tried and tested citizens with integrity should be considered for such sensitive positions of health administration and where they are still found wanting should be brought to book.

    This change train must put health on its priority hierarchy and the common man including women, children must have unconditional access to adequate health facilities and drugs. Corrupt health workers who sell free donated drugs to patients before attending to them should be reported and penalised. If you know such officials, kindly send us a mail.

  • Overhaul oil sector, Buhari told

    Overhaul oil sector, Buhari told

    The Amalgamation of Nigeria Youths Association (ANYA) has called on the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari to completely overhaul the oil and gas sector with the view of bringing in efficiency, transparency, decorum, accountability and probity into the sector.

    Such overhaul, the association said, should be holistic in order to avert strike actions by players in the procurement and distribution of petroleum products in the country.

    In a statement signed on behalf of the members of the association, the National President and Secretary, Prince Oliver Okpalla and Tola Adeboye respectively, the association urged the Federal Government to take immediate steps to avoid strikes in the oil industry, like the recent one by members of the Oil Marketers Association, which almost crippled the nation’s economy and caused untold hardship to Nigerians.

    It, however, commended “the patriotic act of one of the oil marketers, Dr. Ifeanyi Ubah of Capital Oil and Gas, who pulled out of the strike by ordering the opening up of all his company’s strategic oil tanks located throughout all the geo-political zones of the country for loading and distribution of petroleum products to the tune of 13 million litres of fuel in consideration of the plight and untold hardship suffered by Nigerians.”

    The association noted that “it was this act of national patriotism by Ubah that forced the Oil Marketers Association to immediately call off their strike.”

    It therefore urged the “Buhari administration to commend and appreciate the action of Ubah as a shining example to others in the oil industry,” adding, “we are of the view that such patriotic act should receive or attract the award of a national honour to the individual involved.”

     

  • Lawal vows to overhaul Kaduna United

    Lawal vows to overhaul Kaduna United

    AHEAD of the 2013/14 Glo Premier League campaign, Kaduna United team manager Garba Lawal has set his sight at overhauling and restructuring of the Crocodile City outfit.

    Speaking on the forthcoming Nigeria Professional Football League season, Lawal faulted the existing system of operation while stating that the Kaduna-based club needs to start afresh.

    “I want to put some structure because we don’t have any structure at United, it’s zero in Kaduna United, I will start from zero now, so it’s very difficult, may be some players came on loan, I don’t even know how they came on loan.” Lawal was quoted as saying by Lagos-based Brila FM.

    Kaduna United, it would be recalled finished in 10th in the 2012/13 league season missing out on continental qualifications, a situation Lawal is upbeat to redress this year.

  • Nigeria’s infrastructure overhaul to cost $350b, says Rewane

    Fixing Nigeria’s infrastructure will cost $350 billion, the Managing Director, Financial Derivatives Company (FDC) Limited, Bismarck Rewane, has said.

    In FDC’s Monthly Economic Report released yesterday, he said Nigeria’s debt to Gross Domestic Product (GDP) ratio was 35 per cent, adding that the figure has renewed the argument of optimal debt level.

    Rewane said for a country like Nigeria that has an infrastructure deficit of $360 billion, according to the African Development Bank (ADB), a 40 per cent debt cap is insufficient in getting the job done.

    “An overhaul of the infrastructure gap would cost approximately $350 billion for an economy with an estimated GDP of $282 billion, and an annual GDP growth rate of approximately 6.8 per cent,” he said.

    The Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2007 set a 40 per cent ceiling for Nigeria’s public debt to GDP and the International Monetary Fund raised the threshold to 56 per cent in 2013.

    However, Rewane said the establishment of a debt ceiling is arbitrary at best, since there are many variables that should determine optimal debt level that are not included in determining the ceiling, pointing out that two crucial and often missed points are the causation of increase in debt/GDP ratio and the use of debt raised.

    “Since the economic well-being of a country should be seen through the prism of a sound business entity, there ought to be a distinction between “bad debt run up” and “good debt build up,” he said.

    In addition, the old practice of using the debt/GDP ratio as a measure of the health of an economy is questionable. It is a tool designed for advanced countries and not developing economies.

    Rewane advised that instead of focusing on the rate of increase in debt to GDP ratio in Nigeria, what should be of utmost concern is the direction of the naira. Since most of the recent debt issuance is foreign currency denominated, depreciation of the naira would prove costly, and if sustained, threat of default becomes imminent, therefore, jeopardizing Nigeria’s strong BB- rating.

    He said South Africa’s gross debt would balloon to 48 per cent of gross domestic product in the year through March 2017 from an estimated 43 percent last year. That he attributed to rising debt costs and tax receipts falling short of targets.

    South Africa’s debt levels compares with 80 percent in Hungary, 59 per cent in Brazil and 36 percent in Mexico. “The increase in debt levels is not a problem if you compare South Africa with some other countries,” Johann Els, an economist at Old Mutual Investment Group of South Africa, said adding “The fact that the deficit is getting smaller means we are putting a damper on the growth in debt,” Rewane said.

    South Africa’s reliance on foreign investors to finance the budget deficit has increased in recent months- to the nation’s economic risks, according to the Treasury.

    Rewane said Nigerian oil and gas sector remains a challenging environment to operate in. “In order to improve the outlook for this sector, the government has to ensure consistency in policies, address security issues and double down on initiatives to improve innovation for increased efficiency in the sector,” he said.

    Rewane explained that Nigeria remains a net importer of innovation and hence, must make the necessary investments in training institutions to provide capable human capital and innovation to meet the needs of the sector.

  • NECA chief canvasses policies’overhaul

    The Nigeria Employer’s Consultative Association (NECA) has urged the Federal Government and other stakeholders to embark on policy overhaul to revamping the nation’s ailing economy.

    The Director-General, NECA, Olusegun Oshinowo, lamented that lack of implementation of good economic reforms had remained the bane of economic development.

    Specifically, he attributed the challenge facing the manufacturing sector to lack of basic infrastructure, such as power and absence of enabling environment, adding that there was need for the adoption of a holistic approach to addressing the lingering power sector problems.

    The reforms, he said, should aim at engendering economic development that would target the living conditions of people and create a conductive environment for doing business in Nigeria.

    “It is about empowering people to participate and contribute constructively to the desired socio-economic objectives in a community or in a society,” he added.

     

     

     

     

  • ‘Our legal education needs overhaul’

    Which university did you attend and when were  you called to the Nigerian Bar?

    I graduated from the University of London with LLB Honours in July 1975, went to Nigerian Law School, Lagos in October 1975 . I was called to the Bar in 1976. I have been in private legal practice since then.

     

    What was your first experience in court like; the first time you addressed the court?

    My first experience in court was in 1976 when I was on National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) service in Jos. I was posted to the Law Chambers of Owen Fiebai & Co. My Principal, late Justice (Chief) Owen Fiebai, had just been elevated to the Bench and I was instructed to appear to hold brief in a case of negligence which had been fixed for trial. I announced that I was holding brief and asked for an adjournment, but the counsel for the plaintiff opposed it and the judge ruled that the trial must proceed. Based on the little practical knowledge I had already acquired under him, I summoned courage and conducted the cross-examination of the plaintiff’s witness that day. I did my best,. but I was not sure or convinced that my best was good enough, although at the end of the trial, our client won the case thanks to the senior counsel who took over and led me from the next adjourned date.

     

    How would you compare law practice in your early days with what  obtains in the profession now?

    What obtains in the profession or the law practice now is a far cry from what obtained in my early days and years. Every thing about the legal profession seems to be going from bad to worse. Standards have fallen so much, the quality of the legal education and legal practice, the ethics, the dressing, etc. all have gone down so much. The entire Legal Education Policy of the country needs a total overhaul if we want any improvement. During our time, once you come out from the Law School, you could handle most basic procedures in law practice and in the courts because of the quality of the practical courses and teachings in the Law School. There were constant tutorials and moot courts and there were experienced lecturers with law practice experience. Due to the high quality of legal education we received at that time, I was confident enough to accept to appear weekly as a Guest Lawyer on NTA Channel10 Lagos weekly programme “Legal Angle” a know your rights and the Law Programme from 1981 to 1985. A very substantial majority of the Law School graduates in the last ten or more years did not appear to know much about the law not to talk of its practice due to the low quality and mode of teaching law students both at the University and the Law School which ought to and should be reviewed if we are to continue to have properly trained lawyers. Although some students and lawyers are lazy and not hardworking, they cannot be held responsible for the fall in standard and quality. Most of the problems can be traced to the mode of teaching at the Universities and the Law Schools.

     

    You have been the chairman of the Otu  Oka-iwu for some time now. What are the challenges of leading  the Otu?

    I was elected the President of Otu Oka-Iwu Lagos in March 2009 for a term of three years and re-elected for another term in April 2012. For the benefit of readers, I will explain what the Otu is. The Incorporated Trustees of Otu Oka-Iwu Lagos, is an Association of all Igbo Lawyers residing, working or carrying on legal practice in Lagos State. It was set up in the early seventies immediately after the Nigeria-Biafra Civil War and duly registered in 1987 at the CAC to amongst other things provide benefits, programmes and services which promote professional growth and enhance the quality of life of its members. When I took over, the Otu was at its lowest ebb. Attendance at the meeting had dwindled due to some problems of leadership and the time of the meeting which was very late evening. On my assumption, we changed the time of the meeting to 3 p.m. so that members could leave in good time and get home early. I also introduced at the general meetings monthly lectures on various aspects of law and practice by experienced legal practitioners and this innovation has been attracting more and more new members at every general meeting of the Association. Right now, we have lectures on various topics of interest to lawyers already lined up for the rest of the year and members have voluntarily taken up hosting and provision of refreshments for the rest of the year. I receive wonderful support from members for which I am extremely grateful. As the saying goes, a good leadership attracts a good followership!

     

    What type of Otu will you like to have on ground to meet the needs of Igbo lawyers in Lagos; do you intend to organise any programmes in the near future?

    As provided in its Constitution and Bye-Laws, the Otu has always held receptions to honour its members and non-members elevated or appointed to any high offices or positions in the country or abroad and all its members elevated to Judges or to the rank of Senior Advocates of Nigeria and other high offices or positions have been so honoured. It has also honoured virtually all the Ndigbo Supreme Court Justices when the Supreme Court was based in Lagos and all Ndigbo Court of Appeal Justices and Judges of the Federal High Court and Industrial Court posted to Lagos. In February 2012, it honoured a number of Judges of the Federal and Lagos State High Courts based in Lagos and also our members elevated to high positions. We are planning to host very soon the two Ndigbo Supreme Court Justices appointed last year, a recently appointed Judge of the International Criminal Court at the Hague and also Ndigbo Court of Appeal Justices currently serving in Lagos and some of our members recently elevated to high positions.

     

    The NBA Lagos will soon elect new officers to pilot the affairs of the branch. What type of exco do you envisage for the branch?

    6.The current NBA Lagos Branch Exco has done well but I am disappointed it could not get the new Branch Bye-Laws to go into operation since they came into office in 2011. There have been a number of abuses by members of the Exco both past and present in the exercise of powers and finances and the new Branch Bye-Laws approved at the Branch AGM in 2010 contain provisions that would help to check those abuses. I envisage an Exco that will work selflessly for the interest and benefit of the members and also get the new Bye-Laws working.

     

    Insecurity has become the order of the day in Nigeria. We see kidnapping here and there. How can we get out of this problem?

    The insecurity we are experiencing today is as a result of complete loss of values and corruption for several years now. The seeds for these vices were sown several years ago but unfortunately they germinated during the present federal and state administrations. We need to re-inculcate our values, seriously fight corruption, enthrone the Rule of Law and eradicate impunity. All those who commit crimes should go to jail no matter how highly placed they are. One sure way of doing this is to separate to office of the Attorney General from that of the Minister of Justice and allow the various agencies to freedom to pursue the prosecution of criminals. Also, we should introduce State and Community Police to help fight crime.

     

    The NBA Section on Business Law (SBL) conference is here again. What are your expectations from the conference?

    The NBA Section on Business Law (SBL) Conference has always been the flagship and the trail-blazer of all NBA Sections Conferences. It has always been very successful, educative and beneficial to all to attend it. I expect it to be even better this year. I will be there and have the privilege and honour of being the Chairman of one of the Sessions.

     

    Lagos State is ready to introduce electronic portal for filling and serving of court processes. How do you feel about this and how  do you think it facilitate  quick administration of justice in the State?

    The Judiciary and the Legal Profession must move with the times. This is the era of modern technology. Lagos State has always set the pace and so it is not a surprise at all that it is ready to introduce electronic portal for filing and serving of court processes. It is a most welcome development and will definitely quicken the administration of justice. It will also reduce amount of hand writing the Judges does and the time it takes, for example, to obtain certified documents and records from the court. What else does one expect from a state like Lagos where a very progressive, forward-thinking and proactive person like Mr. Babatunde R. Fashola SAN is the Governor!

     

    The National Judicial Council (NJC) recently sanctioned some judges and suspended another one. What is your reaction to this?

    It is now becoming the trend that once a lawyer loses a matter before a judge, rather than go on appeal, the lawyer himself or his client(s) on the advise and with the active collaboration of his lawyer, writes a petition to the National Judicial Council (NJC) against the judge. This practice has become more rampant amongst the senior lawyers and some Senior Advocates of Nigeria who believe they have the contacts and connections to “deal” with the judge concerned. This practice must be condemned and discouraged and the NBA as a body must come out and fight it. The judges should not be intimidated and they must have the courage to do what they consider right in the circumstance. Of course, any judge that is guilty of any wrong doing ought to be disciplined. At the Valedictory Court Sessions held on May 27, 2013 in honour of Justice Okechukwu Okeke, Chief Judge of the Federal High Court, Justice I. N. Auta, speaking on this issue said “I pray that the current situation where lawyers refuse to develop our jurisprudence by testing decisions of the lower court on appeal than resorting to petition, will one day come to an end for God forbids that a Judge should know all the law”. The question I want to ask is “Since when has the exercise of a discretion judiciously and judicially by a judge become a misconduct?”

     

  • 2015: Pressure mounts on Jonathan to overhaul cabinet

    2015: Pressure mounts on Jonathan to overhaul cabinet

    Apparently worried by threats of massive electoral misfortune in the 2015 elections, some key stakeholders in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) have been mounting pressure on President Goodluck Jonathan to overhaul his cabinet.

    The sources viewed majority of members of the cabinet as apolitical and a good number of them with little electoral value. This, they said, could whittle down the influence of the party and its electoral fortunes.

    Also, the stakeholders have impressed it on the president, the need for surgical operation on the present leadership of the PDP.

    This is with the view to taking precautionary steps to avert legal entanglements in which some members of the party’s National Working Committee (NWC) have found themselves ahead of nominations for the 2015 poll.

    The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had questioned the process through which eight members of the party’s NWC emerged at the party’s March 2012 convention.

    INEC had withdrawn recognition from the eight officials who emerged through affirmation rather than election, a development that has put a question mark of the eligibility of the officials for their various positions.

    Some aggrieved members of the party have taken the PDP to court to challenge the continued retention of the eight officials in the party’s NWC.

    The implication of this is that candidature of contestants, emerging from conventions presided over by these officials could be voided should the aggrieved members have their way with the court process.

    A source in the hierarchy of the PDP who spoke with our correspondent on condition of anonymity at the weekend, said it’s high time the president identified what he described as the friends and enemies within the party.

    According to him, “the president and PDP need to define their friends and identify their enemies. The debacle in the Governors’ Forum may not be bad for Jonathan after all. Now he knows who he can trust, who can deliver and those who can fight him till the end.

    “Even in identifying these enemies, the president needs to be careful so that he does not alienate potential friends and further dwindle his opinion poll rating in the process of rooting them out the enemies”, the source added.

    Also of great concern to the stakeholders is the challenge posed by the emerging All Progressives Alliance (APC) that is gaining ground in the Southwest and the Northwest geopolitical zones.

    The current face-off between President Jonathan and some PDP governors in the Northwest has similarly been identified as a major setback for the ruling party, a fallout of which the opposition APC could make a political capital of.

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

  • Overhaul NCAT, former Minister urges

    Former aviation Minister in the Second Republic, Samuel Mafuyai, has called on the Federal Government to overhaul the Nigeria College of Aviation Technology (NCAT), Zaria, to enable the institution to have adequate capacity for training.

    He said more investment in the institution would reposition Nigeria as a leader in the training of personnel in Africa and across the world.

    Mafuyai said more investment in the institution is one way the government can address the challenges of manpower in the sector.

    He said if NCAT is supported with modern facilities, it could assist in churning out more pilots, air traffic controllers,aircraft maintenance engineers and other personnel needed in the sector.

    He said in the 1970s, the college was at its zenith, when it produced the first female pilot, Captain Chinyere Kalu, who is the Rector of the college.

    Mafuyai said one way the gains of the on-going airport remodelling project could be consolidated, is for the government to upgrade facilities at the college.

    He canvassed the establishment of a national carrier by the government to fly the nation’s flag, adding that Nigeria deserves a big airline that could fly its flag accross the world.

    Mafuyai, who served under the Shagari administration, explained that having a national carrier is one way of consolidating the airport on-going airport remodelling, where over 11 terminals have been reworked.

    ‘’My appeal to the government is to do something more for that institution in Zaria, to make it a reference point in aviation training in Africa.

    ‘’Why can’t we do more for the college to become a foremost training ground in Africa,” he argued.

    He urged critics to close ranks to help in developing the industry.

    He said the massive airport remodelling going on the country shows that the government is considering positioning the sector for economic development.

    The former minister inspected facilities at the new domestic terminal of the Murtala Muhammed Airport, Ikeja, Lagos.

    He said the determination of the minister of aviation to turn around 11 airports shows that Nigeria is ready to be part of the global aviation community, adding that the quality of the terminals compares with others abroad.

    He said: ‘’The Federal Government needs to set up a national carrier, that the people could be proud of.

    ‘’That is the only way Nigeria could redeem its image as a big player in the global community. With all these efforts to remodel our airports, it will be better to have a strong carrier that could the nation’s flag, ‘’ he added.

     

  • Why Judiciary needs total overhaul, by Jonathan, Belgore, Musdapher

    Why Judiciary needs total overhaul, by Jonathan, Belgore, Musdapher

    For the judiciary to perform its role effectively, it needs to be urgently reformed.

    This was the position of President Goodluck Jonathan, former Chief Justices of Nigeria, Justices Modibo Alfa Belgore and Dahiru Musdapher, former President, Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Joseph Daudu (SAN), Prof Brent Cotter, Queens Counsel (QC) of the University of Saskatchewan, Canada and former Solicitor General of Lagos State and Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Justice, Abdullahi Ahmed Yaro.

    They spoke yesterday in Abuja at a symposium on the need for judicial reform where three books were launched in honour of Justice Musdapher.

    Justices Belgore and Musdapher regretted the impact of corruption on the nation’s development, blaming the vice on the extant Constitution. They suggested a return to the parliamentary system of government, which, they said, is less expensive.

    Jonathan, represented by Labour Minister Emeka Wogu, stressed the need for an urgent reform of the Judiciary.

    He praised Justice Musdapher for initiating some reform measures during his tenure and urged the current Chief Justice to sustain the efforts.

    He said a sustainable and efficient democracy cannot be evolved without a virile, efficient and independent Judiciary.

    Jonathan said: “Judicial reform is an initiative, which is fundamental to my administration’s resolve to transform Nigeria in all aspect of human development. Since the advent of this administration, we have pursued policies and programmes geared towards the actualisation of the conditional promise of an independent, impartial and courageous judiciary.

    “We are sustained in this resolve by the realisation that a credible judiciary is a bedrock on which our national foundation for the rule of law and long time political stability can be built.

    The president went on: “The judiciary must however, take the lead in sanitising and reforming itself since it is the direct custodian of the rich tradition of excellence and dignity which has been handed down since our independence as a nation in 1960.

    He expressed delight that the reform initiatives have been sustained by his successor.

    The decision to sustain the reforms initiated by Musdapher, Jonathan said, was “in realisation that the task of building a credible and modern judicial system is a marathon and not a sprint event.

    “In pursuing that task therefore, all actors must be prepared to stay the course and remain conscious of the need to adopt best practices from other jurisdictions, without sacrificing the need for practical home-grown initiative, which best addresses our peculiarity.

    “Let me use this opportunity to call on the judiciary and the National Judicial Council to remain focus on its present efforts to improve the level of service delivery within the Judiciary, in order to sustain and improve the confidence of our people in the credibility of the judicial arm of government,” the President said.

    He praised the authors of the books, noting that such publications are needed for the documentation of the country’s evolving public service.

    Justice Belgore, who was the chairman of the occasion, identified coruption, weak and archaic laws and court procedures as the major challenges inhibiting prompt justice delivery in the country.

    Regreting that the nation was endangering its future should it fail to tackle corruption headlong, Justice Belgore suggsted a return to the parliamentary system of government. He claimed that the current Constitution and system of government encourage coruption.

    The former CJN also regretted the nation’s inability to develop its abundant resources and the growing case of unemployment in the country.

    He said the country needs to reform its laws before the whole judicial reform itself because the nation’s criminal laws and procedure are antiquated. He observed that the Criminal Code Law and Criminal Procedure Law, which are products of the English Common Law, adopted in January 1914, have been discarded by the English after the Second World War.

    “The greatest problem facing this country certainly, is that of corruption. This corrupt tendency has permeated the society so grossly that it has affected, not only the public sector, but also the private sector.

    “Part of this can be blamed on our present Constitution, which is far removed from our culture and our aspiration.

    “It is very sad to see yesterday’s poor people suddenly becoming rich, not due to hard work, but simply because they are legislators, publc officers or they have access to where money are being shared.

    “Our previous Constitution, which allowed the ministers to be members of the Legislature, was very good for the country, because it minimises corruption. There is no country in the world without corruption, but the gravity is what is worrying,” he said.

    He observed that, as against what exist in other clime, the entire country is caught in the grip of corruption. To the former CJN, “what is more worrying is that this cankerworm had permeated the Judiciary. When the Judiciary habours corruption, the hope of peace and stability of the country will be greatly threatened because there will be no establishment to trust.

    “It is not too late now to eradicate this illness if adequate steps are taken. We are having gross unemployment in the country. Highly qualified people in all professions are now in need of employment,” he said.

    Justice Musdapher stressed the need for urgent reform in the judicial sector, arguing that the importance of legal and judicial reforms in Nigeria cannot be overstressed.

    “The gap between what we have today and what is required to foster a democratic and prosperous nation is clear for everyone to see. We must continuously discuss these issues and formulate appropriate strategies to bridge the wide gap between the law and society.

    “I agree with the suggestion by the chairman (Belgore) that it is better for Nigeria to revert to the parliamentary system of government, because it is cheaper and much more in line with our aspiration as a nation.

    I hereby respectfully, urge the National Assembly to act expeditiously to ensure that these amendments are deliberated upon and passed into law as soon as possible, Justice Musdapher said.

    Daudu said any reform in the judicial sector must “be holistic and must deal with the fundamentals.” He said reform in the sector becomes necessary in view of its dwindling integrity and public confidence, resulting from unethical conducts on the part of some judicial officers.

    He suggested a reform of the process of appointing judicial officers, which he said must be transparent, and aimed at attrcating the best and committed.

    The keynote Speaker and Professor of Law, Cotter advised that the country must confront the various challenges facing the judiciary. He noted that, to be successful, the country must engage in reform.

    He suggested an amendment to judges appointment process, less emphasis on litigation as a means of resolving disputes, and ensure that corruption was dealt with.

    Yaro, who examined corruption in the judiciary, urged the NJC to step up the fight against unethical conduct among judicial officers.

    He urged the NJC to show the world, with its on-going investigation of some 26 judges that it does not subdue complaints against its own.