*PRESS STATEMENT*
THE Owerri Branch of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) has backed calls for restructuring, saying it would enhance development.
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The call was made during the branch’s Law Week held in Owerri last week.
The Branch Chairman, Lawrence Nwakaeti, said restructuring the country would unlock its democratic, economic and socio-political potential.
He said: “That Nigeria is a sick state is a fact no one can deny. The spectre of the rampaging murderous herdsmen that appear to be enjoying official protection, the inequality in the distribution of the national cake evident in the lopsided appointments to various positions in government, siting of basic and very essential institutions of government mainly in a particular section of the country as against a fair spread to benefit all segments, the list is endless.”
One of the speakers, a very cerebral technocrat and APGA governorship aspirant in the state, Mr. Okey Ezeh, said Nigeria needs restructuring to thrive.
“A Nigeria without restructuring is like that passenger with name recognition and sufficient endowments to arrive his desired destination but ends up drifting endlessly on a bumpy trajectory as a result of the lack of possession of a navigational compass or roadmap that defines the route and destination,” he said.
According to him, the greatest impediment to Nigeria’s development is rooted in the country’s structure.
“There is always a tendency for some people in Nigeria to view the call for restructuring as a political thing. There is even some apprehension within certain circles when the subject of restructuring is raised. It is wrongly viewed as a threat to the unity of Nigeria.
“To some, the surest way to keep Nigeria one is to kill restructuring. But I do have an unyielding belief that the only way to kill Nigeria is to kill restructuring.
“Also, the surest way to keep Nigeria united is to restructure it, for the structure we operate has gone dysfunctional, ever drifting to its terminus.
“Essentially, a restructured Nigeria will engender healthy economic competition among the regions and induce them to unleash their development potentials in the areas they have comparative advantage. It will address the incoherence and disarticulation in Nigeria’s economy.
‘Every coherent economy possesses certain regional and sectoral reciprocity and complementarity or what economists describe ‘backward and forward linkages’. The rentier, mono product, oil-dependent economy has never helped Nigeria.
“Again, the retrogressive quota system that breeds mediocrity in the educational and employment sectors has never served our collective interest. Restructuring means progress, accelerated development and economic interdependence,” Ezeh said.
On why restructuring was chosen as the law week’s theme, Nwakaeti said: “The time to restructure is now. Before we have been playing with that term. I had to bring in people from diverse backgrounds to look at it from different perspectives and do justice to it. If nobody would say it, then lawyers should say it. That is why we chose it. We must lead for others to follow.
“I must state that the Owerri branch of the NBA under my leadership has come a long way. And each moment broadens our horizon. Before now, it was one administration one law week, and if you recall, last year we had a law week in this venue.
“So, when I mooted the idea of another law week this year. There was a lot of opposition to it. In some of the meetings, you see some very senior lawyers asking, what is it for? This law week, why must you do it again? And it is one administration one law week. Law week is an annual thing.
“The Continuing Legal Education under Rule 11, states that it is something that is continuous and the law week is part of it, so you cannot say that because it had hitherto been done biennially, that makes it right.
“So, I had to change the status quo and I did and you can see the outcome. You can see the dinner.
There was enough to eat and drink. And people ate to their fill and had fun. A Justice of the Supreme Court was on hand to be part of it to chair the dinner session. It was wonderful.
“I have to thank members of the Judiciary ably led by our own Chief Judge, for giving my administration that support and my colleagues. They were wonderful,” Nwakaeti said.