Governor Nyesom Ezenwo Wike of Rivers State has called for the building of strong institutions to protect the integrity of Nigeria.
He made this known while speaking as a panelist of the Special Session for Governors at the ongoing Annual General Conference of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA-AGC) holding in Lagos.
Governor Wike who was represented by the Attorney General and Commissioner of Justice of Rivers State, Emmanuel Aguma, SAN, said internal democracy within political parties will help to strengthen and deepen Nigeria’s democracy.
He noted that the Judiciary in particular, right from the era of the military, had always stood up to its role as an independent arm of government and nation builder and that it stood as a good model of what qualifies as a strong institution.
Speaking further, Governor Wike called for the concerted efforts of all stakeholders irrespective of party affiliations to deal with the thorny issue of insecurity in Nigeria. He noted that although Governors were in reality, Chief Logistics Officers, rather than Chief Security Officers that they are erroneously described as, the existing security architecture in Rivers State in the last two years had been able to combat and drastically reduce the spate of crime in the State as reflected by the recently released report of the National Bureau of Statistics.
On how Rivers State had been able to strengthen institutions and raise its Internally Generated Revenue, Governor Wike said after his inauguration on May 29, 2015, the appointment of a Chief Judge of Rivers State and the opening of courts earlier shutdown by his predecessor, in addition to the smooth transition in the leadership of the judiciary and its financial autonomy, had been able to stabilize the judiciary and make it available for litigants to access justice and by so doing uphold the fabric of society.
He went further to inform participants of the Special Governors Forum of the NBA-AGC, among whom was the Emir of Kano, His Eminence Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, that the building of the National Industrial Court, Federal High Court and the renovation of the Court of Appeal by the Rivers State Government were to better position the State as a regional litigation hub so that those who live and do business in Rivers State could have both the assurance of justice and speedy resolutions of their disputes. In addition, he said gains recxorded in the security sector was responsible for why businesses that had left the State were returning, in addition to the entry of new businesses.
The event was attended by a cross section of lawyers from across Nigeria and was moderated by Kole A. Shettima, the Director of the Africa Office of the MacArthur Foundation and other panelists were Governor of Ondo State, Rotimi Akeredolu, SAN, and Governor of Kano State, Abdullahi Umar Ganduje.
In his closing remarks, the President of the Nigerian Bar Association, A. B. Mahmud, SAN, commended the panelists for their contribution to the discourse on institution building and noted that it was necessary for nation building.
