‘Constitution amendment, true federalism can stop recession’

• Wike urges NBA to safeguard democracy

The Chairman of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), in Onitsha, Ikenna Chibuzor, yesterday said if the country is run as a true federation, it would get out of its economic recession faster.

Chibuzor who said this yesterday in an interactive session with newsmen in Onitsha advised that the constitution be amended to reflect true federalism, maintaining that as it is practised now, Nigeria is a unitary state.

He observed that the because of this, whenever the centre has problem, it affects the entire country.

According to him, Section 162 of the constitution, which makes the component states rely on the Federal Government for revenue and sustenance, should be reviewed.

Chibuzor explained that if given the opportunity to develop on their own, states’ revenue and derivation from their areas could help to grow the economy as a whole.

Besides, in Rivers State, Governor Nyesom Wike, yesterday charged the NBA to take steps to safeguard democracy and ensure that the rule of law is entrenched in the country.

He stated this at the commissioning of the Port Harcourt NBA Law Centre, built by the Rivers State Government and donated to the NBA yesterday.

“We continuously expect the NBA to be more active in safeguarding our democracy by fighting impunity wherever it raises its ugly head in the polity, as well as to hold all political office holders at all levels to be accountable to their actions, conduct and promises,” Wike said.

According to the governor, “Do not forget, that as an enlightened segment of our society, you will not escape the hash judgment of history when you refused to speak out or decided to speak only in muted tones in the face of glaring injustices against the state and our people.”

Meanwhile, a professor of economics, Ben Aigbokhan has said that Nigeria’s economic recession may not last beyond a year, if the Federal Government strictly follows its laid down fiscal plans to exit the situation.

Aigbokhan told The Guardian in Abuja yesterday that recession is a temporary experience but would always require stringent recovery plans.
He said a massive cut in expenses is a key way to tackle recession, a development, which according to him, the Federal Government has already adopted.