A Don, Prof. Edoba Bright Omoregie, yesterday, said the country’s federal system is facing a serious risk of disintegration, which might be accompanied by violence and strife if proactive steps are not taken .
Omoregie added that high premium should be placed on reforming the country’s federal system for the nation’s growth and development.
The senior lawyer and former Dean, Faculty of Law, University of Benin (UNIBEN), made the assertion while delivering the 280th Inaugural Lecture of the university, titled, ‘Nigeria’s Federal System in a Quandary: The Whys And Hows To Fix It.’
Omoregie, who lamented that the country’s federal system has remained comatose since inception, owing to inadequate expert intervention, identified ways the system can be fixed.
He noted that crosscutting solutions hold the key to making the system a catalyst for national development, stability and conflict prevention.
He said: “The dire consequences of remaining tardy in fixing the system are already being foretold by waves of separatist agitations, ethno-militia strife, bitter and persistent regional autonomy agitations, conflicts over the handling of perennial farmers/herders violence, insurgency and kidnapping, among many other acts of criminality across the country. “
The constitutional lawyer also stressed the need for the Supreme Court to ensure a more articulate system of judicial review of federalism, taking into account its constitutional role as the final arbiter in vertical and horizontal federalism disputes.
The don added: “The range of issues, which are at the root of discontent with governance of the country is very long. Together, they constitute the main reason Nigeria’s federal system is in quandary.”
“They make citizen lose faith in the country, and provoke all kinds of unpatriotic impulses, chief among which is the interminable call for dismemberment of the country. Yet, none of the challenges is insurmountable if Nigeria embarks on reforming its federal system.”
Omoregie harped on fixing the system to serve the aspiration of Nigerians while preventing conflict. He noted that this would also guarantee national stability as a way to avert the spectre of inertia and predictable disintegration, as a result of the country’s dysfunctional federal system.
