ABUJA – Delegates at the ongoing National Conference have advocated the independence of the judiciary, accurate census and boundary re-evaluation as part of solutions to the challenges facing the country.
The delegates made the suggestions on Monday in Abuja while contributing to President Goodluck Jonathan’s speech at the inauguration of the conference.
Col. Bala Mande, a delegate representing North-West, advocated the independence of the judiciary to ensure better justice delivery in the country.
Mande observed that the present state of the judiciary did not give it the power to carry out its responsibility without interference.
According to him, the judiciary should be strengthened so that the challenges bedevilling it would be adequately tackled.
“The judiciary in Nigeria should be strengthened because it is the last hope of the common man.
“It should be strengthened to work, it should have the independence it needs just like the executive.
“This is because our stability will depend on the independence of the judiciary where justice is not for the highest bidder,” he said.
He said besides the judiciary instilling discipline through the rule of law, it was expedient for every Nigerian to imbibe the culture of discipline.
He said in spite of the level of lawlessness in the country it was not an uphill task for an average Nigerian to be disciplined.
Another delegate representing North-East, Leonard Danzadem, called for a drastic action to ensure accurate census in the country.
Danzadem said the inability of the country to ascertain the exact number of Nigerians was one of the factors responsible for the bickering in the country.
“The first problem we have in this country is that we cannot count ourselves, by this action we demonstrate that the foundation for democracy which is the basis for our unity does not exist.
“We ought to take drastic measures. We should think seriously about inviting United Nations to come into this issue of census,” he said.
Mrs Wosilat Marcarthy, a delegate from Kwara, State called for proper measures to re-evaluate boundary demarcations.
Marcarthy said that boundary problem needed to be tackled to avoid further disagreement between states and communities.
“We have problems with constituency boundaries and there are a lot of court cases between states and local government because the boundaries have been bastardised,” Marcarthy said.
She called for a better method of conducting census in the country to ensure inclusiveness.
“We have left out statistics that should the bedrock of planning and that is why we cannot lay claim to a credible census in this country,” she said. (NAN)
