The Nigerian Bar Association, (NBA) has called on President Bola Tinubu to declare a state of emergency on the insecurity bedeviling several parts of the country.
The NBA president, Mr Yakubu Maikyau, SAN, made the call on Wednesday in Abuja at a news briefing on the state of the nation.
“It is high time the Federal Government declares a state of emergency in the area of security and I urge Mr President not to waste time and spare no effort in this regard,” he said.
According to Maikyau, Nigerians require a well thought-out, informed, all-inclusive and purposeful intervention, with as much necessary information made available to the public.
He said the NBA was concerned that some Nigerians had lost, and many more were fast losing confidence in the ability of the Federal Government to deal with the security situation in the country.
“All forms of criminal activities across the nation, howsoever described, by criminal elements by whatever name called, are completely inexcusable and unacceptable.
“The entire country is under siege by terrorists, bandits and criminal gangs. It is no longer easily determinable, if not impossible, which square kilometer of the Nigerian territory is under the authority not control of the Federal Government of Nigeria.
“A situation where criminality dots all over the space known as the Nigeria territory, in a manner that diminishes the presence of law enforcement agencies, directly challenges the sovereignty of Nigeria.
“This is particularly so when we hear that the said bandits and terrorists are foreign nationals.
“If the activities of foreign nationals have been responsible for this high level of insecurity in our nation when the country is not at war, these criminal elements go on to boldly record and send out videos on social media platforms.
“They do this boasting about their strongholds with the territory of the Nigerian state and suffer no consequence for so doing, then there is more to it than meets the eye, and Nigerians need to be better informed of the nature of the insecurity they are dealing with.”
He implored the President to show demonstrable commitment to prioritize the security of lives and property in the country.
Maikyau said this should be done in addition to ensuring the right investments in security in line with global trends without compromising Nigeria’s sovereignty.
He decried a situation where insecurity has left many Nigerians homeless and businesses destroyed.
He said it was pertinent for government to adopt a holistic approach to the issue of security while not overlooking the peculiarities of each region and evolve measures to deal with them accordingly.
” In this wise, the government must neither be scared nor ashamed to make the right investments in security, in line with global trends, without compromising our sovereignty.”
Maikyau also decried what he described as the dwindling of the economy as well as the nation’s currency.
“The Nigerian economy is dwindling, the value of the naira has been bastardised, prices of foodstuff have skyrocketed, and everything negative seems to be on the rise.
“The insecurity has equally impacted negatively on food sufficiency and food security as a nation,” he said.
He said it was worrying that farmers were no longer able to go to their farms due to the activities of bandits and kidnappers.
He said the President should address Nigerians on how he intended to revamp the nation’s economy in order to reassure the citizens that there was light at the end of the tunnel.
He added that it was important for the government to set deadlines for specific fundamental economic steps to be taken towards economic recovery and achievement of some economic policies.
“Nigerians need to know, as we all are entitled to, in concrete terms, the plans this administration has for the revamping of our economy.
” It is the government/citizens’ engagement on the strategies for the recovery, reformation, and repositioning of the economy and all other sectors, that will give Nigerians hope to continue to persevere and remain resilient as we have always been.
“Not to do so will cause a complete loss of confidence in the ability of this administration to truly deliver on the renewed hope agenda, and would be recorded as a monumental failure on the part of government.”
On the issue of the Enhanced Trade Investment agreement between Nigeria and the United Kingdom, the NBA president said that the umbrella body of legal practitioners was ready to fight the matter if it was not reviewed.
“It is indeed unfortunate that this tragic reminder of our colonial past, is being gleefully celebrated at the highest level of government of Nigeria.
“What is more disheartening is the fact that a decision of this magnitude that adversely affects the wellbeing and livelihood of millions of Nigerians could be taken without any consultation, especially with the NBA.
“We will fight it. We have the responsibility of protecting the legal space. I come from the village and I know what it means.
“Do you want those in the village who are struggling to make a living to still have competitors from the UK to take the little they have?
“I have my suspicions and nobody has allayed my suspicions over the deal. We will seek the judicial interpretation of the propriety of that decision and we are entitled to do that.”
On the issue of a court judgment which allowed the registration of another legal body like the NBA, Maikyau said that the NBA was ready to challenge the matter up to the Supreme Court.
The NBA president also said that he has articulated the above points into a letter to President Tinubu.
He said he was hopeful that the letter would be well received and there would be a favourable outcome.