Falana to Tinubu: Show leadership in anti-corruption fight
Lawyer and human rights activist, Femi Falana, has urged President Bola Tinubu to show ‘leadership’ in the fight against corruption in the country.
He said this in Ekiti state on Monday, where legal luminary Chief Afe Babalola celebrated the 60th anniversary of his call to bar. Falana has consistently deplored the level of corruption in the country and he had instituted, intermittently, litigations aimed at specific government policies or in strengthening the country’s anti-corruption fight.
Equally, at the event, former president Olusegun Obasanjo condemned any unilateral pay rise for federal lawmakers. The former Nigerian leader, who has consistently been accused of attempting to tinker with the constitution to extend his legally-approved tenure when he was president, accused the political class of undermining democracy in the country.
He said, “Everybody is supposed to enjoy the constitution and our democracy is also to deliver the dividends of democracy to citizens. Leadership and democracy are for character, understanding, knowledge and sacrifice, if these are not there, we are deceiving ourselves.”
To renowned cleric, Fr. Hassan Kukah, the asymmetric nature of Nigeria’s federalism stifles even development across the country. Citing an example of former president Muhammadu Buhari’s Daura hometown, in his lecture, titled
“The Future of Constitutional Democracy in Nigeria: Imperative of a New Constitutional Order”, Kukah said that “most leaders have only limited development to their home town which according to him, does not project democracy.”
He added, “I must say that Daura, in Kastina has enjoyed development over time owing to the fact that it is the home town of the former president, Muhammadu Buhari. It is disheartening to even know that even Kastina, the state as a whole, is not even close to development despite Daura being parts of its domain. This does not speak well of our democracy.”
“We cannot continue to run a skewed country and pretend as if we are in a democracy.”
Other dignitaries who spoke at the event include Ekiti State Governor Biodun Oyebanji, who praised Afe Babalola’s selflessness and contributions to development of his home state- Ekiti- and the legal profession.
