11/13/18

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Latest Reality Blog is a legal blog where you are updated on online latest news, gist, entertainment, events, motivational text, and genue articles.

Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, has restated that he is an advocate of fiscal federalism, stronger  state governments and state police.
Osinbajo made this submission while delivering the 40th Anniversary Lecture of the Association of Friends on Monday in Lagos.
The theme of the lecture is “Restructuring and the Nigerian Federation.”
He reiterated his stance that good governance was what Nigeria needed rather than geographical restructuring.
“I have been an advocate, both in court and outside, of fiscal federalism and stronger state governments.
“ I have argued in favour of state police, for the simple reason that policing is a local function.
“You simply cannot effectively police Nigeria from Abuja; only recently, I made a point that stronger, more autonomous states would effectively eradicate poverty.
“ So, I do not believe that geographical restructuring is an answer to Nigeria’s socio-economic circumstances.
“That would only result in greater administrative costs; but there can be no doubt that we need deeper fiscal federalism and good governance.”
He argued that state governments had enormous constitutional powers which they should harness to better their fortunes.
The vice president said that the Supreme Court held that states had a constitutional right to create local governments, pursuant to Section 8 of the Constitution.
He said that the creation remained incomplete until the National Assembly, by resolution, amended the existing list of local governments to capture the newly created councils.
Osinbajo said further that the apex court ruled also that with respect to federal land, the state had exclusive authority to grant authority to for building or developmental control permits.
He said further that the Supreme Court ruled in favour of Lagos State Government as it struck down many provisions of the law that sought to give the Federal Government control over local government funding.
Osinbajo said that pursuant to the Supreme Court ruling,  Lagos State Government created, by State Law, Local Government Council Development Areas(LCDAs) to activate the newly created local government councils, until such a time the National Assembly would complete the process.
He said that the Lagos State Government took the challenge which resulted in the state earning more Internally Generated Revenue(IGR) than 30 Nigerian states put together.
Osinbajo said it was wrong to mix up all the issues of good governance and diversification of the economy with the argument on corruption.
“Good governance involves inter alia, transparency and prudence in public finance.
“ It involves social justice, investing in the poor, jobs for young people, which explains our School Feeding Programme, providing a meal per day to over nine million pupils in 25 states today.
“Our N-Power is now employing 500, 000 graduates; our TraderMoni that will be giving microcredit to two million petty traders; our Conditional Cash Transfers giving monthly grants to over 400,000 of the poorest in Nigeria.
“ The plan is to cover over a million households.”
He said that in arguing for good governance, Nigeria’s greatest problem was grand corruption.
The vice president described corruption as the unbelievable looting of the treasury by simply making huge cash withdrawals in local and foreign currencies–a travesty which President Muhammadu Buhari stopped.
According to him, the restructuring Nigeria needs is the restructuring of governance in such manner as to eliminate corruption and create an enabling environment for growth and investments in infrastructure, education, nutrition and better sanitation.
Earlier in his  address, Alhaji Oluropo Owolabi, said that the topic of the lecture could not have come at a better time.
He said that in recent times, restructuring had dominated the nation’s political discourse; hence the choice of the vice president, a professor of law for the lecture.
Owolabi said that the association was borne out of a vision of some young men, eight of them who decided in 1978 to concretise their fledging relationship and dominance of social space into a sustainable institution.
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Latest Reality Blog is a legal blog where you are updated on online latest news, gist, entertainment, events, motivational text, and genue articles.

President Muhammadu Buhari has promised to increase the yearly allocation to education sector as the current five per cent to the sector was inadequate.
He said the current allocation to the sector was too small to propel the desired growth of the economy and pointed out that the United Nations target of 26 per cent was ideal.
He assured Nigerians that allocations to the sector would be improved as revenue increases and described education as a major engine for the development of any country.
According to a statement by the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Mr. Femi Adesina, President Buhari gave the assurance when he addressed Nigerian community in Paris, France.
He also said: “We are currently reviewing investments in the entire infrastructure of the country like road, rail and power, including investing more in education. We will certainly need to do more in education.”
President Buhari also called on the Nigerian elite, both at home and in the diaspora, to do more in contributing to the educational sector.
He expressed surprise that the elite tolerated the fall in standards and structures of educational institutions despite oil windfalls in the past that would have made all the difference.
“I am doing my best now to utilize our resources to develop the country. We are already getting results on road, rail and power. My frustration is that some people still have plenty stolen money stashed in Europe, US and other countries,” he said.
The President further stated that returning stolen assets will bolster the administration’s current efforts of investing more in critical infrastructure that directly impact on the livelihood of Nigerians.
Beyond that, the President said the war against terrorism will be reinforced with new weapons and hardware for the military, while the challenge of abduction and kidnapping in some parts of the country will receive more attention with better gathering of intelligence.
“We campaigned on three key issues; security, improving the economy, and fighting corruption, and we have not been controverted by anyone that we have not recorded some results,” he said.
On Nigerians in diaspora participating in elections, the President said the population of citizens in various countries across the world already necessitate their inclusion to elect leaders, noting that it might not happen in the 2019 elections as INEC had been more focused on strengthening and consolidating on its achievements of conducting credible elections within the country.
The President said it could happen in future.
He added that the Nigerian constitution had taken into cognizance the need for representation in the political structures in order to ensure harmony and development, urging more people to pick interest in governance and quality representation.
In her remarks, Nigerian Ambassador to France, Dr. Modupe Enitan Irele, said the Nigerian community in France had demonstrated a high sense of responsibility, dedication and morality, adding that the large number of professionals had been encouraged to also contribute to the country’s development.
“Nigerians here are law-abiding, peaceful and resourceful,” she said.
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Latest Reality Blog is a legal blog where you are updated on online latest news, gist, entertainment, events, motivational text, and genue articles.

The Nigerian Police Force has embarked on the training of personnel on human rights as part of efforts to effectively enforce the rule of law.
The Inspector General of Police (IGP), Mr Ibrahim Idris, said at the opening of the two-day workshop in Umuahia that the police would continue to ensure best practices in the discharge of their constitutional mandate.
Idri was represented by the Deputy IGP in charge of Training and Development, Mr Sani Mohammed at the programme jointly organised by the police and Prisoners’ Rehabilitation and Welfare Action (PRAWA), a non-governmental organisation.
He said: “The fundamental duties of a police officer include serving the community, safeguarding lives and property, protecting the innocent, keeping peace and ensuring that the rights of all to liberty, equality and justice is respected.”
Idris said that to achieve this, an enhanced human rights teaching syllabi were developed to address gaps in the existing police teaching curriculum in police training institutions, particularly the area dealing with human rights principles.
He said that a human rights training manual was also developed as a major resource for the teaching of Human Rights Principles in police training, to further achieve the target objective.
He expressed confidence that the series of seminars and workshops being organised for police officers would help to equip them with the necessary skills to protect human rights in the discharge of their duties.
“It offers the opportunity to equip us with the necessary skills, knowledge and attitudes to effectively discharge our duties in accordance with the rule of law and in accordance with human rights best practices.”
The inspector general of police said the training was an outcome of a dialogue between the Swiss Government and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Police Service Commission and the Police.
Also involved in the dialogue were the National Human Rights Commission, UN agencies and specialised NGOs for the exchange of skills in the field of education and training to promote and protect human rights.
The Commissioner of Police in the state, Mr Chris Ezike, said that the paradigm in policing had shifted to community policing, adding that this could not be achieved without respect for human rights.
Ezike charged the participants to utilise the training they would receive to make positive contributions towards the improvement of the police organisation and humanity.
In his speech, Gov. Okezie Ikpeazu of Abia, commended the organisers of the training and added that the capacity building for the police would help them in providing excellent policing.
Ikpeazu said, “the multiplier effect of the programme will complement Federal Government’s efforts to lift Nigeria out of economic doldrums to become economically robust and successful.”
Also, Mrs Anne-Beatrice Bullinger, Deputy Head of Mission of Swiss Embassy in Nigeria, described efforts made to promote the principles of human rights as valuable and commendable.
“We are going to help support this drive to build a police force that will not be a threat to the people but will protect the people,” Bullinger said.
In her address of welcome, Mrs Uju Agomoh, the Executive Director of PRAWA, said that it was pertinent for the police to mainstream human rights principles in its operations.
Agomoh said that it was expected that the training would provide a platform that would enlighten and encourage police officers to actively contribute in the fight against human rights violation.
Chief Ume Kalu, the Commissioner for Justice and Attorney-General of the state, said that human rights were integral to the ethos of society and the police had the responsibility to protect them.
Kalu, who was represented by Mrs Chibuzo Ehiemere, a senior officer in the ministry, said that human rights-based policing would help the force to get maximum result from their community policing programme.
The workshop was attended by participants drawn from the police force, Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), Department of State Services (DSS) and Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC).
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