A former governor of Edo, Prof. Oserhiemen Osunbor, has called on the Federal Government to revise the National Population Policy to address Nigeria’s rapidly increasing population that is projected to be 400 million.
Osunbor made the call at the Nigerian Institute of Advanced Legal Studies (NIALS) Founder’s Day Lecture and conferment of Honorary Institute Fellowship as a guest lecturer in Abuja.
”Nigeria’s increasing population is a ticking time bomb. There is urgent need to address the threat posed by massive population in order to achieve good governance.
”The nation’s population is undermining government’s achievements especially with regard to public safety and security.
” Good governance imposes responsibilities on government to provide for its population. Government should begin to see the issue of population explosion as an existential threat to development and progress,” he said.
Earlier while delivering a lecture titled:” Nigeria in quest for good governance, law and beyond law, ” he defined good governance according to google, as those processes and institutions which produce results that meet the need of society while making the best use of resources at its disposal.
He said in achieving good governance , the legislature must keep certain elements in mind in their law making and functions.
The elements are popular participation, consensus orientation, accountability, transparency, responsiveness, equity, efficiency and anti corruption orientation which must be internalised by all segments of the society.
Osunbor, who was a Senator from 1999 to 2007, said:”there is a need to look beyond law in order to achieve better and sustained results, it is our belief that International standards along with other non-legal initiatives should be involved to complement and strengthen the institutions that support good governance.
” There is no magic wand or silver bullet to overcome the impediments to the realisation of good governance in Nigeria.
” All hands must be on deck and we must continue to work at it and play our respective parts to have and enjoy good governance now and into the future, ” he said.
Earlier, the Director-General, NIALS, Prof. Muhammad Ladan welcomed the guests to the ceremony saying the event was is in commemoration of the 40th anniversary of the NIALS.
Ladan said the institute clocked 40 in 2019 but did not have the opportunity to celebrate it, hence organized two programmes in one this year in order to commemorate its anniversary as phase one of the line of activities put together with the founder’s day lecture.
He said activities had been organised to achieve the institute ‘s mandate as Nigeria ‘s apex legal research and training institute , with a view to advancing studies in law and related disciplines.
In his remarks, Attorney-General of the Federation, Mr Abubakar Malami, SAN, commended the institute on its relationship with the Ministry of Justice which made the attainment of the institute ‘s statutory mandate meaningful.
Malami said the institute had rendered valuable services to its parent ministry in form of ground breaking researches and capacity building for our law officers.
He said the ministry turns to the institute when dealing with an emerging area of law such as anti- terrorism law, ICT and cyber crime law, etc.
” In recent times quality leadership and good governance has become the aspiration of every society in the quest for harnessing scarce resources towards human and national development.
” The rule of law being one of the key components of good governance plays a significant role in fine tunning the required leadership style that is geared towards the attainment of a better society.
“Rule of law must be seen as a tool that guarantees good governance and as a mechanism for justice and equity, ” he said.
In his remarks, the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Tanko Muhammad, said that NIALS had blossomed into a robust national institution of international repute adding that the founder’s day lecture provided a unique opportunity for scholars, practitioners and jurists to share their thoughts with the legal community and other guests in contemporary issues of concern to the nation.
our corresponded,reports that Former Director General, NIALS , Prof. Adedeji Adekunle, SAN, Justice Zainab Bulkachuwa , past president, Court of Appeal and Osunbor were presented certificates on conferment to the Honorary Fellowship of the institute.
Bulkachuwa was unavoidably absent and was represented by Justice Umar Abdullahi.
The Chief Justice of Nigeria and Attorney General of the Federation also received plaques as a mark of respect and appreciation and support in making the NIALS great.
