NBA AGC 2020: Ezekwesili, Obi, Akoni, others debate on National Identity.

Conference

Eminent Nigerians have on Thursday, stressed the importance of every citizen to uphold their identity as Nigerians and ensure they contribute their quota to nationhood , National development and fostering a productive nation.

They said this at a break out session of the 60th edition of the Annual General Conference (AGC) of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) while tackling the discuss: "Who is a Nigerian ? A debate on National Identity"

The NBA AGC 2020, is tagged " Step Forward".

It is holding both virtually and physically from Aug. 26 to Aug. 29 in Lagos and Abuja

Speaking virtually at the conference on the topic, a former Governor of Anambra State, Mr Peter Obi, first thanked the leadership of the Bar for the opportunity to speak at the conference .

He noted that the topical discuss is very apt at this time in our lives especially as the Covid 19 pandemic had challenged us as a nation, to look at our corporate existence as a nation and not as a tribe .

"Looking at economic sensibilities, countries are grouped as developed, developing and underdeveloped nations and not as tribes.

"So, economically today, any problem facing the country as an entity, affects every tribe and section, On Monday, the Nigerian Bureau of statistics said that the nation's second quarter GDP declined by 6.1 percent; so, there is no section of Nigeria that is affected differently

" There are about 15 million children out of school and this is not peculiar to any tribe, but concerns us all as a nation.

" We must then look collectively as a nation to tackle the situation to make our economy productive and to move it from consumption to production .

"This is by having coordinated and articulated expansionist policies, especially policies that will be rigouroulsly implemented and monitored.

"We need to look at how we can get massive support for small and micro medium enterprises, in order o create jobs and to empower our people; if we do this, then we can be able to build an economy that will cut across every where.

"We also need to move our economy from being public sector led to being private sector led, just as it among all developed nations; This will enhance a more efficient use of our resources," he said

Obi said that there must also be a physical discipline which will enable us to start building an economy that will grow.

In her opinion and take on the discuss, A former Vice President for the World Bank African Region, Mrs Oby Ezekwesili, said that having been handed in 1914, a country as was the case in many other parts of the world , the question is "what eventually became of us?"

She said:

"The nation's independence was an important milestone for the multi ethnic nationalities that make up Nigeria, to now know that the force that brought people together into a construct of a country, had gone.

"The next thing would have been a conversation around our shared values our common vision and our common identity; but there was a failure to transit from a country that had gained political independence, to agreeing to a set of common values." she said

According to her a social contract ought to bind the citizens and the Nigerian State, and that this is a social contract that will bind Nigerians whether North, East, South or West.

She noted that the military adventurism also "put paid" to a semblance of a shared value in terms of the embrace of the federal system of governance, which enabled levels of autonomy for independent thoughts on how to pursue regional development

Ezekwesili said that this as well as the civil war at the time, also affected the movement of Nigeria from a country to a nation.

As a way out she said:

"A structural edifice that is a problem, requires a structural solution; it does not require a paint or a coat but it requires that the edifice be reconstructed on the basis of agreed values, shared vision, and a common identity,"

A Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) Mr Wale Akoni tackling the discuss from the legal frame work, said that citizenship and federal character is embedded in the constituion particularly in chapter three.which sets out the citizenship criteria for Nigeria.

He explained the various types of citizenships for instance, by birth, by registration which allows foreigners who are married to Nigerians to qualify for regisration as Nigerians, as well as citizens born outside Nigeria whose parents are Nigerians can be registered as Nigerians.

He also said that citizenship by Naturalisation allows a person who is a foreigner but who has been of good character to acquire citizenship of Nigeria, adding that this basically forms the basis for the topical discuss.

"In Nigeria we all know that there are over 250 ethnic groups speaking over 500 different languages and this difference has led our people to stay more with their ethnic groupings and their regions rather than give their loyalty to a nation. as an expression.

He said that interestingly between 1978 and 1979 the issue of federal character was put into the constituion for the first time. and that the provision of chapter four makes provision for federal character, which was was more to see how national loyalty can be achieved in a multi ethnic society.

"It also set up a Federal character commission which is an Executive body and which is supposed to deal with issues of federal character," he said

He said that the provision of the constituion on Federal character provides that the composition of a government and the conduct of its affairs shall be carried out in such a manner as to reflect the Federal character and the need to promote national unity, and command national loyalty, thereby ensuring there shall be no predominance of person from a few states or nationality.

According to Akoni, it is clear that the constitution sets the framework for the discuss and the questions now is basically whether it has been implemented as envisaged .

The NBA 2020 AGC now has about 25, 000 registered delegates

Physical attendance at the Conference is holding at both the Eko Hotel and Suites in Lagos, as well as The NBA Headquarters in Abuja, with not more than 30 persons allowed at the venue.

The conference is to showcase 30 law sessions on topical discuss and which are to be anchored by renowned Nigerian legal practitioners