A Senior Advocate of Nigeria and human rights lawyer, Mr. Femi Falana on Thursday kicked against the breakup of Nigeria along ethnic lines.

It would be recalled that groups including the Indigenous Peoples of Biafra (IPOB) led by Nnamdi Kanu and the Yoruba Nation agitators have campaigned for both Biafra and Oduduwa Republics.

Falana, while featuring on Channels Television’s Politics Today, monitored by Mega Icon Magazine, noted that he has a fundamental disagreement with secessionist groups in the country.

His words, “personally, I am strenuously opposed to the campaign for the balkanisation of Nigeria because I believe the masses of our people are oppressed by the ruling class and imperialism.

“To that extent, I have a fundamental ideological disagreement with those who are calling for the breakup of the country along ethnic lines.”

He explained that amid the agitations in some quarters that the nation should split, the Nigerian government owes it a duty to convince the agitators by reposing confidence on the corporate existence of Nigeria.

Meanwhile, he stated that it is not a criminal offence for some persons to make separatists demands, the senior lawyer, however said the current administration should respect human rights in line with Article 20 of the African Charter on Human Rights.

“If a group of people decides to fight for the breakup of the country, the duty of the government is to try as much as possible to convince them to repose confidence in the corporate existence of Nigeria”, Falana submitted.

The two major separatists – Igboho and Kanu – have been arrested and are facing trial both in the Benin Republic and Nigeria respectively.

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According to the renowned legal luminary nowhere else around the world is the mandate of the people being determined at the courts than at the polls.

Falana who was speaking on Monday in a live interview monitored on Broadcasting Corporation of Oyo State, BCOS suggested that retired judges should be engaged in electoral petition thereby allowing regular courts to take care of other vital matters.

“I’m strongly opposed to the idea of empowering the Supreme Court to get involved in governorship election cases. In most parts of the world, it is not the business of the Supreme Court to get involved in local elections and that was the situation in Nigeria until 2011.All election petition appeals arising from governorship election petitions, legislative election petitions ended at the appeal court.

“Among lawyers and judges, that is the thinking, that we have to go back to the status quo ante. We should take advantage of the pool of our retired judges to handle election matters”, said the Senior Advocate of Nigeria.

On the various preventive measures to tackle the ravaging coronavirus which has crippled the global economy in the past few months, Falana said the the restriction order and total lockdown in some parts of Nigeria were in order but these should be reviewed periodically to lessen the burden on the citizens

He frowned at the recent importation of Chinese medical personnel to tackle coronavirus cases in Nigeria, saying government should not at this moment frustrate the efforts of local medical workers with inadequate provision of facilities and necessary incentives,adding that our medical doctors are doing well and can compete with others around the world but they lack equipment to work with.

“We need to abandon the neo-liberal economic system being practiced by Nigeria.There cannot be basis for giving oil blocs to individuals that will turn them to instant billionaires while state governments cannot pay salaries.

“Why don’t you give the oil blocs to state and federal governments so that they will be able to use the money accruing from the sale of the oil blocs to take care of health,education and other key critical sectors?”

The Senior Advocate of Nigeria argued further,”this is not the time to pay debts to the detriment of development of our nation.You can’t be cutting capital allocation,while you’re paying debt.

“The economic stimulus package has to address the crisis in the health,education an d other social services,” he said.

Falana also called for a review of the National Health Act by emphasizing the improvement of hospitals and the national health insurance at local,state and federal levels.

The legal luminary believed that if every Nigerian is captured on the National Health Insurance net,nobody would die of any preventable disease.

He said:”Nigeria has a lot to learn from countries like Cuba,a country with 11 million population and 400,000 medical doctors which she’s able to deploy to 15 countries combating covid-19.

He said the current lockdown and restriction order has terribly affected legal practice and advised judges to take advantage of technology to attend to urgent matters.

In addition,Falana said with internet facilities now,”the days of conflicting judgment will soon be over.The National Judicial Council will have to come down heavily on judges deliberately giving conflicting decisions,thereby exposing the judiciary to ridicule.”

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Falana declared  that caretaker chairmen were unknown to the nation’s constitution, just as he charged the governor to rather speed up the process of conducting a local government election in the state.

He stated this during the maiden edition of Emeritus Professor Muyiwa Awe Annual Memorial Lecture, held at the University of Ibadan, on Monday.

Responding to journalists on way out of the local government crisis in Oyo State, Falana further submitted “The governor will have to speed up election of Local Government officials because the caretaker committees are unknown to the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

“Once the Local Government chairmen have been elected, they have to serve their tenure and if at all you are not allowing them to finish their tenure, you will have to pay them. This is the position of the law.”

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El-Zakzaky and his wife, Zeenat are facing an 8-count charge by the Kaduna state government over allegations of culpable homicide, unlawful assembly, and disruption of the public peace, among others.

Also, Justice Gideon Kurada, who is the Presiding Judge had during the last sitting on March 26, 2019, adjourned the case indefinitely following his appointment to serve as a member of the Elections Petitions Tribunal in Yobe state.

Due to the absence of the trial judge during the last sitting on March 26, El-Zakzkay’s lawyer, Femi Falana, expressed concern , stating that his clients were in dire need of medical attention, the reason they could not appear in court.

While addressing  Journalists, Falana alleged that his clients have not been given adequate medical care since December 14, 2015, when they were detained.

Due to the resumed trial of Elzakzaky and his wife today, all major roads leading to the Kaduna state High Court Complex have been cordoned off by security operatives. Security is also beefed up at the court premises, to avert to the breakdown of law and order, especially with the recent violent protests by IMN members in Abuja, the nation’s capital.

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